Thanks guys, bringing my book to market is proving to be a bit of a learning curve,but the challenge it presents is an opportunity to be a writer. Something I've always wanted to be.
Currently I'm working on the cover typography, up to version three so far. Lots to think about and, the choices between flashy crowd pleasing typography versus a solid sense of craft that makes each book look like part of a series.
You've probably come across arguments for both. There are some readers who think "oh, this is book 2 of a series, I won't buy it, book 1 isn't here on the shelf, I'll buy something else instead". There are others who like the covers to look uniform or spot the new one in the series because it looks like the last one.
But I don't know any of these people. I don't know people who buy new books in shops, or based on the cover, at all any more. I don't know how many of them are left, or how they think.
I'm guessing one of the cover design tasks is to make the thing look reasonable at 100 pixels wide…
Looking at the books I've read recently, the last one that wasn't a personal recommendation, a continuation of a series, or part of the Hugo-Nebula Reread, was David Hambling's The Elder Ice - and I think that was an algorithmic recommendation on Goodreads.
(The usual warning applies: people who market to appeal to me are not marketing for bulk sales, to the point that "doesn't appeal to Roger" may actually be correlated with higher sales to everyone else.)
Looks good.
ReplyDeleteThat looks great. Makes me look forward to the book even more.
ReplyDeleteVery cool!
ReplyDeleteNice !!!
ReplyDeleteCertainly piques my curiosity.
Thanks guys, bringing my book to market is proving to be a bit of a learning curve,but the challenge it presents is an opportunity to be a writer. Something I've always wanted to be.
ReplyDeleteThat looks cool!
ReplyDeleteCurrently I'm working on the cover typography, up to version three so far. Lots to think about and, the choices between flashy crowd pleasing typography versus a solid sense of craft that makes each book look like part of a series.
ReplyDeleteYou've probably come across arguments for both. There are some readers who think "oh, this is book 2 of a series, I won't buy it, book 1 isn't here on the shelf, I'll buy something else instead". There are others who like the covers to look uniform or spot the new one in the series because it looks like the last one.
DeleteBut I don't know any of these people. I don't know people who buy new books in shops, or based on the cover, at all any more. I don't know how many of them are left, or how they think.
I'm guessing one of the cover design tasks is to make the thing look reasonable at 100 pixels wide…
You know me, and I still buy books in shops, and often a book cover will attract me to read the blurb.
DeleteFair enough!
DeleteLooking at the books I've read recently, the last one that wasn't a personal recommendation, a continuation of a series, or part of the Hugo-Nebula Reread, was David Hambling's The Elder Ice - and I think that was an algorithmic recommendation on Goodreads.
(The usual warning applies: people who market to appeal to me are not marketing for bulk sales, to the point that "doesn't appeal to Roger" may actually be correlated with higher sales to everyone else.)
I bought and read The Elder Ice after reading your review, and I suspect it's not the sort of book one would find in Forbidden Planet.
Delete