SYAWAN: The Cover

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

You've probably heard that your entire life but honestly, when you walk into a bookstore, what's the first thing you notice?

The cover.

Yes, it's really an example meant for people, so let's use a person as an example, shall we?

GAH!

Sight is the primary sense you use and, whether you want to admit it or not, you do judge a book by its cover. You've already formed an opinion of the person in the above picture (for me it's late at night and I can't help but get the feeling this is the last image people see before their soul is sucked out through their eyes).

The cover, I think, can sometimes make or break the sale of a novel. If you have a homely cover people aren't even going to bother reading the title. Really, in order of attention, it goes like this:

Cover > Title > Blurb > First Sentence > Book

(Quick side note: Somewhere in there is Name Dropping. Name Dropping is something like an Oprah Book Club sticker or someone like Stephanie Meyer or Suzanne Collins saying "Couldn't put it down!" and they quoted it on the cover. Name Dropping can vary from person to person, it can be something a person pays a lot of attention to (I've heard of a reader picking up a book just because it was read by her favorite author) to absolutely insignificant. Name Dropping falls into the second category for me because I usually don't even notice it, or read it only after I've read the entire book. There have been a few handful of times where certain names praising the book have actually repelled me from purchasing it.)

I've actually been lured entirely by the visual siren song of novel covers. Some turned out to be amazing stories, others terrible ones that I wish I could just keep the cover, frame it, and use the pages of the book to insulate the place where my cats sleep.

Some examples of covers that have greatly influenced by purchases are: Anna Dressed in Blood, Airman, Worldshaker, Maximum Ride, Ranger's Apprentice, Eyes like Stars, The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch, and Across the Universe.

 Those are just examples of books that I really enjoyed (Whereas Hush Hush is an example of a pretty book that made me vomit rage once I actually read it, and Girl of Nightmares, though even prettier, wasn't nearly as good as the first book.)

Some examples of books that actually repelled me upon first sight were Uglies (original cover), Mistborn (original hardback cover), the Sookie Stackhouse series, Peeps, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Wereworld (US version) and, yes, even the Dresden Files series (with the exception of the Science Fiction Book Club editions, which I love. The rest are incredibly generic and you can't tell them apart.)

I'm rather biased, of course. If you're familiar with them you'll notice half the covers I dislike (Uglies, Peeps, and Forest of Hands and Teeth) are super closeups of people's faces. For some reason I'm always incredibly distracted with the fact that I've got my fingers all over someone's face when I'm trying to read (this is only true in paperbacks, with hardbacks I just take the dust jacket off). I also get distracted when I'm reading a book with an ugly cover. When I'm reading a book all of the super interesting stuff is pointed toward me, anyone else who happens to look at me is just going to see an ugly book and wonder what in the heck kind of drivel I'm reading. All of this over-thinking starts wedging into the story I'm trying to enjoy reading
.


My head does this at least once a day.

"Okay," you promise, "I won't make an ugly cover with a really closely-zoomed in picture of some person's face. So then what kind of cover do I use?"

There are two answers: A cover that is pretty, or a cover that is relevant to the story (or both). The cover is probably the second-most popular part of a book an author fantasizes about (the first being who will play the main character in the inevitable movie based on your soon-to-be bestselling novel) I'll admit I gave the cover a bit of thought, but it wasn't until crunch time that I suddenly found myself going "Uhhh." It was the cover that slowed down the publishing of Dusted more than anything else once I got going.

Here are some things I learned in the process.

Stock Images and Public Domain

Unless you specifically commission (pay) someone to create an image for your book, chances are you will be using a stock image. A stock image is a photograph that is meant to actually be used in some form instead of just looking pretty. Some stock images you still have to pay to use. If you're on a tight budget, consider looking for free-to-use or public domain ones.

If I had all the money in the world Dusted would probably feature Crystal and company. I don't, so I had to come up with a cover that would be visually appealing and still sort of link to the story. Dusted starts in a forest, escalates in a forest, and finally they have to go through the forests of Faerieland, so naturally a forest scene for a cover would be rather fitting without breaking by puny, non-visually-artistic brain.

I browsed the Stock Photos of DeviantArt with the search word "Forest", found a picture I liked, and asked for permission. I told her exactly what I was going to do, and she allowed it, but only if I edited the picture. I'm not the best at photomanipulation, I don't own anything like Photoshop, and wouldn't even know how to use it, so I used PaintNet (it was that or MSPaint), tweaked the appearance until I got something that looked interesting, and left it at that.

Don't want to bother with stock images, too shy to ask people for one, or can't find anything in the public domain that fits just right? Another choice is to...

Use your own Artwork or photos

The great thing about your own work is that you own the rights to it.

If you can't draw, don't try. I've seen several self-published ebook novels with covers that look like a 14 year old anime fan churned it out during English class. The same holds true for your BFF "Artist" that says she wants to draw the cover for you.

Photographs are harder to screw up. It's impossible for something to look unnatural because, well, it physically exists (bad angles and lighting and the like not withstanding.) Owning the rights to a photo is a bit of a grey area. Please be aware of the laws behind photography, especially since you will be using it as the cover to a product you intend to sell to the public (you want to take into consideration photos of people, licence places, company logos, things like that.)

So now you have the perfect cover for your book, but you've forgotten one last thing...

Font

"But Jen, you oh-so-brilliant and totally under-appreciated author of written prose," you say, "Why can't I just use Comic Sans and call it good?"

First, because Comic Sans causes people to punch other people in the face for a reason I can't seem to understand.

Second, when was the last time you saw Arial or Times as fonts in your everyday book cover? Yes, the font inside the book should be as standard and easy to read as possible, but the title on the cover is another part of the cover art: It's meant to be visually appealing.

I went through various websites looking for a good font, but you just can't beat the good, hardworking artists at DeviantArt. I did see one I really liked, but it was labeled "For personal use only," meaning I couldn't use it to sell something. Instead I found a lovely one called Northwood High and found the font rather interesting. Better yet, it was free to use.

Have Fun

This is the most important. This is your book and you have finally gotten far enough that you can consider making a cover. Best of all, as a self-publisher you can choose whatever you want for the cover. Have fun looking for pictures, choosing a great font, and putting it all together.