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Should you change your book cover? Editor's Notes #364
May 04, 2022
Hello,

Good cover design is not only about beauty... it’s a visual sales pitch. It’s your first contact with a potential reader. Your cover only has around 3 seconds to catch a browsing reader’s attention.
—Eeva Lancaster


In this issue:

1. Should you change your book cover?
2. Tickled my funny bone
3. Interesting Web site
4. Writing prompt

1.Should you change your book cover?
When the seasons change, I change my jacket. Should you change your book’s jacket or its cover? Here are five reasons you might change your book’s cover.

  • A new format may sell better with a new cover. Often hard covers, paperbacks, and e-books have different covers. Sometimes the changes can be subtle, but some changes look like completely different books even though the content is the same.
  • If you want to reach a new audience, you may want a new cover. Things like colours, fonts, and graphics create subliminal impressions, and different audiences respond differently to these details.
  • Clothing fashions change at breakneck speed these days. Fashions in book covers change more slowly, but they do change. Updating a cover brings a fresh look to your book.
  • Publishing a new edition creates an opportunity to consider a new cover, even if it’s only to highlight the fact that this is an updated or special version.
  • If you turn one book into a series, a change from the original cover may be called for.


Changing a book’s cover is usually the responsibility of the publisher. If you self-publish, the decision is all yours. The cover is a critical part of your book. Consider consulting a design professional if your budget allows.

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2.Tickled my funny bone
Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

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3. Interesting Web site
This article includes a link to a site with book cover templates. I have not used this particular template. There are many others. Do your own research if you want to use a template.
https://justpublishingadvice.com/do-you-change-your-book-cover/

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4. Writing prompt Covers of all sorts can hide something or reveal something. Look at the book covers on your shelves. Write a piece about what a particular cover says to you.

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