Much Ado About (Mostly) Nothing

So many people have told me that I need the perfect book cover; that an author has to be flawless, never making mistakes; that the website has to be perfect; and the book trailer must be amazing. For so long, I completely believed these statements. I did my damnedest to make sure I had the best cover my money could buy. I tried to never be in error with my attitude (which, sometimes, I was). I made an effort to make sure the website did 1,000 things, like wizardry. I did my best to make an excellent book trailer. I’m even considering hiring someone to make the next book trailer because everyone didn’t love mine.

 

Then I asked myself if any of these things influenced why I buy books. I found that none of the rules applied.

 

I’m not crazy about the cover to Coffin County by Gary A. Braunbeck, but it’s one of my favorite books. The Girl in the Basement by Ray Garton, though an amazing novel, has no cover, if you ask me. I can’t figure out what that picture’s supposed to be. I added one of my favorite authors to my Facebook page, and he acted like the Antichrist, but I still buy all of his books because, in my opinion, there aren’t many great authors (although there may be many good and average writers). I hardly ever look at authors’ websites, and if I do, it doesn’t influence whether I buy the book. And I’ve never bought a novel because of a book trailer. In fact when I first heard there were book trailers, I thought it was the silliest thing I’ve ever heard in my life (lately I’ve warmed up to them … a little bit).

 

I’m not saying these “rules” aren’t important. Of course as professional authors we should do our best to be excellent at every aspect of our careers. I just think some people put too much importance on them.

 

In the end, all that matters is that the story is incredible. That, in a nutshell, is an author’s job.