The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” might apply very easily in several aspects of life. However, in the publishing industry, to a large extent, people judge a book by its cover. Every writer wants to make a good first impression on their target audience. One way to do this easily is by choosing the right book front cover after writing a book.
When writing a book, the average writer is expected to pay a lot of attention to details. And to a large extent, lots of writers try to be as detailed as possible. They spend so much time writing and editing.
While the quality of a book’s content is expected to make it special, there are more things needed to make the book a best seller book.
If you fail to pay attention to the book front cover, you just might struggle to sell the book.
What is a Book Front Cover?
A book front cover is simply the front of a book. It is the first physical part of a book that readers have access to.
Generally, the front cover of a book contains the name of the author, the title of the book, and any illustrations that give an idea of what the book is all about.
A book front cover actually plays several roles. While several people might simply assume it is a brief insight into the contents of a book, it is usually more than that. It also plays the role of protecting the other pages of the book.
Importance of a Book Front Cover
There is a lot a book front cover can do to make your book a best seller book. Due to this, the importance of a book front cover cannot be overlooked.
Read also, Book Cover Making: Amazing Step by Step Guide on How to Design a Book Cover
Below are few reasons a book front cover is important.
It Gets the Attention of Buyers
This is perhaps the most obvious importance of a book front cover. There are quite a number of ways you can get the attention of prospective readers after writing a book. One of them is by having a catchy book front cover.
A good front cover should not give out too much. It must release just enough information to keep readers interested.
It Keeps the Book Intact
A book front cover might be famous for helping a book get noticed. However, it does more than that. It also plays a role in keeping the pages of the book together.
It Contains Important Details About the Book
Every book has details that make it stand out. As an author, a front cover can come in handy in helping you distinguish your book from others in the market. This is because it carries special information about your book.
Simples Tips to follow when Choosing a Book Front Cover
As an amateur writer, it might seem like there is nothing serious about selecting a cover. Well, if you must make it to the league of successful writers, you will have to master the process of choosing the best cover for your book.
That being said, below are tips that will help you choose a best seller book cover.
Choose a Book Front Cover that Passes a Message
The right cover is expected to pass a message. When a prospective reader takes a look at it,
they should have an idea of what the book is about.
While looking to help readers have an idea of what your book is about via a front cover, ensure you do not end up telling them a story.
The aim is to get the attention of readers and get them to look into the pages of your book.
Still, on passing the message, it is important that the illustrations on the book cover depict what is contained in the book. If there is any form of disparity, readers could feel deceived.
In as much as writers try to stand out from the crowd in several ways, choosing a book front cover might not be the safest way to stand out from the crowd.
Read also, 10 Best Websites to Download Royalty Free Images for KDP Book Cover Creation
I am certain you do not want your book to be the only book with a certain look in an entire genre.
If you are bent on standing out while choosing a front cover. Then, it really is not about having a cover that is different from others. You simply need to ensure that your cover is professionally designed.
Be certain of what Genre Your Book Falls Under
Every book falls under a genre. While the genre of a book is a strong determinant of its market, it should also be considered when choosing a front cover. This is important as the front cover that works for one genre might not be good enough for another genre.
If you can get the right front cover for the genre your book falls under, then, you are close to successfully getting your target audience to notice you.
How does this work?
Well, a book cover can be likened to a signpost. People take a look at it and images are formed in their minds without them even realizing what just happened.
If a book cover is suitable for a genre, readers that love books in such genre will be naturally drawn to the book by simply sighting its cover. And when this happens, they will make attempts at checking out the book.
All things being equal, every genre is linked to symbols and colours.
Additionally, they are associated with certain fonts. So, to attract the right readers, you will have to get these things right when choosing a cover.
Check Out Indie Books
Sometimes it seems like the easiest way to choose a front cover is to check out other books in the same genre. Well, this method is definitely effective. However, it does not always work.
If you have written a book in a genre that is not very defined, then you just cannot choose a cover based on the appearance of other books in the same genre.
If you find yourself in this situation, you will need to locate indie books that you can work with.
When making use of this approach, you should not use just any indie book. You need to choose an indie that is generally considered to be successful.
Read also, Book Publishing Made Easy: Follow These Simple Steps to Publish a Book
How does this work?
If readers spot a form of similarity between your book front cover and that of a successful book, there is a likelihood they will like your book if they like such book.
Avoid Choosing a front cover with So Many words
When readers come across your book, it is important they do not need to put in an effort to spot the title of the book and the name of the author.
One way to ensure readers can always spot the book title and name of the author on the front cover is to avoid having so many texts on your cover.
In the presence of so many texts, it becomes difficult to spot one thing in particular.
There are various schools of thought about what an author can have on their front cover. Some believe it is okay to have your book subtitles on your front cover. Others, however, do not agree with this.
However, there is no explicit rule as to whether to have a subtitle on the book front cover.
If you are not sure whether to have subtitles on your front cover, you just might have to stick to the rules of the publishing house you are working with.
If you will be publishing on Amazon KDP, then, you can choose whether to include a book subtitle or not.
Stick to Trends
Times change and with this comes to a change in trends. Trends perhaps have a strong influence on pop culture.
However, beyond just affecting pop culture, they also have an effect on the right book front cover at a certain time.
The appropriate illustration and font cover in a certain genre in a certain year might be entirely different from the expectation a few years down the line.
The implication of this is if you do not stick with trends, you just might end up choosing the wrong book front cover.
If you model your cover after a best-selling book, you simply might not get the result of the best-selling book. This is because the concept behind its book front cover might be entirely stale.
The Takeaway
When looking to choose a book front cover, there is a lot to be considered. The presence of several choices can make you confused.
One way to deal with any confusion is to choose a cover that you are sure will make your book marketable.
Now, you might not like this book front cover. Nonetheless, the aim is not to choose what you like but to select what is best for your book.
