Since traditional publishing houses often aren’t interested in short story collections (unless you’re Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, or even Tom Hanks), most writers with collections will have more success with self-publishing. If you’re considering self-publishing a short story collection, the experts at Self-Publishing Relief have an insider tip: Your book cover is your point-of-purchase marketing tool. So it’s important that your book cover design suits the genre, is memorable, and stands out for all the right reasons. Here are the latest cover design trends for short story collections.

Cover Design Trends For Self-Published Short Story Collections

Eye-Catching Text And Artwork Combinations

Mai Nardone’s Welcome Me to the Kingdom and Cleo Qian’s Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go both intertwine their collections’ titles with the cover artwork for a dynamic design. The art elements flow and interact with the fonts in a way that is eye-catching but not disruptive to the title itself. This technique also helps the flat design elements to take on a three-dimensional effect.

Classically Inspired Artwork

Theodore McCombs’ Uranians and Erin Slaughter’s A Manual for How to Love Us feature vintage art combined with modern design elements, unconventional text placement, and stylization. The use of classical art styles, particularly from the Renaissance era, creates a successful and sophisticated design.

Vibrant, Brilliant Colors

While monochrome and minimalistic designs have recently been very popular, we’re finally seeing a revival of colorful book covers. Like Ladee Hubbard’s The Last Suspicious Holdout and Gunnhild Øyehaug’s Evil Flowers (translated by Kari Dickson), many short story collections now feature the full spectrum of colors.

Stylish Gradients

With a newfound love of color, authors and cover designers are using the color wheel in exciting, innovative ways. One popular trend in short story collection covers is the use of color gradients—a soft, seamless transition from one color to the next. Jai Chakrabarti’s A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness and Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You are perfect examples.

Innovative Images As Text

Colin Barrett’s Homesickness and Morgan Talty’s Night of the Living Rez use a distinctive technique to highlight the titles of their collections. Each letter is overlaid upon an image or art piece, allowing them to pop against the background. This is a creative way to feature art without detracting from what’s important—the words.

These trending design elements will help your short story collection stand out and appeal to your target audience. Remember, your self-published book’s cover is what potential buyers will see when they’re deciding whether or not to click “buy.” If book cover design isn’t your forte, the experts at Self-Publishing Relief can design a custom cover for your short story collection that you—and your readers—will love! Check out our portfolio of predesigned and custom-designed book covers, and schedule your free consultation call today!

Question: Which short story collection has your favorite cover?