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Book Covers a love story 

devil_book

For a lot of self-published authors creating the perfect book cover is the last thing on their list of important things. It can seem trivial, uncomfortable and perhaps a little overwhelming. Many end up leaving the design to their publisher in an effort to keep costs as low as possible. Compare this to the major publishing houses who have teams of people working through multiple versions of a cover before deciding on the final look. 

Makes you wonder why they think it's so important. 

I have collected book covers for years. I was intrigued by why some worked and some didn't. A jacket cover is your first point of contact with your reader. This isn't the place to cut costs. Designing your first book cover not only honours your work, it establishes your brand as an author. Even the font you use is important - look at established authors, we recognise their brand before we even know it's them. 

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The cover of a book as a critical part of an unspoken interaction between the author and the reader. The reality of consumerism means that we get maybe half a second to hook a potential sale. 

This is the general process: 

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1. Cover (or spine) grabs the attention of the reader

2. They pick the book up, turn it over and read the back

3. They read the opening line

4. They flick through and read more

5. Hurrah. You got a sale! 

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At any point in this process the sale can be lost, and it doesn't matter how amazing your back blurb is, or how stunning your opening line is, or how downright gripping your story is, if no one picks the book up it may as well be written by a tribe of baboons. The cover of your book is your point of first contact. What does it say about the story? What does it say about the book? What does it say about you as a writer? 

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YOUR BRAND IS WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN YOU'RE NOT IN THE ROOM

Indie is a State of Mind 

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