Best-Selling Book Cover Design Secrets
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BOOK COVER SECRETS THAT SELL Derek Murphy
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Best-Selling Book Cover Design Secrets That Sell from Derek Murphy. Presented at Author Marketing Live! in Cleveland on Sept 8, 2014. http://www.authormarketinglive.com
Transcript of Best-Selling Book Cover Design Secrets
BOOK COVER SECRETS THAT SELL
Derek Murphy
BOOK COVER SECRETS THAT SELL
Derek Murphy
ABOUT DEREK
Book editor, PhD Candidate, over 1000 book covers made,
DiyBookCovers.com
Book editor, PhD Candidate, over 1000 book covers made,
DiyBookCovers.com
THE PROBLEM
Book covers are hard to do and/or expensive.
But they’re also important.It seems easier to give up responsibility.
GROUND RULES
#1. A good cover won’t save a bad story#2. A good story can survive an ugly cover#3. A good story AND a great cover will make everything much easier
WHAT’S IT FOR?
The cover’s job is to tell the (right) readers what’s in the
book
•Cover Clichés •Emotional/Cognitive•Hook Attention•Sell the Book
COMMON MISTAKES
• Focusing on scene or symbolism (head, not heart)• Matching all the exact details• Trying to be different or interesting• Trying to give readers ‘something to figure out or a
surprise• Book awards• Badly used text or font (dropshadow, bevel or spacing)• Illustration vs. Photoshop• Author Name vs Series Branding• Designing for Thumbnail View
COMMON MISTAKES• Focusing on scene or symbolism (head, not heart)• Matching all the exact details• Trying to be different or interesting• Trying to give readers ‘something to figure out’ or a surprise• Book awards• Badly used text or font (dropshadow, bevel or spacing)• Asking for Feedback• Illustration vs. Photoshop• Author Name vs Series Branding• Designing for Thumbnail View• Dimensions: 1.6 (5”x8”) / 1.5 (6”x9”)
A beautiful landscape can trigger the right heart muscles better than
something more meaningful/symbolic.(The cover isn’t to explain. It’s just to
attract.)
HOW TO WIN
• Make it ‘pop’• Lots of space• Make it clever (for NF)• Use small text
HOW TO WIN
• The right fonts/effects• Make it personal• Go simple
CASE STUDIES
It looks to me that in March I was averaging between 60 and 70 downloads a day. In April that had fallen to about 50 a day. But following the cover revamp on April 24, downloads rose quickly, to a peak of 112, and overall seems to be averaging about 90. I haven’t done any promotion at all so it can only be down to the new cover. I have to say I expected a short burst of extra sales, didn’t expect it to maintain those numbers and certainly didn’t expect them to keep growing! :-)
CASE STUDIES
From 50 downloads a day to 90.
CASE STUDIES
From 4 copies a week to 286
CASE STUDIES
From 30 to 58 sales a month
CASE STUDIES
WORKING WITH A DESIGNER
• Revisions/costs/refunds?• Find a some samples you like (less than 5).• Craft a short summary.• Think simple.• Listen and get feedback (half the time, the best
cover is not the one you like).• The cover sells the book to people who haven’t
read it.
DOING IT YOURSELF
• Stock Photography• Bigstockphoto.com• Depositphotos.com• Photodune.com• Flickr Creative Commons (or not) -
www.flickr.com/creativecommons • DeviantArt • http://www.deviantart.com/resources/stockart
DOING IT YOURSELF
• Stock Photography• 123rf.com• Istock.com• Bigstockphoto.com• Depositphotos.com• Photodune.com• Flickr Creative Commons (or not) -
www.flickr.com/creativecommons
• DeviantArt • http://www.deviantart.com/resources/stockart
DOING IT YOURSELF
• Fiverr.com• Canva.com• Iphone Apps (WordSwag)• DiyBookCovers.com• Spine• Barcode• Lightning Source vs Createspace
From 30 to 58 sales a month
THANKS!
