Warning to ebook authors who do not put effort into book covers…

… no matter how brilliant your book content is, it will not sell!

Sorry for shouting (virtually), but I am sick and tired of seeing bad book covers.

Book CoversWhy? It is not because they hurt my eyes. It is because it means there are countless potential literary masterpieces out there that will never get the recognition and appreciation they and their authors deserve.

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What do I consider a ‘bad’ book cover?

Okay, so I am not going to provide examples of actual book covers, because that would just be mean. And, you can easily find countless examples on display in the 99 cents price bracket on Amazon, etc.

For me, a bad book cover is one that looks cheap and unloved, one that has had little thought or effort put into its creation. Tell tale signs are:

– the use of default font types

– lack of interaction between the image and text, e.g. picture in the centre of the rectangle with text squished at the top and or bottom

– raw photo imagery

– garish colour choices, too much text

– thin black borders around the entire cover, picture or text boxes

The psychology of a book buyer

When faced with any choice in life, we use all the information at our disposal to distinguish between competing offers. Readers are not being superficial when judging a book by its cover – we are simply using all information available to us.

When I see a cheap looking or unloved book cover image, questions that come to my mind are:

If the author/publisher could not be bothered spending time and energy creating a good cover, why should I spend my $$ or time on the book?

If little care or attention to detail has been paid to the cover, can the same be said of the text within?

Think I’m being superficial or overly judgemental? Answer the following question honestly.

When you see a person driving a car that has multiple scratches and or dents in it, don’t you make the assumption that person must be a careless driver (and give them a wide berth)?

But graphic design costs money

Firstly, something ‘looking cheap’ does not necessarily mean it was inexpensive, and most importantly and fortunately, the converse is also true.

Book Questions

While we may not all be endowed with an eye for design or aesthetic sensibilities, there is a high chance we know someone who is. Or at the very least we can ask ourselves or those we can trust to give us an honest opinion,

‘Would this cover art look out of place in the prime position of a bookstore display?’

If the answer is YES, then take the time to do a bit of research and look at the characteristics of the cover art on popular book titles and see how your cover can be improved.

After that, if you do not feel you have the ability to design your own store quality book cover, these days there are plenty of under-employed technically savvy and creative types who would be appreciative of the opportunity to have their work on public display. Does a college near you offer courses in graphic design or marketing – would they be interested in a class project?

If you think outside the square, there should be inexpensive ways to get yourself a quality cover for your book.

So, to all the talented and hard working authors out there, I urge you to heed this warning…

First impressions do count.

When going to a job interview you would not just wear any old clothes from your wardrobe and neglect to wash your hair. You would spend time on your appearance and choose your outfit carefully so that it reflects either your individual personality or conveys your suitability for the role you are applying for.

When uploading a cover image for your ebook, please consider how well it will represents the product you are selling to your target audience.

You are proud of your written content – make sure your book cover is something you can be equally proud of.

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