For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers
Your Book Cover: What Kind of "First Impression" Does it Make?
she tends to ignore books with amateurish covers even though she
suspects some of the stories inside those covers might be pretty good.
As a book cover designer (www.bookcoversandvideos.webs.com) I can tell you no one should feel guilty about judging a book by its cover.
Why?
Because humans are, by nature, extremely sensitive to first impressions. The
corporate world has known this for a long time. That's why they spend
tens of millions of dollars every year on market surveys and research to determine
the effectiveness of their product packaging.
Two important things for authors to remember:
1. A potential reader's first impression of your book is the cover.
There is an entire psychology built around the concept of "first impressions"
that should be understood by anyone whose product (books, in this case)
is just one among many in competition for the public's attention.
2. Think of the cover of your book in terms of "product packaging" in the
same way that manufacturers regard the packaging of their products. The
cover of your book is the "packaging", the "box" (metaphorically
speaking) that contains the "product". The product is the story inside
the "box". More often than not, a potential buyer's assumption about
the quality of the product is determined by their perception of the quality
of the packaging.
Research has shown that people tend to make purchasing decisions within
a matter of just a few seconds based on their perception of the product
(that "first impression") which is influenced by the packaging.
It's pretty simple really. You're at the store. You see two products from two
different manufacturers, side by side, and both products are exactly the same
and so are the prices. But one is packaged very attractively with a polished,
professional look and the other packaging is rather generic and boring.
Which one are you likely to purchase?
**********************
Gary Val Tenuta
Author and Designer of Low-Cost, High-Quality Book Covers
www.bookcoversandvideos.webs.com
Below are three of my latest "product packages".
Views: 22
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hank Quense on
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I think an eye catching cover is an important marketing tool. If I see two books alongside each other and one has a blah cover and the other an interesting one, the second one will grab my attention and I'll look at that one first.
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Permalink Reply by U.L. Harper on
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Man a bad cover just means a small budget. It has nothing to do with the writing. Sure, I pick up the book with the cool cover first but if the writing sucks it sucks and I'm left to think, wow, still has a great cover. Covers mean even less with all the ebooks out there. How many of those kindle books have nice covers? Really. Not on a kindle screen. Remember, Borders is bankrupt with all their nice book covers and barnes and nobles probably isn't far behind and Powells is laying people off and what's the chain in Australia that just tanked? How far will a great cover take you? Really.
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Permalink Reply by Gary Val Tenuta on
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Hi Theresa,
It's possible the lack of sales is due more to how the books are being promoted rather than to the covers. Of course I don't know how you're promoting the books so I can't say for sure. I'm just saying it's a possibility.
Having said that, however, (and here comes more feedback from another artist - LOL) I've seen your Red Dragon cover before and each time I see it my first impression is that it's very flat. It lacks depth, dimension, mystery and excitement – all of which I'm sure the story probably does have. The psychological impact of the cover is that the viewer may tend to assume the story itself is flat and lacks dimension, mystery and excitement. The cover is the potential reader's first impression of your book. So the cover needs to communicate those attributes to the viewer. Here's an example of how I would have approached the cover:
Of course I have the advantage of using Photoshop to create this kind of image. If you're working strictly by conventional freehand drawing or painting then it's much more difficult to get these kinds of effects.
I've also seen your other version with the drawings of the people on the cover. The problem with covers that include illustrations of people is that we've all become used to seeing either photographs of models who have posed for the cover or really masterful illustrations of people by artists who are capable of rendering them in a photo-realism style, artists like Vallejo and others with that rare talent. These days (actually it's been like this for a decade or more) anything less just doesn't have the same impact. Readers browsing books are likely to view it as something "amateurish" rather than "professional", if you see what I mean. Your illustrations of people are really good. Better than what I can do most of the time. My advice to authors is to say if you can't use photos of models or can't afford to hire an exceptionally skilled illustrator who can render human figures in a photo-realistic style, then don't include people on your cover at all.
Anyway, those are my opinions and I'm sticking to them. [chuckle] By the way, don't take anything I said as a negative criticism of your work. I'm just offering some honest feedback. :-)
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Do book cover designers simply get paid up front or do they get a piece of the royalty? One reason I ask is because I'm about ready for w book cover and if the person I'm using doesn't work out, then I need to hire someone.
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Typically, the designer is paid up front. Working for a piece of the royalty is too much of a gamble since there's no guarantee how well the book will sell or how long it will take to reap enough royalties to enable the author to pay the designer.
Since I work almost exclusively with "self-published" authors I keep my fees at a moderate level because, as we all know, the economy sucks, gas is heading toward $4 and $5 a gallon, grocery prices are rising by the week and most of us are just trying to get by. I'd love to be charging $500 to $1500 for cover design work but who can afford it? Well okay, some can, I know. But they're becoming fewer every day. :-)
If the person you're using doesn't work out you can contact me at GVTgrafix@aol.com or visit my website at www.bookcoversandvideos.webs.com. Which ever way you go, I hope your book is a great success.
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