Daily Archives: May 14, 2015

May 14 2015

Recommendations for Book Covers

Cover Recs

BOOK COVER RECOMMENDATIONS

Every week, I receive several questions from authors about publishing and marketing.

One of the most common requests is recommendations for book covers.

I designed all of my own covers until I met Melissa Stevens. She can pull off some amazing effects that I can’t, and she is very knowledgeable about PhotoShop and cover design. Melissa has designed my recent covers.

But hiring an illustrator for a custom cover isn’t easy. First, you have to find a capable illustrator who meets your budget.

A more affordable option is to browse for ready-made covers. But it’s not easy to find the right cover pre-made.

And in either case, you want assurances about quality and you want to make sure you have the rights to use the images as you intend.

So what many authors search for are recommendations from other authors.

There is only one designer who I have firsthand experience with. Yet I would like to help authors explore options in multiple price ranges.

YOU can help with that. If you’ve ever hired an artist to design a cover, or if you’ve ever purchased a pre-made cover, and if you found the result worth recommending, PLEASE take a moment and recommend that artist, website, or service in the comments section. Other authors will appreciate the time you took.

In addition to providing a link, please also explain what you liked about the cover, artist, or service, or why you’re recommending it. This will be even more helpful.

(But please don’t self-promote in the comments section. Recommend a service or artist with which you are not affiliated.)

Thank you. 🙂

BOOK COVER HELP

How to Find and Hire a Cover Artist

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/how-to-find-a-cover-artist/

Finding and Using Stock Photos

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/shutterstock-and-other-stock-photo-collections/

Which Fonts Should You Use?

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/which-font-should-you-use-for-your-book-pubtips/

Kerning Fonts

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/kerning-in-microsoft-word/

Cover Design Checklist

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/cover-design-checklist/

The Importance of Color in Cover Design

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/the-importance-of-color-in-cover-design/

Write happy, be happy. 🙂

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2015

Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

  • Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
  • Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
  • 4-in-1 Boxed set includes both volumes and more

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May 14 2015

An easy way to sell more books

Simple & compelling.

Nicholas C. Rossis

Effrosyni Moschoudi was the very first one to suggest to me this little trick, and I have since used it with all my books. Now, Jonathan Gunson has written a great post with the same easy way to sell more books, as a comment on a presentation by Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler.

In a survey of Goodreads’ 15 million strong membership, he found that the main driver of eBook purchases was, unsurprisingly, ‘referral by a friend’.  But when a follow-up question was put to readers, another powerful sales strategy for authors emerged.

They were asked:  “What do you want to do when you get to the end of a book?”

The telling response was that 83%wanted tosee what else the author had written.

Here’s the actual slide from Chandler’s presentation:
Goodreads Readers

How Can Authors Take Advantage Of This ‘Show Me More’ Moment?

If most readers finish books and immediately


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