Sunday, February 28, 2021
Book Marketing: The Cover
Your Book Cover Is Everything
You have completed the inner layout of your book and now have to spend some serious time working on the book cover, but where do you start? The book cover is crucial to selling your manuscript. The design of your novel is going to be what makes someone want to pick up or pass it by.
For those who are new and learning about marketing and cover design, I have a few suggestions and tips. You can always hire a professional graphic designer for the job, but that costs big dollars, so if you can design the cover yourself, you should totally go for it.
Right out of the gate you should check out the competition. Do a wide search on your genre. What are the typical elements for the book covers in your genre? Do they use bright, solid colors? Is there a picture of the main character on the front? This also includes looking at best-selling books in the genre and seeing what kind of cover art they used. Of course, you cannot copy the cover, but it will give you an idea about what the readers of that genre are attracted to the most.
Also, keep in mind that you are not trying to explain the book through its cover. The cover does not necessarily have to be what the book is about, it has to be what is the most attention-grabbing. The reader will find out more when they read the excerpt on the back.
Remember, you book's cover is going to determine if it will best-seller or a drop-out. When someone is scanning the shelf and happens to pick up your book amidst hundreds of others, the first thing they will glance at is the cover. The cover should capture their attention in a second, and will be what entices them to open your book.
Keep in mind that while you want your book to grab someone's attention, you don't want to strive for a "super awesome" out-of-this-world book cover either because it will give the reader very high expectations for the novel. If this is the case, when the person starts reading the book, they will probably be dissappointed because it doesn't meat the pre-conceived idea you gave them through the cover.
So, in summary: Know your genre. Make sure your book cover holds the appropriate elements for that genre. Do not go over-board but focus on something relatively simple and eye-catching. But most importantly, make sure that your book cover reflects who you are.
~ Lydia R. Sherren
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