What's in a Cover?

 

Reader Me:

I bought a Sherlock Holmes retelling at a used bookstore the other day. The cover looked spot-on: dark blue background and silvery fog, a hypodermic needle in the foreground, flowers along the border, and the cityscape in the background. All the spooky murderous emblems I needed to pick up the book.

But...

I didn't look closely enough at the names of the authors. 

When I got home, I realized that an NBA basketball star has co-written this book.

In fairness, I should have noticed. My bad. In fairness, this novel is part of a three-book series published by Penguin Random House and the series is a bestseller. Like Marcella Burnard describes in her post this week, I was lured by the pretty cover.

If I had noted the basketball star's name, I may not have given it a chance. So the book cover creators did their job properly. The name was prominent--for those who might think that is of interest, with the co-authored name also listed prominently so we readers might rest assured that someone with an MFA contributed to the book--and the other elements told me exactly what kind of book I was getting.

Have I started it yet?

No.

But I plan to. If only out of curiosity. And after looking it up, I'm actually intrigued to see how it turns out.

Author Me:

Book covers are easier when you have a traditional publisher, since they have people for that. I can weigh in with my preferences and comment on a draft design, but I don't need to come up with the entire concept, find appropriate images, and put them together to suit the book. This is a weight off my mind, since I'm a perfectionist and I second-guess myself a lot. 

Too many options! What if purple is better than red? What font should I use? What elements should stay consistent across the series and which ones can change? These decisions are best left to the professionals, imho. (And I am certainly not good enough to do this myself, although many of my indie peers are.)

There are also lots of freelance book cover artists that indie authors can use: many produce premades and will do custom mades. These can be expensive, although you can always find deals. And the quality will vary. There is more onus on you to determine the look and find what you need, but it can be worthwhile.

Some good advice I received (at a workshop run by 100 Covers) was to scroll through the Amazon bestseller lists on a desktop to see what the top 100 books in your category are using in their covers. A quick scan through the thumbnails can give you a good sense of the features that readers expect to see - for more on these features, see K.A. Krantz's post this week. Then, you work the same magic as you do when you write genre fiction: just as you use the tropes and conventions in an exciting way to attract and keep your reader's interest, so you incorporate the cover elements that readers expect but in a fun and exciting way.

BTW, I'm not an artist, so every book cover that's presented for my work seems like the best thing ever made. Like looking at your newborn's face for the first time. BUT a little objectivity can be a big help--ask your friends and fellow authors for advice to see what they think. 

And enjoy the process! It can seem fraught with pitfalls that can fill one with anxiety. Still, it's important to remember how exciting and wonderful it is to put your book baby out into the world. Revel in the wonder!