Self-Publishing: The Importance of a Good Book Cover
Never judge a book by its cover…
But we do. At first, at least.
What compels someone to purchase a book? It may be that they heard great things about it from someone else. But what if someone is just wandering around a bookstore (which I am known to do), or, what with the e-publishing revolution in full force, skimming the “Books” section on Amazon?
Getting someone to pick up your book or click on your book title is the first step to success, and the images on the front cover are a HUGE factor in what makes one do that. When browsing through a list of books on Amazon, the thumbnail image that catches the eye is more likely to get clicked.
Big, bold font; bright colors; large images that have universal appeal — these are all things that make an impact, whether a potential reader is looking at a table covered in books or browsing thumbnail images online.
I have been known on countless occasions to purchase a book I knew virtually nothing about solely based on a pretty cover. I’ve found myself thinking, Ooooh, ice cream. Pretty colors. Pink. I never finished several of those impulse buys, but I bought them. In the end, they look pretty on a shelf or coffee table. And while this thought process makes me sound like an idiot, most people do this.
For instance, love it or hate it, this particular book makes an impact with its cover:
A single word. Bright, contrasting colors. Enigmatic images (why is she holding an apple?)… By the way, I read the book, and I still don’t understand this book cover. But it doesn’t matter, does it? It fulfilled its purpose.
In this New York Times article, a romance publisher reveals how one book became a good seller when the cover was changed from a “winsome woman” to three muscular, half-naked men. Well, it’s not rocket science, is it?
I know what you’re thinking: “I want to self-publish my book. Do I really have to hire a graphic designer for this? I don’t have the cash for it!”
Relax – you don’t really need a high-priced graphic designer to create an appealing ebook cover, just some time and an eye for pretty pictures that, in some way, relates to your story. There are tons of free resources on the Web to help you make that gorgeous cover.
Free Stock Image Websites. There are some really good ones out there, like Stock.XCHNG, MorgueFile, and ImageBase. Be sure to check each image’s terms of usage, even if it’s free. Generally, though, the images are licensed under Creative Commons and are therefore free to use as you wish. One of my personal favorite sites for images is Flickr – just be sure to use the “advanced search” and click on the Creative Commons checkbox.
Free Illustrations. If you’d rather have an illustration on your cover, this can be easily done as well with free clipart. Open Clip Art Library, Vector Open Stock, and Vecteezy all offer excellent illustrations for free.
Free Software. You don’t need Photoshop to create a quality ebook cover with the free images you’ve found. You can use a web-based application to alter the images – Picnik is partnered up with Flickr and has all the necessary bells and whistles. Also, Adobe Photoshop Express is a web-based application that will alter or touch up your pictures for free. If you’d rather have a good free Mac or PC-based application that you can download to your computer, I recommend Mac Preview, which actually does quite a bit of image editing, and for Windows PhotoFiltre is excellent – it is easy to use, even for a newbie.
Free Instruction. Finally, find some free cover templates at the Ebook Template Source for the structure and dimensions of your cover. Amazon, Lulu, and Smashwords provide their own free templates and compiling instructions as well, so if you are using any of those publishers be sure to check out their resources. I personally find the Smashwords Style Guide to be easy and self-explanatory, and they work for the Amazon Kindle as well.
While creating your cover design, be sure to check and see how it looks at thumbnail size, which is around 100 pixels by 150 pixels. Remember, the thumbnail is what shoppers will see first, so it’s just as important as the cover in full size. Make sure the title and main image are clear.
In the end, people are more likely to look at a cover that has sharp, crisp images and bold colors. Steer away from old paintings and commonly-seen images; show them something modern, something bold. Save the Monets or Renoirs for your living room wall.
And… did I mention that I design ebook covers? (Wink, wink)…
Categorised as: Useful Crap