# Book marketing graphics for authors: launch to backlist [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/author-book-marketing) Your cover is the strongest image you own, but a launch needs a dozen more images around it. Here is what to make before, during and long after publication day, all in a look that belongs to the book. ## The short version - Book marketing graphics follow the book's life: a teaser and cover reveal, preorder posts, launch day, quote cards, events and years of backlist promotion. - Build every graphic from the book's own cover colours, so readers connect each post to the book before they read the words. - Quote graphics from your own text work best when the line is short, spoiler free and readable at phone size. - Only use review quotes you have permission to share, and attribute them exactly as published. - Each book in a series can keep the same layout with its own colour, which turns the backlist into a recognisable set. **Book marketing graphics** are the posts, posters and headers that carry a book from announcement to backlist: a teaser, the cover reveal, preorder reminders, launch day, quote cards, event posters and occasional backlist pushes for years afterwards. The simplest way to make them feel like one campaign is to build every one from the cover's own palette and type, in a small set of layouts you reuse. Readers will see each post for a second while scrolling, so they need to recognise the book before they read a word. ## Book launch graphics, stage by stage | Stage | Graphic | Size | | --- | --- | --- | | Three months out | Teaser: title, season, a mood | 1080×1350 post, 1080×1920 story | | Cover reveal | The cover, large, with the date | 1080×1350 post, 1600×900 for X | | Preorder | A reason to order now | 1080×1350 post, 1000×1500 pin | | Launch week | Out now, countdown, thank you | 1080×1920 story, 1080×1350 post | | Events | Signing or festival poster | 2480×3508 A4, 1920×1005 Facebook event | | Ongoing | Quote cards, backlist, newsletter header | 1080×1350 post, 1200×600 email header | A campaign in six stages. Most of the work is the first layout; the rest are variations. Pull three to five colours straight from the cover artwork before you design anything. A dark thriller cover might give you ink black, a cold blue and a single red; a romance might give you blush, cream and gold. Those colours, plus the cover's typeface or a close match, become the campaign. - Thriller: ink to blood red: `linear-gradient(160deg, #0a0a0f 0%, #1e293b 60%, #7f1d1d 100%)` - Romance: blush to gold: `linear-gradient(160deg, #fff1f2 0%, #fbcfe8 55%, #d4a373 100%)` - Literary: paper to stone: `linear-gradient(160deg, #f5f0e6 0%, #d6cfc0 55%, #57534e 100%)` - Fantasy: violet night: `radial-gradient(circle at 70% 25%, #a78bfa 0%, #3b0764 45%, #0f0720 85%)` Backgrounds taken from typical genre covers. Yours should come from your own cover, not the genre average. ## Cover reveal posts A cover reveal is often the most shared post of a whole campaign, so give it room. Run a teaser a few days before with the background and title only, then reveal the cover large and centred on that same background with the publication date. Ask your publisher which date and retailers you may name, and when the embargo lifts. On the 1080×1920 story, keep the date and title inside the central [safe zone](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-media-safe-zones), roughly 800 px wide by 1,150 px tall starting about 250 px from the top, so the app's buttons never cover them. A teaser post for a novel called The Lantern Year announcing a cover reveal on Thursday The teaser: the book's colours and title, no cover yet. A vertical reveal story reading Out 6 March for The Lantern Year, with space for the cover above The reveal story, ready for the cover image to sit above the date. ## Preorder posts that give a reason "Preorder now" on repeat wears thin by the third week. Give every preorder post a different reason, and keep the layout constant so the repetition feels like a campaign rather than nagging. - **A first line:** the opening sentence, set large on the cover colours. - **A preorder gift:** a signed bookplate or bonus chapter, if you are offering one. - **Why it matters:** a sentence on why preorders help a book's first weeks, in your own words. - **Where to order:** your local bookshop, then the big retailers. - **A countdown:** the final week, one post a day. See [countdown post design](https://gradiently.design/guide/countdown-post-design). A countdown post reading 7 days to go for The Lantern Year Countdown posts change one number. Everything else stays put. ## Book quote graphics Quote cards from your own book are the backbone of ongoing promotion. Choose lines that work out of context, avoid anything that gives the plot away, and keep them short enough to read in the time a thumb pauses. [Quote card design](https://gradiently.design/guide/quote-card-design) covers the typography in detail. ### Avoid - A paragraph squeezed onto a square - Lines that only make sense if you know the plot - Review quotes without permission - A different font and colour every week ### Do - One or two sentences, set large - Lines that stand alone and hint at the book's voice - Reviews attributed exactly as published - The cover's palette and type every time A quote card reading Every house keeps one light on for you, from The Lantern Year A line that stands alone, in the book's colours, with the title as the only attribution needed. Pinterest is worth the effort for many genres, because readers save quote pins and reading lists for years. Make a 1000×1500 version of your best quote cards; [Pinterest pin design](https://gradiently.design/guide/pinterest-pin-design) explains the layout. ## Events, signings and festivals Bookshops and festivals usually make their own posters, but many are glad of yours if it arrives early and at the right size. Send an A4 poster at 2480×3508 for the window and till, a square or portrait post they can share, and a 1920×1005 Facebook event cover. Put the date, time and venue in large type and the cover in the middle. [Bookstore social media](https://gradiently.design/guide/bookstore-social-media) shows what shops post themselves, which helps you make something they will actually use. ## Backlist and series promotion A book keeps selling for years if you keep talking about it. Plan a backlist post each month: an anniversary, a new edition, a seasonal fit, or a nudge when the next book in a series is announced. For series, keep one layout and give each book its own colour from its cover, so the set looks like a shelf. Your newsletter header deserves the same treatment, since newsletter readers are often your most loyal buyers. [Newsletter branding](https://gradiently.design/guide/newsletter-branding) covers headers and issue cards. In Gradiently you can run each series as its own brand, with a brand kit holding its palette and fonts, design the reveal once and, with Pro, resize it to every format in one step, so the whole campaign grows from a single design. ## FAQ ### What graphics do I need for a book launch? A teaser, a cover reveal post and story, preorder posts, a countdown, a launch day post, quote cards and, if you have events, an A4 poster and a Facebook event cover. ### What size should a cover reveal post be? Use 1080×1350 for an Instagram or Facebook post and 1080×1920 for stories. A 1600×900 version works for X and Bluesky. ### Can I use review quotes in my book graphics? Only if you have permission or the publisher has cleared them, and quote them exactly with the source as published. ### How do I make book graphics match my cover? Take three to five colours from the cover artwork and use the cover's typeface or a close match for every graphic in the campaign. ### How often should I promote my backlist? A steady monthly post works for most authors, tied to something real such as an anniversary, a season or a new book in the series.