Tuesday 17 September 2013

Do Judge a Book by Its Cover by Beck Sherman

Oh right, it’s don’t judge a book by its cover. I wonder where that saying comes from? Where do any sayings come from? I heard it’s some guy in Wisconsin who’s, like, five hundred years old. He is super busy. And super smart.
I like the idea of not judging someone or something by their outward appearance, but in practice it’s tricky. As humans, “judging a book by its cover” is what we do. Since outward appearance is what we’re first presented with, and people don’t walk around with their insides out (except in my books), the “cover” is what helps us form our initial opinion, however uninformed that opinion may be.

As a reader, I’ve experienced love at first sight across a crowded bookstore. Oh, those pleasingly perfect proportions! The confidence! The boldness! The mystery! I picked it up ─ don’t judge me. We spent thirty seconds or so getting to know each other before going our separate ways. Too young for me. As an indie author, it’s all about creating a cover that’s pleasing to the eye, but also one that attracts the right readers by visually telling them what they can expect inside those pages.

Revamp was my first novel and my first book cover. As an indie author, I appreciate having control of all aspects of the publishing, including the cover art. I had the idea that I wanted to find a black and white fifties photograph of a boy dressed up as a vampire. After an extensive internet search brought up nothing, I decided to take the cover photograph myself. A friend of mine worked on the design, and I loved what he came back with. The vampire boy and the color red say “horror.” The boldness of the font and the saturation of the red say “youth/new adult.” The font and its placement say “quirky.”

My advice to indie authors creating covers: be a font whore. Fonts are important.

I used the same font for Goodbye Nothing’s book cover and again took the photograph. I think the lighter shade of green attracts and feels almost peaceful, but a closer look will uncover the knives, and uneasiness dawns. It is kind of a tease, like my books themselves. They all start off innocently enough.

Second only to the writing, cover-creating is one of my favorite parts of the whole self-publishing process. No one knows your book better than you, so if you are artistically inclined, I advise playing some role in the making of your own cover.

And then, when all is done, be sure you feel confident enough saying, “Go ahead. Do judge my book by its cover.”

Goodbye-Nothing-500px
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – New Adult Horror
Rating – R
More details about the author and the book
Connect with  Beck Sherman on Facebook & Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 comments:

Gertie said...

I hardly ever enter these giveaways but I couldn't resist this one!

John Leahy said...

Nice readable font, good colors--congrats on the book and the great cover!

Beck Sherman said...

So happy you entered, Gertie :) Good luck!

Beck Sherman said...

Hey, John! Thank you!

Beck Sherman said...

Thank you, Ravina, for hosting me on my tour!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...