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How to Create a Cover for eBook Success
You probably need a great cover for ebook success on the web. One reason "real" books are better than "electronic" books is because some authors don't make covers for their ebooks.
Along with a dozen other excuses, "traditional" book pundits once used the above argument against ebooks, a few years ago.
Today, those same detractors would claim they did everything but invent ebooks themselves. Whatever. The eBook Industry, which now includes many of the old brick-and-mortar publishing houses, still must address those early arguments.
Judge That Book By Its Cover (Everyone Else Does)
The argument regarding covers deserves attention. In a bookstore or library, it's the books' title and quality of its cover art that's going to attract a customer. From there, it's the quality of book's description, usually located on the back cover that will make or break the sale.
It's effective advertising. In the absence of reviews, a poor-quality book, wearing a great cover (or jacket), will be selected more often than a high-quality book a plain cover. Hence, that warning about judging books by their covers.
Here's The Rule: You Need A Cover For eBook Success
To be more accurate, you need cover art for your ebook. If you found a book in the library printed without a cover, you'd question its quality. So that's why you need a eye-catching cover for ebook sales.
On a publisher's web site, a customer will first be drawn to and ebook's title, possibly with a short description. Alongside will be cover art to entice the customer to read the longer description. Alexandria Digital Literature is one publisher that uses this format. Other online publishers allow the customer to see the cover art first. Awe-Struck e-Books allows such viewing of its bookshelf.
Editor's Note... Attention Self-Publishers (you plan to print your books at a traditional printer). Since I wrote this article there have been many advances in the quality of book cover design software. Recently, I came across an awesome piece of software called BookCoverPro that is simple, template driven and produces excellent professional results even for someone not familiar with graphics or computers. It is specifically designed for Self-Publishers, Authors and Illustrators and works with both Macs and PC's. Check out their demo slide show: www.BookCoverPro.com |
Once you download and read your purchase, it's likely that the first "page" of your ebook will be its cover art. It's the first indication that you're reading a book versus a mere text file.
Here Are The Exceptions: Publisher's Site, And eBook Reader Capabilities
Some online publishers are initially too understaffed to show cover art for their offerings. Others, such as Project Guttenberg, function as a library or data repository. Their aim is not to sell their titles, so cover art is unnecessary.
Some ebook readers weren't capable of displaying cover art. For the most part, this exception is no longer valid. Graphics display has become a minimum requirement of ebooks readers. The question now being how well does a reader display graphics?
Where Do You Get Cover Art?
If you can't do the artwork yourself, then you should hire an illustrator. Rent-A-Coder is a job-auction site where computer graphics artists bid on your project. The "I" Spot features portfolios of over a thousand illustrators.
Of course, you could try a little closer to home. Talk to the art department at your local middle or high school, community college or university. You should be able to find some new talent looking for experience. What could be better resume filler than, "Illustrated cover for ebook-It's a best-seller"?