Got It Covered?

Podcasts are a newly discovered passion. They are fantastic for making the work day full of spreadsheets, models and tiresome co-workers go just that little bit faster. It was only a couple of days ago I came across the podcast of two book reviewers. They were discussing how the majority of e-books sitting in their email inbox had covers that looked like they were drawn by a child. And that child had probably been shotting tequila.

That age old saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, has been overused so much in society it has almost lost its meaning. But as a self-published author you shouldn’t be so flippant. Whether you’re trying to impress a reviewer, the media or your audience, you’re cover is your best sales agent. It has to be all cheesy grins, slick-backed hair, flashy suits and a sultry voice. Because if you don’t compel your audience, whatever their literary status, with your ‘good looks’ you get shuffled to the bottom of the pile and the next week your eating stew out of a boot with a stiff shoe lace. Sometimes a front cover is your only chance to impress, and if it’s no eye catching, if it’s not intriguing, if it’s not bright and jumping out of the page, a reader won’t even go far enough to read those golden paragraphs you crafted for your synopsis. They’re roving eye will pass you over as just another graphic. If you want to make money, you don’t want to blend in with the digital slush pile.

For this, you need a professional. Any successful self-published author from the very famous examples like Matthew Reilly through to Amanda Hocking or Brian Pratt, will tell you exactly that. Image is everything. If you look like a bogan (red neck/hill billy/hick), talk like a bogan, drink like a bogan, pee on the side of a building like a bogan, you must be a bogan. Similarly, if you look like an amateur then your work is seen as amateur, inferior, not even worth a free download. Matthew Reilly, an action writer, self published his first novel at 19. He knew that though the editing was his own, the production was his own, the distribution was his own, if he got a friend or himself to design the front cover he was royally screwed.

There are many places that you can go to get a professional front cover. Smashwords has many freelance designers for hire. There are online creative websites like elance.com where artists try to out bid each other to do your work. There you can hire anything from a designer, to a ghost writer, to a levitating website guru (well, maybe not that far).

Remember, in the digital world you only have a front cover, you don’t have a spine, you don’t have a back cover; the front cover is your only visual selling point. Make sure it is eye catching, unique, bright or has a good contrast in colours or shades. Any rule of photographic composition can and should apply to its design. The book also needs to convey the themes of the novel. It needs to convey drama, romance, stupidity, humour (depending on your content). See if the font used for the title can add to the theme and demeanour of the novel. The more information you supply to your designer the better. Give them your synopsis, your pitches, your keywords, any strong images you have of different tense scenes, landscapes. You also need to be strong about your vision; if what the designer has produced does not sit right you need to discuss it with them. Why did they put that element there? Could they make this darker? Print out some other covers in your genre, line them up next to your book cover and see if yours stands out.

So it’s time to decide: are you going to have the cover designed by an inebriated child, or are you going to have a cover that flashes a million dollar smile and gives you a brand new car.

TOMORROW: Formatting and submitting your novel for e-publication, what you need.

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