Thursday, October 6, 2011

First impressions are everything (Why a kickin' book cover is mandatory)

If you are a new author, a wanna-be author, or an author who does not give much thought to book covers, this blog is for you!  Although I am a relative "newbie" in indie publishing, I have over 20 years in advertising sales.

Friends, the old cliche that first impressions are everyting is a cliche for a darn good reason.  Please understand: this does NOT just apply to people.  Is your book "dressed for success"?  (Yeah, I know.  Another cliche.  Just one of those days, I guess.) 

Bottom line?  If your book cover sucks, so will your sales. Would you want to spend an evening with someone who looks messy, boring, or just plain cheap?  Of course not.  Why, then, would a reader want to spend a night (or more) with a book that looked that way?  Why would they spend money on it?

When it comes to books, looks are (almost) everything.  Most important is that you have written a good book.  If the story is not good, word gets out, and you won't sell.  Still, the cover is almost as important.  If you don't have a cover that makes people want to own the book, readers don't buy it. It is that simple. Readers want to date books that look good!

Make sure that you get a professional looking, interesting cover for your published books.  Please.  A good lookin' cover gets them reading the free sample.  The free sample gets them ordering the book.  And, that is what you want, right?

Professionally done covers don't have to cost a fortune, either.  There are many great designers of book covers out there.  I personally love Robin Ludwig Design.  Here is a their link: http://www.rldprint.com/portfolio/book.html

Robin is professional and full of great ideas.  Plus, she has fair, reasonable rates.  Check her out the next time (or the first time) you need a cover.  I highly doubt you will be disappointed.

That reminds me, I better start thinking about the book cover for the second book in my series, Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny.  I hope to have it available by December 1st at the latest.  I have gotten dozens of compliments about the cover for Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream.  The things women have said about that cover would make even Gastien blush!  I will be contacting Robin soon, asking her to keep the heat going for my second book.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for the compliments and referrals. Obviously, I could not agree more *winks*

    ReplyDelete