A cover page can be included as an image in cover element within the bookinfo element. Bookinfo comes right after the title and subtitle elements. An image that fills completely the cover page will have a width of 700 pixels and a height of 900 pixels.
<bookinfo>
<cover> <!-- front cover -->
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<objectinfo>
<graphic align="center" />
</objectinfo>
<imagedata fileref="../common/images/coverpage_patrice_cotte.png"/>
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</cover>
</bookinfo>
Note
The cover element within the bookinfo element generates a validation error that can be ignored. The goal here is to replace some pieces of text that are usually part of bookinfo, such as the author name and mail address by a picture that present both the book and the author.
