The old adage that you can’t tell a book by its cover may well be true. But when it comes to attracting potential readers to a new book, the cover can make all the difference. This is becoming even truer with the advent of ebook publishing, as the cover image is usually what potential readers notice first. On the Amazon Kindle Store, the cover image is also the link to the ‘Look Inside’ feature, which is where the preview read is located, so it is vital to attract attention with a book’s cover.
After a long number of years of self-publishing, I must admit to having forgotten about some of my earlier titles and how bad the covers really were. So, over the last few weeks, I have been working to not only improve the appeal of some older covers but also standardise my cover template and the ‘look and feel’ of all my book covers.
Whether all my work will reap any increase in sales will take some time to discover, but at least in the meantime, I have the self-satisfaction of knowing that overall the covers are now much better and hopefully more appealing at first glance.
While I was at it, I retitled one book that has not been performing well. This is one great advantage of electronic publishing: There are always possibilities to improve a book.
After all the work involved in getting the covers ready, there was a lot more work in getting them loaded onto Amazon, my website, Goodreads, and a host of other places where my books lurk.
Anyway, the work is done, and it will be up to readers to decide if the covers are now more appealing and warrant further investigation.
Good luck with the new covers mate :)
Thanks Jack. It can only be an improvement.
I don’t judge a book by its cover, but I always read the blurb on the back or a review in the papers (or Amazon).
Still, I am sure having an eye-catching cover will do wonders too. Best of luck. Let us know the outcome.
Fatima
Nice branding! I often pass on books where the cover looks like a mess. I have at least one cover that I need to re-do. I spent so much time building a 3d model of a Fuchs armored car (for a short trailer) that I figured I’d put it on the cover. It’s just too busy for a thumbnail image. I’ve been working to develop new covers to tie my main series together and it’s time I got around to axing the Fuchs.
Love the one for Camera Stellata. Do you use stock or does someone generate images for you?
It’s something I’ve been avoiding for a while Andrew. With 13 titles I knew it would be a lot of work, but hopefully it helps a bit. I use stock images mainly as there is such a choice available that I can usually find what I’m looking for.
Good luck with the new covers, Derek.