How To Choose A Book Cover Design

How To Choose A Book Cover Design

by | cover design, marketing

​To find the right book cover design for my debut novel, The Day She Came Home, I worked with a designer I found via www.reedsy.com.

It was a really interesting process, especially as I’m not great with visuals! 

Finding the right book cover design

The first thing I had to do was look around at designs within my genre, women’s contemporary fiction. This gave me an idea of what book cover design was in fashion at that moment.

I encourage you to do the same. You might have a specific idea of what you want the cover to look like, but if it doesn’t fit with your genre, your potential reader won’t recognise it as a book they’ll like, and move on.

When a potential reader of this genre was browsing the online stories, they want to see a thumbnail they immediately recognise as a story they would enjoy.

The aim is to make a potential reader ‘stop the scroll’ and read the book blurb.

Unintuitive as it seems, readers want to read the same story again and again, only with a twist.

As they say in Thailand, ‘same, same, but different!’

Your book cover design suggests they will get the same, same, but different.

Finding a book cover designer

After researching the market and deciding on the cover I wanted, I had to put together a brief.

This included the description of my book and its main characters, who my target audience was and, importantly, my budget!

I also shared examples of ‘comparable’ books.

Next, I browsed the designers registered with Reedsy and looked at examples of their cover designs. I shortlisted the five designers I particularly liked the look of and thought would capture the look and feel of the book cover design I wanted.

I chose a mix of book cover designers, some who used predominantly photo images and others who used original artwork. 

Part of my learning was that those who use original artwork charge higher prices (thus outwith my budget) which makes sense! They are creating something unique rather than using stock photos.

A useful learning experience there!

Waiting for the book cover design

From the designers on my shortlist, not all were available, or were within my budget, which was helpful because it narrowed the field and made the decision of whom to work with much easier!

Once we’d agreed on the terms of the agreement, my chosen designer then headed to her studio to put together some book cover designs for me to choose from.

I then chose my favourite and together we tweaked the design to get it just right. That was the most exciting part of the process for me.

I loved opening up each image, watching the book cover design develop with each iteration. It was wonderful to see the design that would complement my words.

The final book cover design

This was the original design. I loved it!

But as I’ve learnt, fashions change, and in time I updated the cover.

This time I went with a pre-made book cover from BookCoverZone. They sell high quality, pre-designed book covers you can tweak and adapt to fit your novel.

These designs are much cheaper than commissioning a brand new book cover and, although they are not tailor made for your book, the quality of the images and designs are of the highest calibre.

Here is the second book cover design for my debut novel, The Day She Came Home.

Do you need an author website?

I’ve discovered that having an author website is a vital part of your author career. Even if you’re unpublished. 

As a published author, where better to showcase your new book and book cover design than on your website? Read why you need an author website and how to start.

Final Thoughts: It takes time to find the right book cover design

If, like me, you’re new to design, know that it will take time for you to find the right book cover design. I’m still learning and think it’s time for an updated cover.

In fact, like me, you’ll probably try a few out in the first few years of your publishing career. That’s not a bad thing. It shows your understanding of cover design is developing and getting more discerning as you go.

Even as you’re writing your first novel, browse the top selling books in your genre. Look at the images, colours and fonts. Do you like them? Do you not like them? What can you tweak so you like the cover without confusing your prospective reader?

Have fun with the book cover design. This is one reward that comes after all your hard work writing the manuscript.

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Do You Need An Author Website?

Do You Need An Author Website?

by | indie publishing, marketing, the creative penn

As part of my research into the indie publishing world, I’ve discovered that having an author website is a vital part of your author career. 

Even if you’re unpublished? The answer is a resounding yes!

As you can imagine, there is a plethora of material out there to guide people in how to best market their books. To date, one of my favourite marketing gurus is Dan Blank.

Why do you need an author website?

It’s important for you to build relationships with your readers. You want them to like you as well as your work so that they feel connected to you and want to buy your new book. If they discover you later down the road, they will want to go back and read your full catalogue.

To do that, you need an author website.

It’s one of the simplest ways of connecting with your readers (or future readers). When a reader truly connects with you, not only do they want to know what other books you’ve written, they want to know about you.

I’m always curious about my favourite writers. I want to know where they live, what jobs they’ve had, their journey to writing and their favourite books.

It helps me form a bond with them and makes me a lot more likely to buy their next book.

Is an author website part of your author platform?

