Profile #3
What's Great About this Ebook Cover?By Susan Kendrick
My partner, Graham Van Dixhorn, and I are judges for the Ebook Cover Award category in Dan Poynter's Global Ebook Awards program. To give these authors and experts more visibility for their ebooks, and to use these covers to share the strategies we teach and use in our own work creating book covers, we're featuring many cover entries right here on our Book Cover Coaching blog.
State of Mind
Sven Michael Davison
and print version are also available on Amazon.
There are two primary components of the State of Mind ebook we want to emphasize. One is obviously Sven's powerful front cover. The second is his use of back cover testimonials.
We love Sven's title, in part because. It is a great use of a book title strategy we use and recommend often. Sven does a great job with it:
Ebook Title
We love Sven's title, in part because. It is a great use of a book title strategy we use and recommend often. Sven does a great job with it:
Use a Twist on a Familiar Phrase*
This strategy works so well because it combines something already familiar to people--a well-known phrase--with a fresh twist that makes it unique, memorable, and best of all, something that people now associate with you and your ebook.
This strategy works so well because it combines something already familiar to people--a well-known phrase--with a fresh twist that makes it unique, memorable, and best of all, something that people now associate with you and your ebook.
* Excerpted from our "10 Steps to Ebook Covers That Sell" - see below.
In this case, the familiar phrase is "state of mind," which in this novel can refer both the psychological state of an individual and what happens when you risk coming under control of the state or the powers that be. Both meanings work for this techno-thriller. This book title strategy adds a level of complexity that immediately sets the pace for the novel itself.
Ebook Cover Design
Sven nails it with his front cover design. This one image hits you in the gut ... or somewhere. It is arresting and even slightly off-putting. With a cover like this you may risk driving a few people away, but you will surely draw in your target audience. In Sven's case he makes a major shout-out to people looking for the best in bold techno-thriller fiction. And, that takes us to an important point about the back cover.
Ebook Cover Design
Sven nails it with his front cover design. This one image hits you in the gut ... or somewhere. It is arresting and even slightly off-putting. With a cover like this you may risk driving a few people away, but you will surely draw in your target audience. In Sven's case he makes a major shout-out to people looking for the best in bold techno-thriller fiction. And, that takes us to an important point about the back cover.
Ebook "Back Cover" Sales Copy
Again, even if your ebook does not have a physical back cover, you still develop that marketing message for use on your website and anywhere else you market and sell your ebook.
Testimonials are an important part of that message and your credibility.
Testimonials
Having the right people endorse your ebook adds valuable credibility to it. Aim high: What a testimonial says is less important that who says it. Potential buyers look at the endorser's name, title, company, affiliation, etc.
* Excerpted from our "10 Steps to Ebook Covers That Sell" - see below.
Think a few steps ahead
What do you want your book or ebook to do for you? Whose attention do you want to get and who do you want to influence, besides your potential reader? Your testimonials influence potential readers, yes, but they also influence potential partners who will also judge you by who else has already aligned themselves with you and your work. This is true in any field.
In Sven's case, his high-tech thriller seems to have all the makings of a movie. Sven already has extensive experience in the movie industry and consults for entertainment technology companies. You can see that the sources for two of his quotes are well-known in the movie and digital movie business. His trailer, or "P-Chip infomercial," is also much more than a typical book or ebook trailer. It crosses over into more of a movie short.
By getting his particular endorsers involved with his book, he continues to gain credibility with people who look to these experts for their take on this kind of story or content--in books, movies, digital movies on the web, and other media.
Think very strategically about what testimonials you want for your book and from whom. Too often we see authors and experts start this process too late to get the endorsements they want, or they simply are unaware of how much a well-chosen endorsement can do for them and their books.
* * *
 |
| Get Your Free Copy |
"10 Steps to Ebook Covers That Sell" includes three sets of 10-step checklists creating book title and subtitles, back cover sales copy, and book cover design. It also serves as the judging criteria for the Ebook Cover Award. Request a complimentary copy by emailing us at info@WriteToYourMarket.com.
* * *
Subscribe to this blog and learn more about what goes into developing a great book cover. See examples, including those we develop for our clients, and get tips you can use throughout all your book marketing. For help developing your book cover, book website, personal or business brand, and more, contact us at info@WriteToYourMarket.com.
© 2011, Susan Kendrick, Write To Your Market, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
