You worked hard to write the best book you could. You read and re-read, corrected and re-corrected. Now readers must notice and buy. Like your beautiful dress or handsome suit at an important party, every person you meet will judge you on that dress, and/or suit.
Your book must attract readers. Is your cover doing its job? Does it meet the following criteria?
1. Genre: Your book must match the genre and message. After 9-11 Lisa Beamer wrote the book“Let’s Roll. Her husband, Todd Beamer, with other passenges, attacked the terrorists who planned to hit the white house. They tackled the terrorists and the plane went down in a field.
The designer changed the cover though it still doesn’t convey the tragedy and excitement of the day. But the one I found in the church library shows a cover apparently before the final cover choice. The woman and child told the whole world it was a parenting book.
2. Type style: Rule of thumb: one is not the loneliest number for book covers. If you use more than one, no more than three, and three is one too many. And only one ornate style. Nothing screams amateur louder than a cover with fighting typefaces.
3. Art. If your book calls for an illustration--as fiction often does--hire a professional. The only books that can carry stick figures, and bad drawings are children’s books. Maybe you can pass the picture off as a cartoon. But even then--hire a professional. Writers often have small budgets. But your book is your business. You must spend money. Is there a college near? Can you find a student who wants to build his/her portfolio? Otherwise Hire A Professional.
4. Size: On many venues your book will appear at one inch tall. It must read at that size. Shoot your cover to that size to see what your audience will see.
I don’t know if my cover will sell
Martha’s Sister, Beloved Prodigal, (my book). If it doesn’t, I will swallow my pride and change it. Your cover is the receptionist out front.
I've created almost all of my covers and only used a professional when my software became obsolete. But I have graphic design training and experience and done some publishing of newsletters. I rarely use any of my artwork except something that I can do with graphic tools so that it looks professional.
My experience with the cover artist that I used was that he was unwilling to provide alternatives and only allowed two drafts before the final edition. I have been able to come up with several cover ideas for every one of my covers. Unfortunately, while I like my trilogy cover theme, the title gets lost in the American flag. I tried to make it bigger, but its length prohibits that.
Your cover looks very good and very professional. I hope it sells well. I'm only interested in the contents and not in the cover… That's where the meat of the matter is.
Ron