GETTING THE READER TO PURCHASE YOUR BOOK
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You thought writing the book was hard! Now you need a cover. This can be more important than the manuscript. There are only 12-20 seconds to get the interest of the reader to purchase your book after they pick it up.
Readers look at four things: the cover, the title, reading the synopsis on the back of the book and the first page.
The title and cover can be more important than the book itself. My editor pointed important things out to me that I never would have thought of at the time. My first choice for a title was A Gift From Dad. He thought it would limit the audience. My second was A Daughter's Journey. He strongly advised to take the word daughter out because it might not pull in the male reader. The third was Time Waits For No One. My publisher told me another author had one close to that and asked me to change it. One night I had a wonderful title in my head and did the wrong thing; I didn't write it down. Finally I liked A Healing Heart but was uneasy because of the many titles with the word Heart in it.
Go online with a bookstore, like Barnes & Noble and key in a title you are thinking about and see if that pops up already in print.
Getting the Cover: When I had the title Time Waits for No One, I found the perfect photo online with www.photographersdirect.com. I would have had to pay for the rights to use it from the photographer. Let me tell you, that can be expensive. I had to pass.
My cover came from Greg Sousa who is a professional photographer from Ft. Myers Florida. His father is a friend of mine. Greg took his camera and sat on a pier facing Sanibel Island in Florida. He closed his eyes and after an hour of mediating, he snapped the picture of the clouds above the island. Once I saw it, I knew that was it.
The publisher will also supply a cover if you can't decide on one. They took my picture and designed the cover with the title and my name written on it. The publisher does not charge for this service.
Now you have to think about the synopsis on the back cover. Once you've completed your book, start thinking about what you are going to write on the back to pull the reader into your book. The publishers don't do this. The author has to accomplish this on their own.
They only allowed me 150 words. Sound like a lot? Try cutting your whole description of the book down to that. Describe your story and don't worry about the amount of words at first. Then when you feel comfortable, cut it down until you get to the amount of words needed.
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