Please remember to be accurate in your edits, as your changes will be reflected on anyones shelf who has that book. Click the publish button at the bottom of the page. How to find the best book cover designer tck publishing. Oct 22, 2015 writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. Book summary and author bio on the back of the book. Your books author bio tells potential readers who you are, and why they should trust you and buy your book. How to build the back of a book cover with template. Let readers know what makes your book interesting, and give them a sense of what kind of book it is. Learn about the job description and duties and read the stepbystep process to start a career in book illustration. Self published author 8 mistakes that will absolutely. Punctuation or grammar goofs in this highly visible spot broadcast the message that your book was not professionally written.
Every step of that pathway is critical, except of course that in some cases the book page will push users straight to the buy now button. Learn how to write an author bio that gets readers attentions. Capture readers with better book descriptions for fiction. How to create a back book cover blurb that sells kindlepreneur.
Visit amazon author central, click on your book, and add it in the about the author section or if you published a paperback version of your book on createspace, you can enter the bio in the author biography section for your book. After the title and the book cover, your description is the most important book marketing material. Featuring a sweet, ripened pomegranate, designer jason ramirez uses figurative imagery to create a compelling book cover for a story about the early years of famed colombian author gabriel garcia marquez. Apr 12, 2018 find the perfect marketer for your book. Aug 17, 2010 since a book cover is so significant in your books success, you have to squeeze all the power you can from the things you include on it. Its the essence of your books most exciting features, distilled into a few hundred words. Another purpose of a book cover, however, is to draw the attention of curious readers.
These 50 awesome book covers will inspire you learn. Finding a book when youve forgotten its title by gwen glazer, communications november 22, 2017. You should regularly maintain your bio on places like your bookbub author profile so fans and potential readers seeking you out can learn more about you and why they should pick up your latest book. The first author field is for entering the primary author of the book. Along with the title of a book and the authors name, the front cover of a book will also have cover art that is representative of the contents of the book. Write only a paragraph or two, and include the hooksthe storys most engaging plot points. Once you wow your potential readers with an excellent front cover, the next part of your book thatll hook them is your back cover copy, which is publishing speak for the information that appears on the back cover. Ya book about another planet set in a medieval world with monsters. A book description should draw the reader in, but authors tend to get too flowery with these. If when you go to publish your book description, and amazon says no and. A great book cover design is important for every author who wants to be successful, this is true for both indie authors and the big names that youd expect to see within the new york times best sellers list. Some book covers may consist of photographs, while others may consist of illustrations. Heres a screenshot of this book, how to sell a truckload of books on amazon.
It can be tough to remember the title and author of a book you read a long time ago. Not only is it useful to know what you need to include in an author bio, it is also useful to see examples of how your vital information should look. So youve written your book, youve chosen your title and cover design, and youre breathing a sigh of relief. A book cover is any protective covering used to bind together the pages of a book. The third example shows how part of the back cover copy the author bio, in this case can show up on the inside flap of a hard cover book. A short fiftyword outline is not a book description and will give potential readers a bad impression. Finding a book when youve forgotten its title the new. Aug, 2015 in todays guest post, editor jessi rita hoffman explains how to craft professional and compelling backcover copy. Change title, subtitle, author, or description on blurb. Front cover this book cover delivers a saul bass style for a fun summer read. Jul 30, 20 for over 25 years, hobie hobart and his partner kathi dunn known as one of the countrys top book cover designers have created success tools like bestselling book covers and information products that authors, speakers and experts use to build their brands and business empires.
Practically, the back cover of fiction books tend to include a tagline also known as a logline or the shout line, a blurb, possibly a brief author bio. There are nine things every nonfiction book cover must include in order to generate appeal and interest, and to make your book an effective marketing tool for your business. What began as a grad school hobby is now a top food blog, with millions of readers coming to her site for easy weeknight recipes and. Finding a book when youve forgotten its title the new york. How to decide which information to include and what you can leave out in your author bio. Nov 22, 2017 finding a book when youve forgotten its title by gwen glazer, communications november 22, 2017. May 30, 2019 generally, the best description to enter is one found on your books back cover or dust jacket.
This information usually falls into one of three parts. Use your author bio to sell yourself as part of the book and connect with readers. This feature will dedicate more separate space to a topic that has always intrigued, irked, and befuddled us. Youll see i use keywords throughout the pagein the header, in the description, and in the bullets. There are two metadata fields for your book description.
