The Importance of a GREAT Book Cover!!

Hi everyone,

Today we are going to touch on the importance of making a good cover for your book.  Should you do it yourself?  Hire a professional?  Can you imagine what it should look like in in your mind?  These are all important questions and decisions...

I can’t stress the importance of marketing and branding your book the right way, as your success will depend on it.   As a matter of fact, I believe that how you present your book – the first thing people will see when they are introduced to your writing - is just as important as the first impression you make on a perspective employer or lover or friend!

There are tools out there that can help you!  For example, before preparing this post I found an online program called "My eCover Creator" that allowed me to create a professional looking e-book cover (see below) in as little as 15 minutes once I figured out a few easy steps; it cost's $3.95 US to download once completed.

FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY

Other authors use Photoshop or some other program that allows them to work with graphics easily.  Whatever method you choose to create your cover, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind as you are producing the packaging for your hard work, which are:

• Do make sure that the tile is legible;
• Do make sure that the font on the spine really stands out (for printed work);
• Do make sure that the back cover provides a brief summary about the book’s content;
• Do make sure that if you are going to include an author picture that it is a head shot and looks professional (for printed work);
• Do choose fonts wisely!! Each genre of books has similar typeface characteristics. It’s important to recognize these patterns and consider them when selecting cover fonts. For example, the same typeface used for books on sympathy may not be appropriate for a murder mystery; and
• Don’t try and portray your entire story with cover artwork. Instead, garner a potential reader’s interest and make them want to know more. Keep the front cover simple; it’s the back cover’s job to summarize and provide more information.

Remember the importance of branding!! Your readers identify with your brand more than anything else so stay true to it! If this seems overwhelming to you and you are looking to have someone do it for you, I'm considering offering this as another service for authors and writers so send me a message and I will put my Business Marketing diploma to work for you!!

What other guidelines do you follow when creating your book covers?

Have a great day!

Becky