Why Book Covers Are So Vital
by Brian Cormack Carr
I recently self-published my first book How To Find Your Vital Vocation: A Practical Guide To Discovering Your Career Purpose And Getting A Job You Love, and
I asked my blog readers to help me choose the book’s cover. I knew the
cover would be a vitally important factor in the book’s success, so I
wanted to get it right.
It’s important to bear in mind that the cover is likely to be the
first thing a potential reader of your book will encounter. In today’s
online world, that cover has to stand out even when it’s in thumbnail
size on a computer screen. You want your cover to attract the reader,
not repel them.
Get Professional Help
For that reason, I strongly recommend that all self-published authors
hire a professional cover designer (unless they themselves have very
professional graphic design skills). Professional cover design doesn’t
have to cost the earth, and it really will help your book to hold its
own against the competition from traditional publishing houses. After
all the hard work you put into writing your book, you don’t want to stop
it in its tracks with an amateurish cover.
Don’t worry that hiring a professional designer will take away from
your influence on the book. Far from it – a good cover designer will
work with you to ensure you get the cover you want.
My cover designer and I sifted through a range of different images
that we felt might suit the topic of my book – job hunting and career
change – and then I chose three or four images I particularly liked.
Using these images, she mocked up a range of potential covers for me to
have a look at. I whittled the choices down to two, but discovered at
that point I was stuck! I just couldn’t choose, because they were both
great options.
How I Chose My Cover – and Got Readers To Help
I turned the choice (which was between a cover featuring some cartoon
people and one featuring an elephant on a tightrope) over to my blog
readers, mailing list subscribers and social media followers.
Effectively, I “crowd sourced” opinions on which cover would most attract them.
I made this a competition – everyone who participated was in with a
chance of winning a signed copy of the paperback version of the book.
This was useful in a couple of ways. It helped me assess which cover
would be most attractive to a potential reader, and it also served as a
“trailer” to my audience for the book’s imminent release.
As you can see, my audience chose the cover featuring the elephant.
The choice wasn’t unanimous, but the elephant was a very clear winner,
and it turns out that the people who like it do so for many different
reasons.
Some see this amazing creature as a symbol of strength, wisdom and
purpose. Some see the tightrope as a sign of the balancing act we all
must perform on the journey to our ideal work. Some feel the umbrella
indicates hope and is representative of the tools we need to help us
along the way (especially if we fall). One person told me the image made
him think of the precarious nature of the job market nowadays, while
another said it made her feel like anything was possible if we’re really
using our inborn talents. Some people see the elephant as unhappy and
in desperate need of careers advice, while others feel this as an
elephant that has clearly found its Vital Vocation!
I love the image because it seems to say something relevant to every
eye that sees it, and that feels right for a book that’s all about
charting your own individual path to the work you love.
So – what does the elephant on my cover say to you?
BIOGRAPHY:
Brian Cormack Carr is a writer, certified career coach and chief
executive of BVSC The Centre for Voluntary Action, one of the UK’s
leading local charities. He trained in personnel management with Marks
& Spencer plc and gained an MA (Hons) in English Literature and
Language from the University of Aberdeen. Brian has nearly 20 years of
experience in the fields of personal development and leadership, and has
helped hundreds of clients, readers and workshop participants to find
fulfilling work and a renewed sense of purpose.
Websites: www.cormackcarr.com ; www.vitalvocation.com
Twitter: @cormackcarr
Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.
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