Covers - is it helpful to add explanatory text?

[Jan]

I recently updated the cover for The Breadwinners and added 'a family saga' under the title thinking it might be helpful for readers browsing the boards (unfortunately not very visible in thumbnail).
I noticed that Clive Cussler's novels have 'the grandmaster of adventure' on their covers, and many paperbacks now add 'bestselling author of' or 'winner of such and such award'. So I added 'droll, witty and utterly British - Publishers weekly reviewer' to the cover of But Can You Drink The Water? so that readers would recognise it as humour. I also added 'runner-up in the 2010 Pan McMillan YA novel award' to the cover of Mystery at Ocean Drive
Is this helpful for readers, or do you find it annoying? Do you expect the cover pic and title to identify the type of story?


The Breadwinners

[Judy]

I think all the award comments, etc. should be on the back cover. The front cover is what attracts me...the artwork, the tiny blurb of story classification. In fact, since your book says droll, witty and British....that's what would make me take a closer look. That's where I'm headed now.

[Jan]

Judy wrote: "I think all the award comments, etc. should be on the back cover. The front cover is what attracts me...the artwork, the tiny blurb of story classification. In fact, since your book says droll, w..."

Thanks for the feedback. As these are e-books there isn't really a back cover. I thought an award on the cover might indicate that the story has some sort of credibility as some readers are shy of Indie books because of bad experiences with spelling and grammar etc

[Brenna]

I do expect the cover to at least hint at the genre. I really dislike, as a reader and as an author both, when they don't.

Most of my personal review quotes and such are on the back cover of print titles. My Kegin series books DO have a quote on the front of the ebook cover. "One of the most deviant erotic minds in the publishing world..." Fallen Angels It was the cover artist's choice, and it does look very nice. Does it help? No clue. It's nearly impossible to see in the thumbnail, but you can see it on the 600 pixel high.

Likewise, two of my other books (Raised to be His Own and May the Best Man Win) have a blurb snip on the cover. Again, artist's choice. It doesn't do much for me personally, but any promo you do will appeal to only a certain subset of readers.

Brenna

[Larry]

It depends. A superlative, brief quote from a prestigious book review or endorsement by a famous author is fine. Otherwise I feel it's counter-productive. A cover serves two purposes, first as a selling tool and second, as a selling tool.
The graphic should hint at a key plot element. The title and author name are also essential. Beyond that, less is more.
As your epic starts in 1924 and references people from that era in the description, I think the picture needs to be conformed to show people in 1920s era clothing. Definitely NOT what the illustration shows. Thus, a credibility disconnect results. Just my take on the situation, based on experience.

[Jan]

Larry wrote: "It depends. A superlative, brief quote from a prestigious book review or endorsement by a famous author is fine. Otherwise I feel it's counter-productive. A cover serves two purposes, first as a..."

Thanks. It's a family saga and the background is supposed to show the bakeries in the 1920s when the story begins, and the foreground is the present day i.e the grandchildren of the founders. It's also supposed to convey rivalry between the man and the woman (also some URST between them).

[Keryl]

I'd say skip it. You're selling ebooks, so most people will never see a version of your cover that's large enough to read anything other than the title.

You want a clear, grabbing image. A legible title, and author's name, and do it in a way that catches the attention of potential readers in a box that's about .75 inches by 1 inch.

If you want to add 'A Family Saga' and it doesn't clutter things up, fine, but bear in mind most people will never read it. You probably want to add it to the title that shows next to the thumbnail.

As for reviews and whatnot, put them in the correct place. Amazon and B&N have a place for you to add review blurbs.

Unless it's a visually distinct awards (like a Caldecot), I'd leave it off the cover as well. In a thumbnail your reader can't tell what it is, and once they've clicked to the bigger image, you've likely got their attention well enough that you can begin your blurb with "Insert Name of Award Winner..."

[Mona]

I think the reader should be grabbed by the cover image and the title. However I did use a sub-title on one of my books (Promise Me) because it had blackhawk helicopters on the front. I added A Modern Love Story. But generally, I'd say the simpler the better.

[Larry]

Jan wrote: "I recently updated the cover for The Breadwinners and added 'a family saga' under the title thinking it might be helpful for readers browsing the boards (unfortunately not very visible in thumbnail..."

If you even have to ask the question, the answer is no. Deep down, you question the wisdom -- and rightfully so. A cover is designed to attract the prospective buyer - not close the sale. The back blurb or below the book on the Internet is supposed to do that. The other selling element should be the first page of Chapter 1, specifically the lead paragraph.

[Ken]

I like taglines - I wish I had put one on Dark Tidings. And Brenna really dislikes me, because my cover gives few hints that it is a contemporary fantasy

Here are a range of taglines I posted on another thread...

