A print book’s cover is made to wrap around the entire book. It covers the front, the “spine" and the rear. Print books are usually laid out at a size ratio of 2:3, with 2 being the “short side" and 3 being the “long side.”

EBook covers only show the front cover. No spine or rear cover is required, or even desirable. This is why eBook cover designs save you so much money! Remember that ebooks are shaped differently than print, and range in ratio from 3:4 to 1:1.7. 

More importantly, think of the "job" that a rear cover does for you, with regard to marketing.  A rear cover has blurbs (praise from other authors or readers), a book description or a "hook."  All of this is there in order to induce someone to buy your book.  In an ebook, the rear cover wouldn't be displayed until after the reader already had purchased the book, read it, and completed it, so the marketing "blitz" of the rear cover is a bit unnecessary at that point.  Instead, Amazon, B&N, etc., give you the book description pages, Editorial Reviews section, etc., in which to put this information.  

For the latest updates on the "perfect" ebook cover sizes, please see our FAQ Entry, What is the Correct Cover Size for Amazon eBooks?, which you can click through to by clicking that link.  We keep this article updated as each new cover size is announced.  

T'was the Night Before Christmas... 

 (With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, may he forgive my doggerel...)

...and all through the shop,
all we minions were working,
   until ready to drop.

The ebooks were flying,
the covers were spare,
The edits were crazy,
   with "one more thing I must share!"

We waited for Santa,
'Cuz we love old Saint Nick,
But Hitch made us work,
   Waving 'round an old stick!

So slave we all did,
And made all your books,
So that Hitch would say now,
   that we're off the hook.

Come today we're off,
to rest up our fingers,
Our hats we will doff,
   No books they do linger.

But we'll all be back,
Don't give it a thought,
for like all wage slaves,
   we're easily bought.

We'll be back on the fifth,
all eager and fresh,
All ready for you,
   after a well-deserved rest.

So Hitch wants to say,
very strongly and loud,
THANKS ALL YOU GUYS,
  you're the best type of crowd.

Indy and Len and Hitch and the gang,
will be back on the 5th,
to do books with a BANG!

In the meantime don't worry,
if you're in a hurry,
'cuz some poor guy got stuck
   sitting here like a duck.

Your emails we'll receive,
so no need to grieve.
We'll be a bit slow,
but we're raring to go.

Your books will be worked on,
your edits still made,
we're just resting a bit,
   before we all fade.

So please excuse the delays;
It won't be for days;
we'll jump on your queries,
   for your wondrous new series.

We waited for Santa,
'Cuz we love old St. Nick,
And sure 'nuff he came,
   It wasn't a trick.

And as he rode off,
into the night,
I could swear I heard Hitch yell,
   "That Edit's Not Right!"

~~~~~~~~~~

We'll be back on the morning of January 5th; we'll be here parttime between now and then, thanks.