Dont jump to conclusionsconsider all the pros and cons, then make a decision based on whats best for this specific book. Now, theres nothing wrong with designing your own cover if youre actually a cover designer. For you, the author, walking this fine line, and getting it right, means you have to have the utmost clarity on what youre writing. Apr 28, 2016 the back cover copy you write for your book is among the most important marketing messages youll craft. Dont give away anything that adds to the suspense or surprise. If its a novel, you must include the storys most engaging plot points. Whats important to me is the story in the book, not the cover. Dont write your book description as an afterthought. Over the years ive seen everything from a finely designed book cover, to one the author created himself.
Unless youre a household name author steven king, jk rowling, malcolm gladwell, most people buying your book wont know who you are. I only really consider the cover of the book last and thats not a huge consideration. How to write an amazon book description that sells selling books is a result of two factors. This post is aimed specifically at book descriptions for fiction, and well post something for nonfiction authors later. To change the actual book cover, make your edits in the bookmaking software you chose and then reupload your book. Since a book cover is so significant in your books success, you have to squeeze all. Nov 23, 2015 write a short summary of what your book is about. Description entice readers with a summary of the story and characters. Change book title, subtitle, author name, or description. Get access to my full free amazon ads video course. The back cover copy you write for your book is among the most important marketing messages youll craft. While the amazon book description wont affect traffic i. Feb 28, 2017 front cover this book cover delivers a saul bass style for a fun summer read. The title and subtitle should match the title shown on the cover of the book, if that information is available.
These steps will only change the information displayed on our site, not what is printed on the book cover itself. The essential elements of a front cover include title and author name. Back cover copy includes the book summary and author bio. Frame your reputation and get more media coverage with a good bio. But when it comes to the back cover of their printed book, many new authors skimp or are unconcerned with what goes on the back. If theres any doubt at all about your content or the path of the narrative, then youll struggle to write those few hundred words that make up your back cover blurb or online book description. Book descriptions not only tell readers what a books about but help them find it online in the first place. Get tips for how to write a good book description and learn the difference between a long book description and a short book description. For some types of books and authors, this is harder to do.
Heres a question for you about back cover copy for a nonfiction book. I wasnt in fact the primary author of this description i just tweaked a. This is the most classic of all debut author mistakes. Cover has a white background with drawings from the monster book around the border. If you queried agents or editors at any point, you might be able to start with the hook from your query letter. Tucker has sold over 5 million books as a 4x nyt bestselling author and is the cofounder of scribe. However, nonfiction authors must include an author bio as part of their back cover copy to convince readers of their authority. Book cover artist requirements salary jobs the art. Also, the more you write, the better you get, so keep trying, keep. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist wade watts on his search for an easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game, the discovery of which would lead him to inherit the game creators fortune. In some cases, a book cover artist might also confer with the publisher or author of the book as well. For example, author alessandra torre used amazon selfpublishing to release her first book in 2012, and for the first three months, she sold between five.
Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so interesting. Now you have to decide what goes on the back cover. Learn how to find the best book cover designers using this comprehensive guide, which includes tips for hiring designers and using freelance sites like fiverr. If a title includes accented characters, apostrophes, quotation marks, or punctuation, include these in the title field. International standard book numbers can be entered in either 10 or digit formats, with or without spaces or dashes. Having a professional book cover design ensures that your book stands out in a very crowded environment and sells, people do judge books by their covers and so you should make sure that. Youve done the hard work and created an amazing book. Canvas free book cover maker is ridiculously easy to use even for the novice or notsotechsavvy writer. However, nonfiction authors must include an author bio as part of their back cover copy to convince readers of. Learn more about timelines for updates to published books. Novelists will rarely depend on the bio to sell the book, but as book launch. And if that doesnt happen, then a convention will ask for a headshot to go on the program book, or a short story market will want one for the website.
Research the requirements to become a book illustrator. Yes, we really do judge books by their covers huffpost. The abebooks database tries to match isbns to books that have been. If all of this sounds daunting, consider hiring an editor or marketing writer to help you craft your books backcover copy in the most compelling way possible. Apr 02, 2015 a book description should draw the reader in, but authors tend to get too flowery with these. To edit book or author information, navigate to the book or authors page, then click on the edit data link in the lower right side of the box containing the book or authors information.
