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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Your Book Cover is a Powerful Marketing Piece

For those of you who are just starting out on your publishing journey, you should know that your book cover is a powerful marketing piece.  When I wrote The Soul's Mark: FOUND, I was worried about the story and the editing and writing, and the cover was the furthest thing from my mind, but I soon realized how important the cover of my book really was.  So today I want to share a little bit about the importance of a great book cover.

I know we’ve all heard the saying ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’, but the truth is, we all do it. Your cover is the first thing that a reader sees when they pick up your book, and in most cases, if your target audience doesn’t like it, they’ll move on to the next one.

Here’s interesting Self-Publishing statistic: “Hiring a professional cover designer earned them on average 18% more.” - Published at epublishabook.com (Click here to read the full article)

Your book is one of many, which means your cover needs to stand out. Think about all the times you’ve been in a book store, whether it’s a physical store or online, and you’re browsing through the plethora of options. How many times have you passed up a book, not even bothering to read the blurb, because the cover didn’t do anything for you? Personally, I couldn’t even begin to count the times I’ve done it.

When choosing a cover, you need to remember that you are selling stories—a product—and your cover is its packaging. It’s your chance to put your best foot forward. Intrigue your readers before they even turn to the first page. Really, your cover is, in most cases, what will make them want to read that first page.

Remember, you need to advertise in order to sell your book.  I'm not saying that a good cover is all you need, but it truly is a start in the right direction.  If no one notices your book, no one will buy it.

Here are some awesome sites that I use for my cover needs.

The covers for The Soul’s Mark novels were done by a freelancer from Freelancer.ca. She provided me with unlimited revisions, searched for stock images, and put the covers together in just a few days.

The cool thing about Freelancer.ca is that it can be used for pretty much any job you can think of. You can create a free account and post a job. Once it’s posted you’ll have access to freelancers all over the world who will place bids, competing for the chance to work with you. This is great, because instead of you spending your time scouring the internet for a cover designer, you’ll get the cover designers coming to you. :) Make sure you ask for samples of their work before hiring.

Also, I recently found ebook indie covers.  Melody designed the cover of Waking Dreams, A Soul's Mark Novella. You will find a bunch of premade covers for $40.00 each here. Melody also does custom covers. Her prices are very reasonable, and she is a pleasure to work with.

There are tones of other sites out there and fabulous designers, these are just my favorites. 

So, to sum up … your cover is a marketing piece. It’s an advertisement for your book. You’ve spent countless hours creating the story, so don’t sell yourself short. Spending a little money now, will help you in the long term.  I wish you all the best of luck in finding that perfect cover designer.  :)

4 comments:

  1. I use Melody too! She did my book cover for 7th Heaven (http://zarahoffman.com/7th-heaven), Eden Crane (edencranedesign.com) did my book cover for Eve is Dead (http://zarahoffman.com/eve-is-dead.html)

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    1. The covers look awesome Zara! I really love the cover for Eve is Dead. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

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