Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 3

Welcome back to Joan's Golden Rules for Ebook Success.

No, I'm not an expert. I'm just a working writer who has had some success with my ebooks. Because I know how hard it is to make a living as a writer, I'm passing on what I have learned as well as how I have put that knowledge to work for me.

I hope this will help shortcut the process for you. Maybe you can achieve your own brand of success in a shorter period of time.

So far, I've discussed:

Ebook Success: Get Educated

Ebook Success: Write Business Plan

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 1

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 2

As a reminder, here's my list of golden rules--called golden because I hope they will help you earn heaps of gold from your ebook sales.

Joan's Golden Rules

1. Get educated.

2. Write a business plan.

3. Choose cover art wisely.

4. Write professional ad copy.

5. Choose price wisely.

6. Give a smart sample.

7. Write a good book.

8. Customize Marketing and Promotion.

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 3

Last time, I gave you a list of what makes a good book cover design, based on insights from my daughter Adina Reeves who is my resident graphic artist. This time, I'm going to give you some ideas to assist your imagination on coming up with cover designs.

Cover Design Ideas

1. Look at what print publishers are putting out in the same genre in which you’re working. Analyze these covers and see if you can reach some conclusions about their designs.

2. Have a clear vision of what your book is about so you know how to impart the essence of it to readers.

3. Have an idea of what image or images would visually represent the essence of your book.

4. Have an aesthetic sensibility that allows you to pleasingly compose a cover image that makes good use of images, font, and colors.

5. Be skillful with a good image editing software.

6. Have a wide selection of fonts.

7. Have good color sense.

8. Be willing to take the time to create a professional cover. If you find this skill set isn’t one you possess, then turn the task over to professionals. Don’t cheap out on this. We all know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but, the truth is, that everyone does. Make your cover be all it should be.

Next time, I'm going to conclude this Cover Art discussion with a couple of resource lists: one for art if you want to try DIY and the other a listing of freelance graphic artists. I'm also going to give you some guidelines, courtesy of my daughter the graphic artist, for working with artists.

Drop by next week for Cover Art, Part 4.

Takeaway Truth

A rising tide floats all boats. I wish you magnificent ebook sales. If my advice helps, please let me know.