That’s basically what you want your cover to shout to your potential readers.  Let’s face it, we do judge books by their covers. If that wasn’t the case, everything, not just books, would come in plain, brown paper wrappers and PR/Marketing firms would be out of business.

The cover of your book isn’t just packaging. It’s your front line marketing.  It makes a statement to the reader about what they can expect to find inside. Different genres tend to have different elements that are important on the cover.  Shirtless males with ripped abs scream romance or erotica, guns and handcuffs imply police procedurals.  Your book’s cover needs to appeal to your target audience. The trick is to make your book stand out but still keep it anchored to reader expectations.

A quick google search will get you heaps of advice, but when it comes to your book cover, my only advice is this:  DON’T DO IT YOURSELF!

Unless you are an experienced artist/designer, hire one. After all, you don’t want your book to end up here.

If you only have a small amount to spend on getting your book published, spend it on the cover, but if you insist on trying it yourself, here’s some good advice.

For my first book, Dead and Kicking, I hired the very talented Scarlett Rugers and I couldn’t be happier with the final product. The cover conveys just the right mood, a little dark, a little mysterious and like Harry, a little quirky.

In my next post, I’ll walk you through the process we took to get to the final product.