This cool image was created by The Story Reading Ape: http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/tsra-3d-books.

BOOK COVER PROMOS

If you have a great book cover, you want to take advantage of it.

While I designed most of my own book covers, my best book covers were designed by a professional. For example, the cover you see below was designed by Melissa Stevens at http://www.theillustratedauthor.net. (This is a lower resolution version for my blog.)

This cool book cover was designed by Melissa Stevens at http://www.theillustratedauthor.net.

Just imagine your cover on a big city billboard like the one below, put together by The Story Reading Ape at thestoryreadingapeblog.com/tsra-3d-books.

This cool image was created by The Story Reading Ape: http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/tsra-3d-books. The background image was licensed through http://shutterstock.com.

If you’re thinking, “Sure, that would be cool, but I could never afford that, and even if I could, I would never recover my investment,” then you’re missing the point.

What you can do is create 3D versions of your cover, like the one below (designed by The Story Reading Ape at thestoryreadingapeblog.com/tsra-3d-books), or put your cover in some unexpected, cool-looking place, like on a billboard in downtown Hong Kong.

This cool image was created by The Story Reading Ape at http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/tsra-3d-books.

Take your cool book cover and make it pop even more.

Compared to the price of a typical book cover, getting a 3D promo cover can be quite reasonable. The Story Reading Ape’s services are quite affordable, in my opinion.

You can use these book promo covers:

• on your blog
• on your Author Central page (you can add images)
• on bookmarks (through overnightprints.com, for example)
• on letterhead (through overnightprints.com, for example)
• on promotional items like t-shirts or coffee mugs
• on exclusive items readers could win through contests
• on Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media

Or you can take things a step further, and get fans to take photos of themselves doing something (zany? fun? smart?) with your book, posting the images on their own sites.

If you like the billboard idea:

• When searching for big city billboards on stock photo sites like ShutterStock, beware that most of the results are for editorial use only. Filter the search results by clicking the option to Refine Your Search, selecting the Non-Editorial option.
• You might want to make a disclaimer that says, to some effect, that your book isn’t really displayed on a Manhattan billboard, and that the image is for entertainment purposes only. But I’m not an attorney, so if you want legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

Write happy, be happy. 🙂

Chris McMullen

Copyright © 2016

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

Click here to view my Goodreads author page.

• Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
• Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
• 4-in-1 Boxed set includes both volumes and more
• Kindle Formatting Magic (coming soon)

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