Indeed it is. Your writer ‘platform’ comprises your website, blog, social media accounts, podcast or YouTube videos. 

It is also the networking events you regularly attend. These are ways of connecting to people who want to learn more about your novels and your author life.

What do you use your author website for?

Just about anything!

For example, if you’re a woodworker you can show images of yourself busy in the workshop. If you’re an artist, you may want to share images of your work in progress and the inspiration behind the piece (as my good friend Jody Little does).

Perhaps you import clothing or shoes and want to showcase those. Followers are often keen to see how the business side works, as well as seeing the finished product. A glass designer I know regularly posts about her latest projects.

She shows her followers the drawings she uses as the basis of her designs, photographs of her at work and, of course, the finished result. She uses her platform to great effect.

Remember, you want to give people a sense of shared understanding. It’s the story behind the experiences that interests readers, not just factual news articles. Story telling not only builds your online platform, it develops your brand.

Why an author website rather than social media?

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The reason your website is so vital to your business is that it’s yours. You own it.

You can build a huge following on Facebook, but if the algorithm changes, you can lose your whole following in one fell swoop.

You own your website, nobody can take that away from you. It’s your home base and everything you do comes out of there. 

It’s where you tell followers about yourself and showcase your books.

Should you choose to, it’s where you host your blog, post your videos and embed your podcasts. 

From there, you can branch out into the sites you don’t control: Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, etc. 

Ultimately, all roads lead to your website.

When do you build your author website?

Blank recommends you build your website as soon as possible, before you’ve even published your first book.

The reason is you want to be ‘findable’ so that, when you market your book, people have somewhere to find out more about you and, if they like what they see, buy your book.

What do you share on your author website?

The purpose of your site is to let people connect with you, learn about your books and stories.

In addition to a simple bio and photograph, your author website can be a way for people to join your mailing list.

Let prospective subscribers know what they can expect from you if they sign up. As a thank you, you can send them a short story or novella. Perhaps something related to the series you’re writing, like a map of the location if you’re writing fantasy or, if you’re writing a crime novel, a document about a suspect’s background.

It’s all about connecting with your reader and making them feel valued. 

Don’t feel you have to put on a front or be ‘professional’. Rather, be yourself and share things that mean something to you. For example, if you write cosies and collect teapots, let readers know that.

If you’re a crime writer and love true crime documentaries, share that with your audience.

If you’re a sci-fi writer, share your influences and how you come up with your ideas. Maybe you’re a keen traveller and it’s your trips that spark an idea.

When building relationships, Dan Blank advises you be as authentic as you can, and I agree.

Think of your reader as a friend. You’re dropping them a line and letting them know what you’re up to and how your latest novel is coming along.

Teach them something about writing, tell them a funny anecdote, share an experience, relay what you learnt during your book research.

As mentioned previously, readers love to see what goes on behind the scenes – me included!

I want to know how Val McDermid plans out her books, how Lisa Jewell writes so prolifically, and how Kate Atkinson comes up with her time travel story ideas.

Here are a few things to consider as you build your author website.

  • Establish your online personality

Choose the parts of your personality that you want to showcase to people. For example, perhaps you have a sarcastic scene of humour. Don’t hide that! That authenticity will resonate with equally sarcastic, funny and nerdy people, who will follow you.

  • It’s not about you.

At the same time as showcasing you and your talent, it’s also about your readers. If you get a positive email or comment from someone, give them a shout out on your next blog posts. They will love being publicly acknowledged and feel appreciated.

  • You will screw up

Nothing is ever perfect the first time around, and that’s okay!

When you first start writing, your work will not be your best. It takes time to learn this new way of writing. Remember that ‘copy’ is very different from writing fiction. Don’t be surprised if you find it difficult and need a bit of time to find your voice. You’ll get there, give yourself some grace.

How do you start designing your own author website?

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here. I’m going to send you to the person who taught me, in two half-hour tutorials, how to create my own basic website.

Joanna Penn, who has been marketing her books for over a decade now, kindly put out these easy to follow videos on how to create your own author website.

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/authorwebsite/

Final Thoughts: Take your time

Building a following takes time. It’s a slow process that is done by taking one step at a time. This leads me back to one of my favourite business books, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. His mantra is; it’s easy to do something, and it’s easy not to. It’s been a game changer in my life.

By just doing one small thing a day, you can achieve more than you ever thought possible. It’s like writing a book; you take it one word at a time.

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