One Picture (on a Book Cover) May Be Worth (If Not a Thousand Words) Improved Sales
By Ron Lovell
Before I became a book publisher
last year, I didn’t think all that much about the importance of
covers. As a reader, I concentrated on whether I wanted to read what was
inside the book. Sure, I knew about magazine covers because I spent ten
years as a journalist. I even taught a course in the magazine business
during my academic career.
After I became a publisher, however, I quickly realized that what I had
learned earlier about the relationship of cover image and style to increased
sales was equally true for books. Especially in mystery fiction, readers
make their choices for two reasons: they like what the blurb on the back
tells them about the story; they are attracted to what is on the cover.
My journalism background also dictated a final decision: I would use photographs
on the covers of the books I published.
But a publisher—at least a non-techie one like me—could not
do that without the help of a gifted graphic designer. I have known and
worked with Liz Kingslien for fifteen years. She readily agreed to design
both the covers and the books for my Thomas Martindale Mystery series.
Like me, she thinks that the right photo can sometimes convey the essence
of a book much better than an illustration. “A good photo can create
a very dynamic, eye-catching book cover,” she says. “Since
I am not an illustrator—and for many projects there is no budget
to hire an illustrator—the availability of stock photography has
definitely expanded my toolbox.”
This was especially true for the first cover she designed for me. As the
title implies, Murder Below Zero takes place in the Arctic. Along
with ice, a polar bear is a character in the story. Liz located the perfect
shot on photographer Ivan Rothman’s web site. After gaining his
permission, she went to work to incorporate his image into her design.
She also altered it slightly.
Recalls Liz: “The polar bear photo was not only low-resolution to
start (and therefore would not work as is on the cover). It was horizontal
rather than vertical. I wanted the bear to be more threatening. I enlarged
the image, and also enhanced the eyes and snout to make the poor bear
even more crazed looking. If you read the story, you’ll see why
this is appropriate.”
While I have not tracked sales in direct relationship to this cover, many
readers and booksellers have mentioned its appeal and the poster I had
printed is often hung in bookstores long after I have departed.
For the latest mystery in the series, Searching for Murder, published
in August, Liz went for a more conceptual image. “I found the free
photo online and changed it only slightly in Photoshop,” she says.
“I darkened an area that was behind the title so that it did not
interfere with reading the title. The story is about the search for the
president of a university. It struck a familiar note with Ron, who had
been a university professor. At one time he had an office with a mottled
glass door. Many universities still have these doors in their older buildings.
Ron said it had always been rather scary to see someone come up close
to the glass to try to see if he was in.”
The photographer, Emin Ozkan, lives in Turkey and Liz and I both contacted
him to say that we would use his image on the book. He was happy to oblige
and I sent him copies of the finished book. It turns out that the sinister
image was fairly innocent. “I took the photograph at my house,”
he wrote me. “It was my nephew standing there appearing as a silhouette.
When I saw him, I asked him not to move and I grabbed my camera.”
I won’t know for six months or so if this haunting cover improved
sales.
Liz uses photos on the covers of most of the textbooks she designs for
Delmar Learning. Of course, it was very appropriate on the photo handbook
shown here. “The cover design that the editors chose represents
a color proof sheet of film strips,” she says. “I created
this in Adobe Illustrator and the photos were all taken from the pages
of the book. They represent several different techniques and concepts
explained in the book. Of course, a textbook does not have to appeal to
individual readers on a book rack. Textbooks are sold using an entirely
different marketing strategy.”
Although an illustration or an abstract design might be more appropriate
for some books, I will probably always use photos on mine. They have a
number of advantages:
- Photos convey a
realism not otherwise possible. To a reader accustomed to photos
in magazines and newspapers and film footage on television, a photo
on a book can connect in a way an illustration or an abstract design
cannot.
- Photos can be less
expensive. It all depends on finding photographers willing
to allow usage for free or a nominal fee. There are many good images
on the Internet and, as in my case, photographers displaying their work
on the Web are pleased to have their work on the cover of a book. You
do need to seek written permission from the photographer, however, even
if the usage is free.
- The right photo can attract readers. I have not quantified it, and am decidedly prejudiced because of my background, but I think photos on a cover are the best way to sell a book.
Adds Liz: “As a designer,
I feel the cover should give a taste of what is inside the book. It should
be appealing and the use of images, color, and typography should be well
thought out and appropriate to the theme. As a reader, I wanted the cover
to draw me in, to make me pick up the book and start to read.”
I could not have said it better myself.
Ron Lovell is publisher of Penman Productions in Gleneden Beach, Oregon
Liz Kingslien owns Lizart Digital Design in Chicago (www.lizbiz.biz)