Tag Archives: importance of book covers

Today’s Writing Tip

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No matter what anyone tries to tell you or the old cliche may imply, readers DO judge a book by its cover. Especially in this day when anyone can publish a book and there is a plethora of pure, indie trash out there, nothing screams “amateur” and someone with a major ego trip than a canned or unprofessional cover. Most readers can spot them a mile away. The main one that comes to mind has a black square where you place your title with a photograph or some other graphic behind it.

In other words, make sure yours looks professional. Put as much thought, time, and money into your book’s appearance as you do your story. Don’t think that you have to spend a fortune. Many cover designers, including myself, will put one together for a very reasonable price. If you want to see some of the ones I’ve designed, you can see them on my Kalliope Rising Press website here.

The cover should represent your story, its theme, and/or main character as clearly as possible. This is not always easy, but is well-worth the thought. I’ve seen great covers that fronted for a lousy story and great stories fronted by a lousy cover. Do everything in your power to make them both the best. Your readers will appreciate it.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Don’t ever underestimate the importance of a quality cover. But it goes beyond that. When designing your book cover, look at best sellers in your genre for ideas. General layout, font styles, and even the predominant colors should be similar. You want to fit in with the best.

If it doesn’t fit in with what readers are looking for, they’re likely to ignore it. Make sure it’s an accurate representation of your story, its genre, and good design. You want it to be worthy of all the hard work you put into writing it, not look like it was thrown together just to get the book published.

It’s acceptable to change your cover after your book is published, if you realize you goofed after the fact. Sometimes this can give it new life all around and attract readers who missed it the first time.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Using generic book covers offered by KDP labels your book as amateur and unprofessional. If your intent is only to sell it to friends and relatives that’s fine, but if you want to compete in a commercial market, it’s not going to fly. A generic or poorly designed cover sends the message you don’t care enough about your work as an author to package it correctly. Furthermore, the cover is a potential reader’s first introduction to your story. If it doesn’t catch their eye, it’s doubtful they’ll have any interest in reading it.

I’ve read some books that were horrible in that they desperately needed editing, yet had luscious covers, showing the opposite can also be true. If you want to be viewed as a professional, the quality of both should be top-notch. There’s a lot of competition out there and you don’t want to give people an excuse to pass you by.