Writing a book - Will it be judged by its cover?
by
Nick Thorne
Are
you writing a novel, or non-fiction title and thinking of self-publishing
it? As the proud author of a book the last thing that will be on your
mind is that it is going to be judged by its cover. You want people
to approach your work and be wowed by the content, the quality of your
prose and the skill of your writing. Sadly, as the prospective customer
looks along the shelves of the traditional book shop, or squints at
the thumbnail pictures of the book on the website, what is it that they
see? The picture of the cover!
So, although the content is an essential part of the mix in the buying
decision, like it or not your book is going to be judged by its cover
as well. If you are a self-published author you are going to have to
face up to getting a cover designed by a graphic artist, if you do not
have the required skills yourself. Before you switch off here and say,
I'll be outsourcing this problem to someone else, so why should I worry?
I think you would be wise to take a note of some of the pitfalls that
you must be aware of, if only to make sure that your designer doesn't
fall into these traps.
As a publisher you are going to specify to the printer what type of
paper to use for the book content and the cover. The thickness of the
paper will have a bearing on how big the spine has to be and often the
front picture will wrap around the spine so it has a bearing on the
cover. All of this has to be considered by you with your publisher's
hat on. So lets just say that you want your book to look like all the
others on sale. You want to have that low grade cream coloured paper
that is the norm and not the shiny high-grade of the coffee table tomes.
Choosing the right paper is a common fault seen among self-publishers
who get their novels printed on unsuitable paper that is either so thin,
that the words from the other side show through, or so thick that it
looks wrong! The quality of presentation is really important, so I'd
advise avoiding inappropriate materials for your book as you will be
giving yourself a disadvantage from the start.
On the jacket you are going to need to have an International Standard
Book Number (ISBN) and a bar code generated. No barcode and you will
find bookshops and wholesalers will not want to sell your book. No ISBN
and it is even harder as everyone from Internet bookstores, to wholesalers
and the smallest of independent shops have stock control programs and
the ISBN is what they use to identify a book with.
Registering for an ISBN, in the UK and Ireland, is handled by Nielson
BookData (www.nbdrs.com) and in the USA by Bowker (www.bowker.com).
If you look at the websites you will see they have help files for new
publishers and it is a simple process. With the ISBN allocated you will
find there are several pieces of software for generating the bar code,
but you can simply go to the free online barcode generator at http://www.tux.org/~milgram/bookland/#online
So, you have had your cover picture designed and it looks great; you
included the ISBN and barcode and now you need to chose the paper for
the cover. What could possibly go wrong here? Well, you could chose
a cover that marks easily and that will mean damaged and books that
can not be sold. As a book retailer of 19 years experience I can tell
you that we, like most in the trade, look at the books that we put on
the shelves and any that are marked, scratched, torn or damaged in any
other way are returned to the publisher at their expense to
be replaced! The big boys can handle this wastage, but as a self publisher
this is going to cost you dear. Direct customers of your own will likely
do the same - who wants to pay for a damaged item? Much better to chose
a paper that is not going to suffer in transit and for this you are
going to have to rely on the printer's technical knowledge. Ask them
what they would recommend, bearing in mind your budget.
One last piece of advice from the coal face. Booksellers know that a
black cover or print on a matt laminate paper will mark! Publishers
continue to produce books with this finish and we continue to send them
back again and again as damaged.
So
please chose your paper type wisely and seek the advice of your printer.
Remember, they will print your book on whatsoever you specify, whether
it is suitable or not. If you ask them, however, they will probably
know the best solution for the job. Bear in mind the dimensions of the
paper used inside the book to make sure the printing on your spine is
in the correct place, include an ISBN and a barcode on the back and
please do try to steer clear of black covers!
There is more advice for the self-published author in the Write Your
Way To Freedom manual and 3 Audio CD pack that my company has compiled
for the new author/self-publisher. We are booksellers of 19 years experience
and are passionate about books. Having gathered advice, from other experts
in the book industry, we packaged it along with some resources on good
English and other helpful information on writing and then selling a
book. By doing this we are hoping to encourage authors to bring to the
marketplace new books or all genre.
Ready to purchase the Write Your Way To Freedom package yet?
Go to: www.WriteYourWayToFreedom.com
Over 120 pages of material in a 4 ring binder file plus 3 audio CDs.
Includes:
- Write a novel in ten weeks
- The Lost Art of English
- Interview with an Author
- Interview with a Publisher's Rep
- A bookshop buyer spills the beans