Here is an five minute tip from Colorado Independent Publishers Association Marketing Chair, Cassy. If you believe you have written a great story, had it edited, and now you want to hurry to get a cover on it so you can publish it next week, I suggest you take a breath and not hurry this decision. Some authors believe that the cover is the least important ingredient to publishing a great book. Yes, it is easy to scroll across the internet and find an image or two that might fit your book and it will only cost you between nothing and up to $100. And then you can slap it on your lovely text and call it good. Well, maybe not.
I have actually seen the exact same cover on two different books – in different genres! It was so generic that the only reason I remembered it was that it was in different genres (one in the Science Fiction shelves and the other on the Romance shelf – I’m not kidding) I actually grabbed a copy from the sci/fi and compared it to the romance. That’s when I knew it was a cut and paste. I should have written down the authors so I would be sure to NOT read them. If they cared so little about their books presentation I wondered if they had cared about all the rest. I did read the back cover blurb and was not impressed with either one so I was doubly doubtful and will not waste my money or time – just like they wasted theirs.
If you respect yourself and what you write enough to get an editor to help you bring it up to the best possible story, you should do the same with its visual presentation. Of course, you can beat the odds and land a great cover from Fiver and you can also spend thousands and end up with a crappy cover. I’m asking you to respect yourself and your talents enough to do your books the best way possible. Your book’s appearance gets less than ten seconds to grab the attention of a possible reader – make the best of it. Give them an image from the interior text that will have them opening it up and diving in.
Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/CIPABooks.Denver/videos/325582118069067/?mc_cid=57a5ce1461&mc_eid=772287c368
Take five minutes and consider the wide range of options you have available – particularly if you are self publishing. Respect your characters and their story enough to intrigue possible readers with an iconic cover. The same goes for any interior illustrations you might want.
TimberDarkWriter 