Friday 30 August 2013

Rachel Hanna - Why Book Covers Are So Important

Why Book Covers Are So Important
 by: Rachel Hanna

When I talk to budding authors, one of the things I like to stress to them that is so important are book covers. I think your book cover is probably one of the most important aspects of your book aside from the content itself.
So many new authors try to make their own book covers if they are self-publishing, and I think that this is a big mistake. Unless you're trained as a graphic designer and you've made book covers for years, it's probably best to hire someone who is well-versed in creating them.

For one thing, you don't want your book cover to look home made. The last thing you want is for readers to see your book on Amazon or other book venues and think that it's amateurish. This is what happens most of the time when someone tries to create their own book cover. Either they use the wrong font or they make it unreadable when it's in thumbnail size on Amazon. It's important that when you get book covers made, you take a look at the thumbnail image to make sure that people can see it and know what genre it's in.

Remember that your book cover is your first impression. Most of the time, someone is going to pick your book based upon the cover first. Once they're interested by looking at the cover, then they will read the description and decide if they want to read the book. Your book cover is like that first handshake. You have to make it strong to convey a certain image about your book.

Another important thing to remember about book covers is that you need to have the correct rights to the images used on your cover. You can't simply take images off the Internet and use them for your book cover as you will likely be violating copyright and licensing agreements. Instead, you want to buy the rights to stock images from reputable websites and keep the information showing that you have the proper rights to use those images.

Of course, most of this applies to self published authors as traditionally published authors don't have this concern since their publisher will handle the book cover. Since I'm self published, I'm specifically speaking to other self published authors.

Even if you're new to the publishing game, it is critically important that you hire someone to do your book covers for you. You need to look at your genre and try to make your book covers match a similar style simply because you want people to be able to look at your cover quickly and know what genre it is. Sometimes, your book can be great but your cover can be confusing to readers of the genre and therefore not sell.

Investing your money in good covers is important. It doesn't have to cost that much to get quality book covers created. In fact, when I first started out I only paid $25 for my book covers. I happened to come across a very good graphic designer on one of the freelance sites and he was able to create covers for me that competed well with traditionally published books.

Ruined
Buy Now @ Amazon @ Barnes & Noble @ Kobo
Genre - New  Adult Romance
Rating – R
More details about the author and the book
Connect with  Rachel Hanna on Facebook & Twitter

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Books Sold - 6 Nov 2011 to 31 May 2012

Some of you have asked me for my total number of books sold to evaluate KDP Select so here it is. Bear in mind, that results will vary based on genre and author. Good luck and remember, Keep Moving Forward.

Total - 120,836

1. Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out
Amazon Kindle - 42,559
Paperback -
Smashwords -

2. Frequent Traveller
Amazon Kindle - 35277
Paperback -
Smashwords -

3. Dora's Essentials - Books, Blogs & Smiles 1
Amazon Kindle - 462
Smashwords -

4. Mirror Me Martha (Short Story)
Amazon Kindle - 281
Smashwords -

5. Drive On Hope (Short Story)
Amazon Kindle - 190
Smashwords -

6. Blog-A-Licious Directory 2012
Amazon Kindle - 1
Smashwords -

7. Pandora's Reading Room 1
Amazon Kindle -
Paperback - N/A

8. The Cat That Barked (Short Story)
Amazon Kindle -

9. Dora's Essentials - Examining Anxiety
Amazon Kindle -

10. Dora's Essentials - Books, Blogs & Smiles 2
Amazon Kindle -

11. Elevenses from Around the World
Amazon Kindle -

12. Genetically Modified Foods vs. Sustainability
Amazon Kindle -

Blog-A-Licius - Sherbet Blossom

SherbetBlossom

Blog-A-Licious

Dealightfully Frugal

Blog-A-Licious - The Few, The Proud, The Wife

Blog-A-Licious

My Soul Slippers

Blog-A-Licous - Textbook Mommy

Blog-A-Licious - Blue Frogs Legs

Blog-A-Licious - Pretty All True

Pretty All True

Blog-A-Licious - tbaoo

tbaoo

Blog-A-Licious

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Blog-A-Licious - The Invisible Art

Blog-A-Licious - Rediscovering Domesticity

Rediscovering Domesticity

Blog-A-Licious - Quiver Full

Blog-A-Licious - Cori's Big Mouth

Blog-A-Licious - Great Fun

Greatfun4kids

Blog-A-Licious - Busy Wife

Blog-A-Licious - Steps To Happiness

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Blog-A-Licious - Toby & Max


Blog-A-Licious - Amelie

Raising Amelie

Blog-A-Licious - Peas In A Pod

Blog-A-Licious - Riley

Blognostics - Poetry

BlogNostics

My Awards - September 2010

My Awards - September 2010
Awarded By Jo Frances

My Awards - May 2011

My Awards - May 2011
Awarded By Alejandro Guzman

My Awards - May 2011

My Awards - May 2011
Awarded by Kriti Mukherjee

My Awards - April 2011

My Awards - April 2011
Awarded By Roy Durham

My Awards - June 2011

My Awards - June 2011
Awarded By Sulekha Rawat

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