Title and Author Placement That Survives a Thumbnail
How to place the title, subtitle and author name so they read at 100 pixels and on a printed wrap.
Design for the smallest size first
Search results show your cover at roughly 100 pixels wide. At that size a four-line title is a grey block. Set the title area first, at thumbnail size, then design the artwork around it. A cover that fails the small test cannot be rescued by a bigger screen.
Keep the title and author name separated
Readers scan for the title, then the author. Put them in different zones with a clear gap. Stacking them in one corner works until a subtitle appears and the author name collides with it; plan space for all three from the beginning.
Contrast beats decoration
White text on a busy photograph disappears. Use a quiet area, a soft gradient or a solid shape behind the type, and check the contrast in grayscale. If the title survives grayscale, it will survive a phone in daylight and a print proof.
Move the type, not the artwork
When a cover is nearly right, reposition the type block before regenerating the image. A lower title zone or a tighter author line often fixes readability without losing the artwork you liked, and it is one change instead of a new direction.
cover dimensions — Text placement only holds if the panel is the size you think it is — the cover dimensions table gives the front, back and wrap measurements for each trim.