As authors, we want to attract readers to our books. How do we do that besides the blurb?
Obviously, the cover is usually the first thing a reader sees. What are the attributes that each cover should have to make them take a second look and consider buying your book?
So, what are some of the things that an author should consider when designing a cover?
- Does it catch the eye?
- Is it pleasing to the eye?
- Is it appropriate for the book it will represent?
- Are the colors in line with the plot of the book?
- Does the cover really match the plot?
- Is there a good chance that the reader will be pleased when they finish reading the book?
First of all, does the cover catch the eye? In other words, if you are going through a category such as Pride and Prejudice Variations on Amazon, did a particular cover catch your eye to the point that you stopped your search and began reading about that particular book? Or did the cover turn you off and you kept right on searching?
Let’s face it! Sometimes we see a cover and groan internally because it is so bad. Colors are unappealing, the time period represented is wrong, the scene doesn’t fit the story line/plot, or the people do not fit the story. If a cover turns us off, we are probably not even considering borrowing the book and reading it, much less buying it.
Is it pleasing to the eye? A romance or a fun story should have a cover that pleases. A cover that has soldiers on it will not appeal to a reader who wants to curl up with her favorite snack and sigh with contentment as the hero chases the reluctant heroine.
What if the book is Science Fiction? The cover definitely needs to be appropriate to the subject. In other words, it will not be a conventional cover especially if it is about the future. This should be addressed by the cover, and the reader should be able to discern that the subject is not about current or past conditions.
And what about the colors that make up a cover? Pastel or what we might call fun colors would not be appropriate for a murder mystery, especially one that begins with a bloody massacre of five people.
At the very least, a cover should not work against the plot. Why have horses on the cover if they have no place in the plot. Horses would be very appropriate if the story is about horse racing or raising horses, but not if it is a romance and horses are never mentioned at all.
And will the reader be pleased when he or she reaches the last page of the book? We certainly hope so. If we have finished the book with an appropriate cover and have written a half way decent book, we should achieve that very goal.
Now, what I would like to do is show some covers and why I personally feel they have accomplished the above.
When I first started out writing fiction in 2012, namely Pride and Prejudice Variations, I did not consider all the steps above. In the beginning, my covers were a little unconventional, but for the last few years, I’ve concentrated more on what I would like to achieve by gaining more sales and better reviews.
I used the first cover for Darcy Chooses mainly because it was eye-catching. It had nothing to do with the plot, but sales were still good even though the readership for P&P variations was a lot smaller than it is today. I did eventually begin using the new one with Darcy on the cover, and this one is much more appropriate for the story and the time period.
As to what Pemberley looks like, I’ve always thought that Jane Austen’s description of when Elizabeth first sees Darcy’s home was identical to the view of Chatsworth. Consequently, Chatsworth is my ideal of where Darcy and Elizabeth spent all their days. However, getting photos of Chatsworth that are not editorial ones that cannot be used commercially was a problem until I found a painting in Public Domain that I could use. Portions of that painting have worked well for the Darcy Versus Series. Why that particularly series? Because each story is centered around Pemberley, and Pemberley is represented on all four covers.
The tree in the last two covers was included because it gave a threatening appearance, and Wickham and Lady Catherine were threats to Pemberley’s existence and ownership whereas Bingley and Elizabeth were not.
Originally, when I did the covers for the Four Lords’ Series, I used paintings directly from that time period. In writing about each lord, I included the description from the corresponding painting. I liked all four of these guys and felt like the paintings were appropriate. But the more I thought about it, I realized that readers want romantic covers for romantic books, so I redid all the covers and brought in their ladies fair as well. What I wish is that all four were stand-alones. However, the series was written as cliff-hangers of the first three books with the fourth wrapping their stories up. I have considered deleting the single books and making only the Collection available since it is continuous. The collection is complete and a little cheaper than buying all four books. Let me know what you think about me taking that step.
Of all my covers, this is my favorite. I found this one and had to have it for Elizabeth’s Choice because it was ideal. She and Darcy were marrying and were going to travel to Ireland on his Baltimore clippership, and this cover was perfect for their story and the time period.
This is the cover we did for Colin Rowland’s latest book. Although we didn’t do a pic of Longbourn itself, the window is the one in Mr. Bennet’s study, and it’s mentioned in the book.
You probably noticed that on all the covers, the author’s name is the largest, the title is second, and the sub-title is third in size. That is deliberate. Ladies and gentlemen, you want to promote you first and your book second. You want the readers to buy all your books, but most of all you want them to recognize you first of all because of your name and reputation being the connection to all your books.
So, keep in mind to do good writing but also consider how important those book covers are as well.
Leave a Reply