While the old idiom “never judge a book by its cover” stands true, there’s no question that a visually compelling book cover can draw in readers and make them want to read your work.
Think back to the last time you were at a bookstore or browsing titles on an audiobook website. Did you reach for the most visually appalling cover? Absolutely not. We both know you gravitated towards a more intriguing or aesthetically pleasing cover–something you related to on some level. At the very least, a book’s exterior should convey the mood and feeling of what’s inside; therefore, one of its primary functions is to tell readers what to expect. The cover needs to embody the spirit of your work. Shandon Publishing offers design services to ensure you get a striking, beautiful cover that works for your book.
The sooner you start viewing your book cover design as a selling tool, the sooner you start selling more books. A book’s cover is its own advertisement or preview, so the text and images that you feature must have a purpose. Take movie trailers, for example. Nearly every successful trailer will feature one or multiple songs that align with the film’s narrative and personality, as well as including pre-determined clips from key scenes to give its viewers something to be excited about. A great trailer will tell the audience what they can expect without giving the whole story away. Consider if the wrong songs or clips were used. In that scenario, the viewer will either go into the film with backward expectations or decide not to watch it because it was not accurately represented in its preview.
Your book cover design is your first chance to make a good impression, so don’t let it slip away. You might not get a second chance after a bad first glance.