What Matters Most in Book Covers

In Today’s Journal

* What Matters Most in Book Covers
* Of Interest

What Matters Most in Book Covers

Recently I engaged in an interesting discussion regarding my posts on rebranding covers.

Here, I’ll give you the bottom line up front:

I don’t believe it matters at all whether the author name is at the top of the cover or at the bottom or along one edge.

There, I said it.

Over the past twelve years, I’ve disagreed with Dean Wesley Smith only twice. This is the second time.

But why do I disagree? After all, I very much like the idea of potential readers searching for my author name instead of a particular genre or title. That’s only smart, right?

Besides, it’s a pleasurable stroke to the old ego when a reader wants to read pretty much anything you write no matter the genre.

So yes, branding to the author name is a good idea. Even a great idea. And if I was just starting out, I’d seriously consider branding my work more heavily to my author name than to anything else.

The idea is to develop a devoted following of readers who love your work no matter what genre it’s in. That’s what Johnny B. Truant called being an “artisan author.” That’s definitely a good aspiration.

But as to actually branding the cover, you have to consider several aspects, such as

• The cover art itself (more on this later),
• The length of your name and how it will appear on the cover,
• The strength of the title and how it will appear on the cover,
• The font face and font size,
• The “mood” conveyed by the cover,
• And many other aspects.

Plus, it’s just as easy for a first-time novelist (or even one who publishes AI-generated dreck) to put his name at the top of the cover as it is for a writer who’s been around awhile and has actually learned the craft. By which I mean one who has learned to tell good stories.

So the specific position of the author name and title doesn’t really say anything at all about the quality of the work.

What truly matters in any book cover, in order of importance, is this:

1. The cover art must be appropriate to the genre.
2. Both the author name and the title must be large enough to be read in the thumbnail version regardless of where those elements are positioned.
3. The back-cover blurb (book description) Must Not Give Away ANY plot points.

Of course, the story must be written with depth and in an interesting way so it both invites the reader into the story and keeps him there. Putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t hide the pig.

I base the sequence of the above list on my own process for buying a new book to read. More on that later.

So to the interesting discussion

A writer who enjoyed my rebranding posts had already read Dean’s “Titles Do Not Sell Books” post, which I linked to a few days ago. As a result of reading Dean’s post, she’d looked at Amazon’s Top 100 in her genre.

To paraphrase the first comment she left on one of my posts,

“Only three covers had the author name at the top, and in many the author name was so small I couldn’t read the name in the thumbnail. Also, almost every book in the Top 100 was enrolled in KU.”

Hmm. Okay. Maybe KU actually works for sales in the short term. (Shrug.) Who knows?

Of course, Amazon’s Top 100 listing might also be slanted toward the exclusive KU authors. Again, who knows? Amazon works behind a pretty opaque veil.

But I don’t really care because I’m not a KU kind of guy, and I never will be. I don’t like the idea of shutting out any readers from my work just because they get their books somewhere other than Amazon.

But back to the topic at hand.

In another comment, my writer friend also said when she’s searching for a book, “I make a point to click and read the blurb on those books that do have the name on top….”

Okay, I guess I’m a little weird.

If I already know the fiction author and I’ve greatly enjoyed his work before, I might not read the description at all, or I might only glance at it. I just want to get the book and read it.

Think Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Lawrence Block, et al. I omitted Ernest Hemingway only because he isn’t putting out any new work. He’s apparently moved to an unknown address with an unlisted phone number.

If I don’t already know the fiction author’s name, the name means nothing to me. Occasionally folks recommend a work by a particular author, but they always recommend it by title.

When I find the recommended title and I don’t know the author’s work or if I know it only peripherally, I always read the description.

• If the author (or publicity person) gives away the plot in the description, I don’t bother buying the book. Why would I? I already know the story from the wrong-headed description.
• If the author DOESN’T give away the plot in the description, after I’ve read that I flip to about halfway through the novel (or use Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature) to read a bit of the story.
• If the writing intrigues me, I buy the book. If it doesn’t, I don’t.

And if you’re wondering, it isn’t only amateurs or beginners who give away the plot in the book description. Bestselling author Steven Pressfield (or his publicist) does so in the description of many of his novels. Ugh.

So either way, not one time has an unknown author’s name on a cover made me want to buy a book.

All of that said, King’s name is usually prominent at the top of his covers, but then “King” has a ring to it, not to mention a dual connotation. And his book titles are also always prominent. The same goes for Lawrence Block.

Elmore Leonard’s name is often at or near the top of his covers, but the title is usually more prominent than his name.

As for the master himself, Ernest Hemingway, the location and size of his name are all over the place depending on which edition of which work you buy.

So after all this, I’m saying take your best guess and do whatever strikes your fancy.

Finally, when it comes to the placement of the author name, cover art matters too.

I was going to brand the entire Wes Crowley saga to my name. What changed my mind was the cover art I chose for The Rise of a Warrior, the very first book in the saga.

I mean, look at it. How could I pass up such an image to showcase that title?

Now consider this: With the warrior raising his hands in apparent supplication, how self-aggrandizing would it look if I put my author name at the top? Learn as you go, right?

Talk with you again tomorrow.

Of Interest

Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: Responsibility