A Critical Creative Decision

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Within the publishing process, there are a number of critical decisions such as which story to write, what market or audience to reach, and many other details. Today I want to write about an aspect that I’ve not seen discussed very often: cover selection. 

In Ecclesiastes 12:12, King Solomon had it right when he said, “Of making many books, there is no end.” Recently in the publishing community, I’ve read that over 8,000 new books enter the market every day. This large number includes the self-published books but it shows that many authors are going through the critical decision of selecting the cover for their book.

Important to Sell Books

The cover for your book--the image and the title are important if you want to sell books. Does your cover include a few words of endorsement from someone with instant name recognition? It takes additional work to get these endorsements or a foreword but it will produce increased book sales. I encourage you to pour lots of creative energy into this process. It’s not just for your readers or potential readers. Your publisher, your marketing team, the bookstore people, librarians and many others will look at your cover. Are they drawn to open the book or order the book? Many of these important decisions are made at a glance and in seconds.

As an editor, I’ve been in numerous cover design meetings where we talk about what images will go on the front cover of a book. In a traditional publishing situation, the author isn’t on the call but can give their input in writing to the publisher. The editor meets with the designer to talk about possible images, the type or words on the cover, the size of the book and other details. Depending on the publisher, this creative meeting can also happen on a conference phone call and ideally includes the author who know the content of the book better than anyone else. 

Often it will take a week or two before the designer will send some sample covers for feedback. Years ago I worked with this remarkable designer. During the call, she would be listening to our ideas about images for the cover but as we spoke she was seaching through her image database. Several hours after the call, we would receive three or four remarkable cover designs and it was difficult to select the best one. This designer had an unusual gift and talent to listen carefully then create imcredible designs.

How to Look at Sample Covers

However you publish, it is normal to send the cover to the author. The level and degree you can offer feedback on the cover will depend on your method of publishing and level of experience (read book sales). Typically you will get this cover as an email attachment. If you are working with a traditional house, the publisher will often only send one cover and they will not be too concerned about your opinion or feedback because “they” are in charge of such things.

One of my worst experiences in this area came with a major publisher. I was writing the book for my co-author with a large five-figure advance in our contract. The publisher changed the name of the book between what appeared in their catalog as an announcement and what was on the printed book. Although I was working in detail on the inside of the book, this publisher never showed me the cover before the book was published. I don’t know if they sent it to the subject (my co-author) or not. He never told me but a large photo of this author was on the cover of the published book. My co-author was embarrassed with this photo and did zero promotion for the book. The publisher took the book out of print after six months. The returns are destroyed. I have a few copies of this book but I expect I’m one of the few who have these copies. In my view, the roots of this cover design experience are poor communication from the publisher to the author and co-author.

When you work with a hybrid or self-publisher you are much more involved with the look and feel of your book. Often with these publishers, you will be three different options for cover. Look carefully at them. What do you like and what elements don't you like? What is often not said but possible is that you can mix and match the elements of one cover with another one. Maybe you like the typeface on one cover and the image of another one. You can suggest a change to the color of the typeface or you can suggest an enhancement such as a thin black outline for the type. To manage expectations often you will get one or two rounds of cover design before they begin to charge you for these changes. I encourage you to make thoughtful and yet detailed suggestions to get the cover and image that will represent your book and be something as an author you will be excited about promoting into the market.

This creative decision about your cover is a process and yet an important one for every author. What am I missing in this process of creating an excellent cover for your book? Tell me about your experiences in the comments.

 

Tweetable:

A critical creative decision in the publishing process is the book cover design. This prolific writer and editor gives some guidance and insights. Get the details here.  (ClickToTweet)

Much of the publishing process is outside of the writer’s control. 10 Publishing Myths helps writers have a realistic perspective and take action. Get 10 Publishing Myths for only $10 +FREE shipping + over $200 of free bonuses.

Why Self-Publishing Is NOT "Easy"

Publishing a book has never been easier. Almost everyone has a keyboard and a computer with the ability to crank in words and produce a manuscript—whether nonfiction or fiction. Authors struggle to find a literary agent and a traditional publishing deal. They get tired of crafting an excellent product, the waiting, and the rejection letters. Instead they decide to self-publish because that direction looks easy.

