2024 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards - Fiction

Welcome to the CHANTICLEER COVER DESIGN AWARDS for FICTION BOOKS!

Powerful and captivating book cover designs compel potential readers to click on the buy link, pick up the book displayed at bookstores, attract readers at book fairs and events. (Blue Ribbons also do a great job attracting potential readers at book fairs!)

As far as book sales go, what could be almost or maybe more important than the content of a book? THE COVER!

How many of us have books stacked beside our bedside or in our library just waiting to be read?

Or how many of have how many e-pubs and audio-books in our online libraries just waiting to be read.

Studies have shown that book buyers make their decision to look at a book with more interest by looking at the cover for three seconds or less.

Your book cover has three seconds to attract its reader. Three Seconds!

How do do you make your book standout in a sea of books?

Whether the work is fiction or non-fiction, book covers should convey emotion first. The cover should have a visual impact that grabs the potential reader and makes him/her want to know more about what is inside. The cover must be enticing!

Your book's cover design will (or should) influence your marketing materials and promotion strategies.

Perhaps you have attended one of Chanticleer's annual authors conferences or have attended one of Kiffer Brown's presentations on cover design. If you have, you will note how strongly she promotes the advantages of effective book cover design.

That is why we decided to offer the Chanticleer Book Cover Design Awards in Fiction and Non-Fiction.

This SUBMISSION PAGE IS FOR COVERS of FICTION BOOKS

• Submissions will be accepted until December 31st, 2024 for the 2024 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards
• Announcement of the 2024 CCDA - Fiction Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer International Book Awards Banquet & Ceremony on April 5, 2025.
• Click here for the Submission Page for NON-FICTION Covers Submission Page

The following KEY CONCEPTS and KEY ELEMENTS are used as Criteria for Judging for Digital and Print:

Key Concepts in Book Cover Design (Print and Digital)

1. Genre placement – the cover should immediately (less than 3 seconds) convey the genre of the book. Is it an intense Suspense/Thriller novel? or Historical Fiction? Or How-To?
2. Category within genre – is it Regency Romance? or Contemporary Women’s Fiction with Southern elements?
3. Does the color scheme work with the genre?
4. Do the design elements convey an idea of what the story is about?
5. Is the cover appealing to the readership that you are targeting?
6. Is it dated? Covers can and should be refreshed and tweaked at least every five years.
7. Covers should work whether they are enlarged to be 50 feet tall to hang from scaffolding at tradeshows or whether they are reduced to the size of a thumbnail. Keep in mind that cover design may be slightly different for digital and for print. Slightly.
8. A book cover is its must important piece of retail real estate. Every inch should be considered for maximum visual and emotional impact.
9. Make sure that the entire book’s “packaging” (typography, formatting, fonts, and layout) is co-cohesive and that all of the elements are complementary to each other.
10. Color—use color to convey emotion, time period, genre, theme, etc.

Here are a few book covers that we love:

Key Elements in Book Cover Design (digital and print)

1. Many authors/publishers overlook the spine of their books as a prime selling tool. Since most first time authors’ books will be shelved spine-out instead of front cover out, it is very important to make the spine of your books as appealing as possible to your targeted audience. I recommend that first time authors start the design process from the spine and then move forward to front cover and then the back cover.
2. Each design element should convey the story within.
3. Typography is part of the cover design and should not be an afterthought. It should enhance the design image of the book and be legible. Resist using the latest curly cues fonts or “urban decay” fonts UNLESS they are easily readable. Do not ever use more than three fonts. If you use one font with a “serif” then you should use a complementary font without a serif.
   1. Here is an example of a font with serifs (extra flourish): Georgian

   2. Here is an example of a font that is sans serif.

4. Note – interior copy (the story) should always be printed (digitally or print) with a serif font for ease of readability.
   1. Here is a link to a Huffington Post on Type Fonts: A Totally Definitive Ranking of Fonts
   2. A post by Joel Friedlander about picking fonts for self-published books.

TERMS and SMALL PRINT

1. You must be over 18 years of age to enter Chanticleer Book Reviews writing competitions, design awards, book awards, and other entry/submittal events.
2. COPYRIGHTS: Authors and Publishers retain sole rights to any works submitted to Chanticleer Reviews writing contests and competitions. Simple. We are not a publisher. We do not acquire the publish rights of winning titles. Although, publishers and literary agents are interested in knowing about our winning titles and authors.
3. To enter the 2024 BOOK COVER DESIGN CHANTICLEER AWARDS Program, your book must have been published after January, 1, 2020.
4. Please submit only DIGITAL FILES of your book's cover design. Do not send printed books as this is an international design awards program. If you have any problems uploading your file, please submit the form without it and then email the file, including the name of the book and designer, to info@ChantiReviews.com with the TITLE and the Submission Number (ECWID number) in the subject line.
   We are not accepting hard copies at this time.
5. For PRINT BOOKS, we need the FRONT COVER, the BACK COVER, and the SPINE either in one FLAT PDF, JPEG, JPG, or PGN or 3 separate files for the Front, Back, and Spine with the BOOK TITLE in the name of the file. ALL 3 pieces are required.
6. For E-Pub Books (available only in digital format), we require the front cover that is used on selling platforms (Amazon, Book Baby, LuLu, etc.)
7. You may submit more than one book's cover, but each book's cover must have its own entry.
8. All COVER Design text for Title must be translated to English on the submission form. Other text may be in different languages or created languages (with a translation).
9. No erotica or graphic violence.
10. Only one book per entry fee. Each book must have at least 20,000 words of content (novella length).
11. Each entrant understands and accepts that the Chanticleer Book Cover Design Awards is a competition, therefore an award is not guaranteed; designs are competing against other entrants, entry fees are non-refundable, and by making payment and submitting your book's cover, you agree to the terms of use. If an entrant pays for entrance into the CBCDA and fails to submit a digital file either by upload or by emailing the corresponding digital files, the entry will be disqualified, and the entry fee will be forfeited by the author/publisher. (We will make every effort to contact entrants to let them know if we did not receive their file, or if there was a problem with it, so they can send us an acceptable file.)
12. Permission to Reproduce Work
    By submitting work to the competition, all entrants acknowledge that Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media, LLC reserves the right to use accepted work for reproduction in competitions-related publications; on its websites; in any editorial or exhibition of the competitions’ selections; and for educational and promotional purposes.

RECOGNITION and AWARDS

• Recognition - a freestanding crystal award - personalized
• Listing in the HALL of FAME of Book Design Winners
• An Official Awards Certificate with imprint
• Announcements in all Chanticleer Media Channels
• Special Awards Stickers (Digital and adhesive)