E-books Will 'Blow Apart Cover Design' [Article]

gothicangel · Jul 1, 2011

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/e-books-will-blow-apart-cover-design.html

Marketing strategist Damian Horner, chairing the recent event held at the British Library, said publishers' current approach—of replicating a book's printed cover online with review quotes and design flourishes—does not work in the digital sales environment.

Horner recommended that publishers should instead consider a cover's digital impact, dropping text entirely in favour of a distinctive "icon" that can transfer to social media like Twitter; good examples of this were Caroline Lawrence's The Case of the Deadly Desperados, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and David Nicholls' One Day.

Horner said the online blurb will have to convey all the information a cover cannot communicate in that environment, including the book's title and reviews. Publishers will need to embark on the "whole new discipline" of search engine optimising e-book blurbs.

FrogWrite · Jul 1, 2011

Especially since people are starting to read their Kindle books on their mobile phones which have small, small screens. It's an EXCITING time to be a writer. I love designing my own covers.

Max Vaehling · Jul 1, 2011

A couple of years ago, David Byrne blogged about album covers and how they're losing their old function as a visual frontpiece that identifes, characterizes and brands the music. He saw the albums' web sites taking that role since the way people consume the music is less connected to the cover art, but when they seek out info or community stuff around the music, that's when it gets visual again. Since then, covers had a bit of a comeback as iTunes icons, but I tend to agree. The identity they created as packaging just isn't the same when they're not the packaging.

That may be what's happening in books now. Hopefully with less flash.

gothicangel · Jul 1, 2011

FrogWrite said:
Especially since people are starting to read their Kindle books on their mobile phones which have small, small screens. It's an EXCITING time to be a writer. I love designing my own covers.

That wasn't quite what I was thinking.

Of course, unless you're a professional illustrator, doing your own jacket design can backfire. Jacket design is still a big thing for me when buying e-books.

Cloud Eight · Jul 1, 2011

Thanks for the link gothicangel.

I learned my design lesson quickly. Tried doing one of my own and realized I had neither the artistic nor Gimp chops to produce a professional-looking cover. Ended up hiring a pro.

FrogWrite · Jul 18, 2011

Yes, I guess it can backfire. And I may not be the most talented cover designer out there so I might be hurting my chances at a larger audience, but I really enjoy packaging my books myself, and designing the cover is a huge part of the creation process for me. I'm designing my new cover right now while still on my first draft. I love seeing all the pieces fall together.

sameerjoad · Jul 18, 2011

Branding is always desirable but i really don't get the point in creating icons, logos and even custom branded digital covers for a single title.

However in case of a series branding can be extremely beneficial for digital marketing. Take an example of harry potter or twilight, HP has its own font style which is a clear branding indicator. Small things make your book unique.

E-books Will 'Blow Apart Cover Design' [Article]

gothicangel

Toughen up.

FrogWrite

Max Vaehling

gothicangel

Toughen up.

Cloud Eight

FrogWrite

sameerjoad