For over 20 years, I've been reading about publishing, writing and working in this business as an editor and writer. I encourage you to read this recent article from Jane Friedman, former editor at Writer's Digest and publishing expert. I want to quote a brief section of Friedman's article:

“Back in 2012, there were many headlines about the tremendous growth in self-publishing output as demonstrated by the increase in ISBNs used by indie authors.

Since then, Bowker—the agency that issues ISBNs in the United States—has continued to release annual stats that still show growth in the sector, but these numbers always come with important caveats, including:

• Bowker’s figures don’t reflect all of the self-publishing activity out there. They can’t count books that don’t have ISBNs, and a considerable volume of self-pub titles are published and distributed without ISBNs.
• Bowker’s counts are for ISBNs, not book titles. A single book title may use several ISBNs (e.g., one for the print edition, another for the ebook edition, and so on).

According to Bowker, ISBNs for self-published titles in 2015 reached 727,125, up from 599,721 in 2014, representing a 21% increase in one year. The increase since 2010 is 375%.

But I think more important is where the growth occurred. Bowker’s numbers indicate more authors are using Amazon’s CreateSpace, which is free to use; older, fee-based self-publishing services are falling out of favor. Here’s a selected glimpse (again, remember these are ISBN counts coming out of each service per year):

• CreateSpace titles in 2010: 35,693
• CreateSpace titles in 2015: 423,718 (+1,087%)
• Author Solutions titles in 2010: 41,304
• Author Solutions titles in 2015: 23,930 (-42%)

The only area of Author Solutions’ business that saw an ISBN increase in 2015 is WestBow, the Christian self-publishing imprint marketed through Thomas Nelson. Note that Penguin Random House, which used to own Author Solutions, sold it off in January 2016, unloading what was probably seen as an albatross.”

Are these statistics a surprise to you? 

The increase of over 1,000% percent on CreateSpace was startling.If you publish through CreateSpace, your book is only on Amazon and not available in other formats.

If you decide to self-publish, understand several facts: First, you are establishing a world-wide sales record of your publishing efforts. Traditional publishers and literary agents look at this information to decide if they are going to publish your next book or take you on as a client. Second, you are in complete control of your work which may feel easier but also you are responsible for all the details of the book creation (excellent cover design, well-written writing, distribution and sales).

Yes the creation of books has never been easier. Here's the reality that few people will tell you: making the book is easy but getting people to purchase the book will take hard work and persistent effort. If you have developed relationships with people in your target market and connect with them often. More specifically if you connect to your audience through an email list and speaking to them face to face, then yes you can sell your book.

No matter what I write, a number of you are going to take the leap into self-publishing. Here's several action steps if you go this route:

1. Work with an experienced editor to create an excellent book.

2. Work with professional cover designers and people to format and produce a book where every detail looks like something from one of the big five traditional publishers. This means including elements like endorsements and words on the spine of the book (including a publishing logo on the bottom of that spine).

3. Keep working consistently to grow your audience. Get my free ebook, Platform-Building Ideas for Every Author and trying new avenues to market and sell your book.

4. Continue to learn all you can about publishing. Get a copy of my Book Proposals That Sell and study the publishing insights in this book.

5. Never give up on your book. As the author, you have the greatest interest and passion for your book. This statement is true no matter whether you are traditionally published or self-publish. Always be looking for new opportunities to write or speak about your book.

This last point is something that I try and model with my own books. For example, in the header of my twitter profile, you see my Book Proposals That Sell book which is only available from me. My Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams book is in my bio for my recent Southern Writer magazine column. And finally, I continue to do radio interviews for my Billy Graham biography which came out over two years ago. Just follow this link to see some of the recent interviews and listen to them.

Have you self-published? Was it a good experience and “easy?” I look forward to reading your comments. 

Tweetable:

Why Self-Publishing is NOT “Easy” and other insights. (ClickToTweet)