Will Fred Get Your Book Cover Right?

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

We all know just how important a book cover is, right? Time and details go into planning a cover that showcases your book and tempts readers to open and read your book. With a traditional publisher, sometimes the author has little control over their book covers, and the publisher chooses.

However, self-published authors do have control over their book cover. Your book cover is an introduction of your book to potential readers. It’s important to get it right. I’ve observed shoppers in brick and mortar businesses pick up books only to put them back after looking at the book cover without even reading the book blurb on the back cover. Your covers will forever be linked to your brand. No pressure, right? You created your “book baby” over a period of time, and your book’s cover deserves the same attention.

On “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” a repeating segment is with band member, Fred Annisen. Fred guesses the plot of a book by using only the book's cover in a segment titled, “Fred Judges a Book by Its Cover.” These are truly laugh out loud material. Check out Fred’s summary of “One Day in December,” by Josie Silver, in this clip. I’ve read this book and let me say, Fred gets it wrong but that is the point. You have to read not just judge a book by only it’s cover. 

My question is does your cover create an interesting view of an intriguing story? Would Fred be able to judge your book accurately by its cover?