If you are a novelist, your back cover should provide a short summary of what your book is about. Tom corsonknowles is the founder of tck publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including secrets of the sixfigure author. Make sure it sells out by creating an awesome cover design. Finished books that are more than pages long also need spine text. This article will cover both what you need to include in your author bio and some examples of tight professional bios. If theres no clear way to signal direct authority or credentialsfor example, you wrote a thriller or a romance novelthen dont make up things or try to invent authority. The front cover is the first of the physical parts of a book. The book description, often overlooked as a means to drive traffic to your page, is also a great place to use keywords.
Amazon complains of invisible characters if when you go to publish your book description, and amazon says no and responds with something like description may not contain invisible characters this means that there are some tags that dont have anything in between the two. New authors sometimes rush this decision, writing the first. How to write an amazing author bio book marketing for. Main character is a boy with a journalbook that has anatomical descriptions of the monsters. This allows the artist to design and create a cover that coincides with the authors visions for his work. Nine things that need to be on your book cover alicia dunams. How to build the back of a book cover with template reedsy. Over 300,000 authors trust the professionals on reedsy, come meet them. The second thing i look for is the blurb or description of the novel. Writing your author bio can be a daunting task, but a wellcrafted bio can help readers learn more about what makes you and your books so. When a search is done by keyword, the author, title, and publisher fields, as well as the full book description, are all checked for possible matches. I would recommend them to any author and will be back once my next novel is completed. This is an update of a previous post by sharon rickson.
Authors spend a great deal of energy writing the book of course. The book description goes most prominently on the back cover, and the top of your amazon page. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist wade watts on his search for an easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game, the discovery of which would lead. Still, she thinks twice before accepting or buying a book with a bad or cheap looking cover.
Your book description is the hook to get readers interested in your book, so it is vitally important that it does its job well. Apr 27, 2010 cover matters is a new monthly feature in which we examine the medium that is first contact between a reader and a book. For a nonfiction book, authors should make a bullet point list of the books main features and actually put that list on the back cover. Check out selected results from nypl title quest 2019, held august 2, 2019, as well as title quest 2018. After your cover, the product description of your book is the first experience the reader has with you as an author. A book cover artist will then usually develop a few ideas for how the cover could look. We will be talking about issues such as whitewashing practices, covers in poor taste, misleading or completely inaccurate covers, cliched covers and, of. Design book covers with canvas free book cover maker. How to write a memorable author bio with template reedsy. How to write amazon book descriptions that sell your book. Grade book title cover image author description published.
Ive seen about the author information, testimonials, brief description of the book and benefitoriented sales copy. You can also enter descriptions of your book directly from your publishers website, or summarize it yourself. You can use the author bio template provided in this post on creating a memorable author bio. It typically serves as the foundation for your online book descriptions, as well as any press releases or pitches you make to the media.
Even though weve all been told since childhood to never judge a book by its cover, the fact is that book cover design does attract readers. But when you include this information on createspace, it. The term bookcover is often used for a book cover image in. Its important for indie authors to know how to write an author bio that tells readers. If a great design has gutlevel emotional appeal and the power to entice readers, a poorly designed cover can be a real turnoff.
Here are some reallife author bios that combine most or all of the tips above. Ready player one is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of american author ernest cline. Tips and advice on writing an author biography including useful author bio examples for inspiration and checklist. Beyond the familiar distinction between hardcovers and paperbacks, there are further alternatives and additions, such as dust jackets, ringbinding, and older forms such as the nineteenthcentury paperboards and the traditional types of handbinding. Oct 16, 2018 book metadata may sound complicated, but it consists of all the information that describes your book, including. To edit book or author information, navigate to the book or author s page, then click on the edit data link in the lower right side of the box containing the book or author s information. Canvas book cover maker makes designing book covers amazingly simple even for nondesigners. Before we get into why most authors hate writing their back book cover blurb, lets. Self published author 8 mistakes that will absolutely kill. Here at lit hub, we unpacked the biggest book cover trend of the year, compared us covers to their uk counterparts, and remembered the best and worst covers of lolita as well as edward goreys own cover designs.
Nonfiction back cover copy for nonfiction, establishing yourself as an expert and differentiating your book from the others written about the same topic will help sell your book. Its the first impression that conveys your books message, your brand, and most importantly, makes readers want to buy it. They are going to ask you for a photo of you to put on it. The bio on the back of the book cover should be the nutshell inside of the nut. Writing an author bio examples of professional bios. An eyecatching design can make the difference between a book that sells and one that stalls, so dont let your future bestseller get passed over due to a soso cover design. Chungah rhee is the founder, recipe developer, and photographer of damn delicious. How to write a book description that sells with examples. Design book cover for free with online templates adobe spark.
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