#Marketing Mondays: Should a Book be Judged by its Cover?

Do you know the importance of having a book cover for your book?

            When people say don’t judge a book by its cover do they really mean that? What is the first thing a potential reader is going to see when they go to buy a book? It’s the cover of the book. It’s important that you have a book cover that gets the reader’s attention. The cover of a book will help readers recognize you by the design, the font, and title. Take Michael Crichton for example; he uses the same font on all of his books. A fan of his work would see the font, and automatically pick up his book because they know his work by the font.

           Potential readers will want to read your book if it stands out to them. Authors spend a lot of time perfecting the summary just so a potential reader will pick up the book, read the summary, and then decide to buy the book. Don’t you think that the cover would be just as important to the potential reader?

            You may ask why it is important that the potential reader is captivated by your book. Well think about it this way, the major publishers spend a lot of money creating the perfect cover for the book that they are selling. Not to say that independent publishing can’t have amazing covers because they can, it may just take a little bit more work. You have to be creative and think about what your potential readers would be attracted to and what would make them buy your book over all the others in the store.

           Think about this, what made you pick up a book and look at it when you select a book to read? What about that book made you feel compelled to pick it up, or read the summary? Was it the color, font, or pictures that were on the cover? Was it the fact that you liked that author? Answer these questions, and you will have taken a step forward in creating your own book cover.

          Your book cover is like a face for the book. It is the first impression that a reader is going to get when they look at a book. First impressions are a big deal in our world, so why not make your books first impression the best it can be by giving it the cover that it deserves?

Links:

Here are a few websites that will provide more insight into why a cover is so important to you, the author, and your potential readers:

http://www.writersandauthors.info/2013/07/why-book-covers-are-so-important.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/book-cover-design-indies_n_3354504.html

http://bookmarketingtools.com/blog/why-great-book-covers-are-so-important/

http://bekindrewrite.com/2012/03/30/5-tips-for-grabbing-attention-with-your-book-cover/

Check out Michael Crichton’s website to see his book covers:

http://www.michaelcrichton.com/