You know how I feel about book covers, but how about an author? Mercedes can answer that for us!
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We’re all familiar with the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” That’s especially true when it comes to book covers. At least, as an author, that’s what you hope. With so many
books and titles vying for attention on today’s shelves, you want a cover that makes a potential reader stop and pick up your book. So what’s a good recipe when it comes to cover design?
1. Consider your audience and the tone of your book. If your book is fun and quirky, the cover should reflect that, and people who delight in reading such stories will gravitate your way.
2. Tell a story. Here’s where ‘a thousand words’ comes into play. You want a cover that captures the essence, the mystique, the suspense that’s in the story. Cozy mysteries are the rage right now,
and some of that has to do with the covers. Many are light-hearted and imply a bit of chaos. Perfect for the genre.
3. Remember your brand. As an author, you also have to think about branding and marketing. If you’re writing a series, you want your covers to have a theme and cohesion that will carry over to each book. Just a few books in, and this will become recognizable to readers.
When it came to creating the cover for O! Jackie, I had a specific idea in mind: incorporate both Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe into the cover. But how? In what way? I also wanted readers to know what they were looking at--and at the same time realize they’d never seen that before. (“What?” you
may be asking.) How is that possible? There’s no known picture of Jackie and Marilyn together, so I wanted to play with that idea. In the final cover, you see a woman ripping an iconic photo. Elbow-length white gloves, a pearl necklace immediately conjure up Jackie Kennedy, even though you don’t see the woman’s face in the photo…suggesting a bit of mystery. Then there’s the black-and-white picture of a woman in a billowing white dress. Couldn’t be anyone but Marilyn, even though, again, you don’t see her face in the photo. More mystery. Put those images together, you have O!
Jackie. By now, you might even be asking yourself, “Why is Jackie Kennedy tearing a picture of Marilyn Monroe?” And guess what? (Hopefully!) People will pick it up and read the back cover or the first few pages to try and find out.
.jpg)
We’re all familiar with the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” That’s especially true when it comes to book covers. At least, as an author, that’s what you hope. With so many
books and titles vying for attention on today’s shelves, you want a cover that makes a potential reader stop and pick up your book. So what’s a good recipe when it comes to cover design?
1. Consider your audience and the tone of your book. If your book is fun and quirky, the cover should reflect that, and people who delight in reading such stories will gravitate your way.
2. Tell a story. Here’s where ‘a thousand words’ comes into play. You want a cover that captures the essence, the mystique, the suspense that’s in the story. Cozy mysteries are the rage right now,
and some of that has to do with the covers. Many are light-hearted and imply a bit of chaos. Perfect for the genre.
3. Remember your brand. As an author, you also have to think about branding and marketing. If you’re writing a series, you want your covers to have a theme and cohesion that will carry over to each book. Just a few books in, and this will become recognizable to readers.
When it came to creating the cover for O! Jackie, I had a specific idea in mind: incorporate both Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe into the cover. But how? In what way? I also wanted readers to know what they were looking at--and at the same time realize they’d never seen that before. (“What?” you
may be asking.) How is that possible? There’s no known picture of Jackie and Marilyn together, so I wanted to play with that idea. In the final cover, you see a woman ripping an iconic photo. Elbow-length white gloves, a pearl necklace immediately conjure up Jackie Kennedy, even though you don’t see the woman’s face in the photo…suggesting a bit of mystery. Then there’s the black-and-white picture of a woman in a billowing white dress. Couldn’t be anyone but Marilyn, even though, again, you don’t see her face in the photo. More mystery. Put those images together, you have O!
Jackie. By now, you might even be asking yourself, “Why is Jackie Kennedy tearing a picture of Marilyn Monroe?” And guess what? (Hopefully!) People will pick it up and read the back cover or the first few pages to try and find out.
Stay tuned later today for our book review of O Jackie!
Interesting marketing ideas. These tips can apply to more than just covers, I'd imagine. Thanks for the info.!
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