by Penny Sansevieri
Almost every author who reaches out to me wants to sell more books, so if you identify as such, you’re not alone. Surprisingly, the number-one hurdle to an author wanting to accomplish that goal, aside from doing no marketing, is often book cover design.
Unfortunately this is a much more common problem for indie authors because we’re left to our own devices; we don’t have a publishing house making expert recommendations to a team of in-house professional designers.
Indie authors don’t get a free pass; if you want to sell more books, you need to take a hard look at your book cover and determine whether it’s supporting your book marketing in all the right ways. Let me break it down for you.
Everything should be easy to read
Your book cover needs to be clear, concise, and easy to read. Yes, you may have a great review, and you may think slapping it on the cover will help you sell more books, but if you can’t incorporate it in a visually appealing way, it will just detract from your book-marketing efforts. Same goes for photographs. I’ve worked with a lot of authors who bring some great personal photographs to the table, but they don’t translate into a powerful book cover. Indie authors need to remember to check their ego at the door when it comes to book cover design and focus on what really works.
Design your book cover for online shopping
Book marketing in this day and age is about being savvy online, and your book cover is no exception. So if you want to sell more books, you need a book cover that’s been designed for online shopping. Yes, your original design may look good as a full-sized PDF on your computer, but shrink it down to an Amazon-sized thumbnail before making a final decision.
Always consider your genre
Creating a design that fits in with your genre will automatically call to those most likely to buy your book. Don’t think broad book marketing here, think niche, so, not simply romance, but paranormal fantasy romance. Or not just business, but personal finance. As part of your book-marketing approach, you should have detailed descriptions and demographics of your target buyer market. Use these to determine what your book cover design needs to convey to be associated with things they already like to buy.
Goals need to evoke the right feeling
What are your goals, and who aligns with those goals? If you’re looking to sell more books, you sometimes have to take the genre notes a step further. Remember that your book cover design should also communicate your goals in a way that resonates with your buyer market. Book marketing is about connecting, and it takes some finesse.
Aim for trendy without being cliché
Marketing and advertising are all based on psychology and making connections. So you want to make sure the imagery and font you’re using represents what we’re seeing in the world today if the book is current, or what people were seeing in the past, if the book is historical.
Bonus book marketing tips!
Don’t use clip art, there’s no need for it.
Children’s books are bought by adults, so writing a children’s book does not give you a free pass to use corny graphics or your granddaughter’s preschool artwork. Hire a professional and use little Madison’s drawing as part of your acknowledgments.
Don’t illustrate your own cover. You may be an artist, but your own artwork has no place on your cover unless you’re making a living at it, and even then, be careful. Use your art within the story if it’s relevant or use it as bonus content on your blog or social media. But pay a professional book cover designer to do the cover. Hiring qualified professionals is money well spent.
If you want to sell more books, you need to have a product that looks at least as good as, if not better than, the books on the shelf at the store. Your book cover must be competitive.
Head to your local Target and check out their book section. All of the covers are top notch. There’s a reason for that: the author and/or the publisher understood how critical a good cover can be to a book’s success. While you’re perusing the book aisles, imagine your own book for sale there. What would it need to look like to be a contender?
Make some notes, take a deep breath, and dive in.
Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.