Clare Francis Unforgotten - Over any family, dark shadows can fall
Lynne Truss Eats Shoots & Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Beverly Barton The Fifth Victim - One by one he kills them...
Richard Wiseman :59 Seconds - Think a little. Change a lot.
Lynda La Plante Deadly Intent - A prime suspect presumed dead. A body count that keeps rising.
Pete McCarthy McCarthy's Bar - A journey of discovery in Ireland

My tagline on Dark Tidings would be... What happens when Ancient Magic meets the Internet?

[Jan]

@Ken,
Thanks for this. I remember being told these tag lines were called 'prittles', but I've never been able to find the word in any dictionary.

[Lana Bradstream]

I had to rewrite my book blurb on Amazon. I was told it was not very engaging. I struggle with it a lot. Does anyone else have this problem?

[Jan]

Blurbs are very difficult to write as you have to entice the reader without giving away the entire plot. Trad publishers usually write the book blurbs instead of leaving it to the author who is often too close to the story to make a good job of it.
Have a look at blurbs written for popular trad published novels.

[Ken]

@Jan - I've never heard of 'prittles', but I love the word. I guess we'll use taglines for now because no one, apart from you and me, knows what prittles are.

Interestingly, it seems to be universally accepted that taglines work for movies. In a poll, 'In space no one can hear you scream' came out on top.

[Keryl]

Yeah, book blurbs are killers.

My own rules of thumb are:

Less than 200 words, less than 150 is better. If you couldn't fit the blurb on the back of a mass market paperback, it's too long.

Use active voice and short/medium length direct sentences.

Focus on the central question of the story. Usually if you think about your plot there'll be something the reader is wondering about while the action is happening. Will they fall in love? Will they defeat the Dark Lord in the end? etc. etc. Make that question the main thrust of your blurb, wrapped around some interesting details of the tale.

Now, I'm not saying I'm a great writer of blurbs or anything, but I do know a bad one when I see one, and they usually don't follow those rules.

[Ken]

Keryl wrote: "Yeah, book blurbs are killers."

@Keryl - Taglines are even shorter than blurbs - no more than two sentences. I liked your rules about blurbs though - please would you, and anyone else who has time, look at mine in another thread and give your opinion?

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Thanks in anticipation.

[Paul]

I have a terrible time writing blurb for my books. I usually write a first draft and then get my brother to write the finished version. I like to end up with a short version (about 100 words) and a longer version (closer to 200 words) so that it's easier to adapt to differing requirements.

I am in that annoying position where I can tell that the blurb I write is bad, but I can never make the correct modifications to make it work. Hopefully with practice I can learn to write them myself?

Maybe someone should offer a training course in blurb writing?!

[Zee]

Hey everyone

Your discussion about blurbs reminds me of a blog post I wrote a little while ago, about how to craft blurbs. Take a look if you're interested :)

http://tabithablake.blogspot.com/2011...

[Lyn]

I spent hours trimming the blurb for my book Darlin' Druid to make it fit and read well on the back cover of the print version, which will soon be available via CreatSpace. It ended up around 110 words long. The first paragraph lets the reader know this is book one in my Texas Druids trilogy and that it's an epic adventure set in the Old West, with stormy romance and flashes of Druid power. the second paragraph introduces the two main characters, explaining Jessie Devlin has prophetic visions of a man she believes she's destined to love, who she goes west to find. I ended it with what I hope is a strong hook: "Will her quest lead to happiness . . . or into a deadly trap?"

Regarding awards, I disagree. Darlin' Druid took 2nd place in the Paranormal Romance Guild's 2011 Reviewers Choice Awards. I placed the award badge on the front cover in hopes it will tempt readers to give the book a try. I don't think that's pretentious. It's simply salemanship.

[Jim]

I make a distinction between front and back-cover blurbs. I would keep the front blurb less than 7 words. More than that and the font size will have to be too small anyway. The importance of the source will largely dictate placement.

I got one from Larry Dossey, MD, who is in the top 5 of my genre so I wanted to highlight that. I think it's also important that the front blurb says something different than the title or subtitle. This is why you should try to compose possible blurbs for your sources even before contacting them. Most of the prominent authors I've dealt with seem to appreciate this as it saves them time, though my experience is that they like to chose among options. Back blurbs should target different audiences. I knew I had 3 very specific ones so I was composed accordingly with my presented options. Blurbs on the back or inside flaps tend to be too long, so avoid this. I think publishers make an error of including more than 5 or 6 blurbs. This makes me think that someone is trying too hard. I love writing blurbs and synopses. Synopsis writing seems to be the bane of about 80 percent of writers.