Shaun Meeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "shaun-meeks-blog"

There's an old saying, "never judge a book by its cover", but in this day and age of self publishing, I really think you do need to. As a writer, you have to look at the work you are presenting as a whole, not just the story. Readers and consumers in general use sight more than any of the other sense when picking out products. People look at what is in front of them and if it appeals to them they might choose it, but if there is no appeal, nothing that grabs your attention, they will simply walk away from it without even looking to see what might be inside. If, as a writer, you decide to go down the path of self-publishing as a first step, this is something you need to consider. For the most part, you must be your own editor, your own designer and your own marketing director. And in those roles, you need to take care and assure that everything you do is appealing or nobody aside from friends and family will ever touch your book.
Lately I have seen some terrible book covers, from self published writers and from indie presses. Some are bad and others are so bad they make me wonder who told them this was a good idea. I will not name names or even book titles, but we've all seen them. Some are terrible digital art pieces, others are pictures drawn in crayon and poorly photographed and not edited at all. Having these poorly conceived covers makes readers think, in my experience, think that there is nothing worthwhile inside as the writer or publisher just didn't give a damn about what they were putting out on the market.
The cover is your first impression, remember that when coming up with a concept. It doesn't have to be some huge, over the top, grandiose idea, sometime simplicity is just as good. Look at some covers for your favorite books, find art and pictures that inspire you and in turn you can use that inspiration towards your cover to inspire people to pick up your book and read it.