Marketing Tip: Package it like a Pro - guest post by @JoelGoldman1

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GOOD COVER ART is essential to a book’s success whether it’s an e-book or a print book. Don’t believe me? Browse Amazon or walk into your local bookstore and see what jumps out at you. Unless you’re looking for a specific book, you can’t help but be drawn to a book with an attractive, interesting, compelling cover. That’s what often first draws us to another person – we like what we see (and, we are shallow).

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Joel Goldman




Joel Goldman's Amazon Author Page

You’ve got the same decision to make on a cover as on vetting your book. Do it cheap, do it yourself or do it right. Unless you’re a graphics art wizard, hire a pro. Prices will range from ninety-nine dollars to a thousand or more. You don’t have to break the bank but you will get what you pay for. You should be able to get a terrific cover for around five hundred dollars.

Before throwing a dart at your Google search screen to pick a cover artist, study covers on books in your genre at your favorite online bookstore. Find ones that you like, contact the author and find out who did the cover.

Focus on the thumbnail version of the cover because that’s what a customer is going to see online. Make certain the text on the cover is legible and the artwork pops and conveys the tone you want to set for the book. For example, if you’re writing a thriller or mystery, your cover should convey a sense of danger, suspense or menace.

What's next in this series?


Being a successful commercial writer, i.e., someone who earns more selling their books than they do buying other people’s books (okay, there are other definitions but I like this one), requires that you treat your writing career like a business. If you want to be a profitable self-publisher, you have to do the same things a traditional publisher does:

  • Vet your manuscript to make it the best it can be
  • Package it like a pro
  • Develop and execute a business plan for marketing your book


I was originally going to make this the last post of the series, but I changed my mind. There's one more. Stay tuned.