What Makes a Good Book Cover The Secret to a Converting Book Cover

What Makes a Good Book Cover The Secret to a Converting Book Cover What Makes a Good Book Cover: How to Increase Book Sales With Your Book Cover Do you know what makes a good book cover?You shouldif you ever want to maintain consistent sales of your book.Ok, so here’s the deal. What I am just about to tell you might sound controversial. It might even sound downright ridiculous.You could even get offended.But bear with me for a while. Just hear me outbecause what I really want for you is to sell more books, and your book cover is one of the most important factors playing into that reality, even though weve all been told not to judge a book by its cover.The reality of publishing isEveryone does anyways.Heres what makes for a good book cover:Focusing on the big pictureStrong compositionAn intriguing focal pointClear title and subtitlesSimplistic book cover designNOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program. Learn more about it hereWhat does a good book cover matter?The book cover exists to serve one and only ONE purpose. And that purpose is to sell your book. Everything else is details.Shocked? Offended? About to pick that nearby glass of water and smash it on my head? Just hold it for a few minutes.I understand how we creatives hate the four-letter words starting with an S. Sell? Sale? Sold!? But it’s true. If you haven’t read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad yet, I urge you to get a copy and read.Robert Kiyosaki was once being interviewed by this bright young journalist. She had a real flair for writing. She asked Robert if he had any advice for her. And guess what Robert told her. â€Å"Go take a sales course†, he said.The young lady was shocked. She sat there silently for a few minutes, staring at Robert Kiyosaki in disbelief. And then she spoke. She told him she had spent all her life writing and studying. She held master’s degrees in literature and journalism.And she had worked so hard all her life, so that she won’t have to â€Å"stoop so lowâ₠¬  as learning to sell! Robert explained how she was a far superior writer than Robert could ever hope to be, but Robert was still a best-selling author, while she wasn’t. She could write the best book ever written by a human being, but it wouldn’t matter if nobody read it.And that is why you need to â€Å"SELL†.Makes sense? I hope it does because as I mentioned above, your books cover is one of the most important pieces of becoming a successful author.What makes for a good book cover?I have been on that side of the fence where creatives hate the concept of selling or marketing. And I have been on that side for the longest time. But the sooner you get yourself comfortable with these words and concepts, the better.And the best way to start is by understanding that investing in a good book cover design, and knowing what makes a good one.And why should you even listen to me? Well, I have a bachelor’s degree in marketing. And trust me, I learned nothing at s chool. After my bachelors, I spent nearly ten years convincing myself and the world that I am an artist. And you know the funniest part? All of my creative buddies and peers were in the same situation. And that is when I decided I needed to learn what I had shunned for the longest time. I needed to learn to sell. We founded Dastaan Online. And the first business that needed our help was our own. We started publishing a literary magazine called Dastaan World.Writers, artists, photographers, even those who write poetry along with readers flocked to us. I decided to design covers for every story we published. And our contributors loved them!My covers might well be beautiful, and thought-provoking and sublime and what not. But that is all secondary. They keep coming to me, because my covers help them sell their books.Every other quality of a good book cover can be indented as a subcategory or explanation of this one point.The book cover is there to promote your book, and ultimately sell it. Now, the next big question is, what makes for a good book cover that achieves this goal?#1 Focus On the Big PictureThe book cover needs to draw the viewer into the story. Even if you are writing non-fiction. You are a writer, so you know there is always a story.The cover needs to show what the book is about, without giving all of it away, much like the book title but with visuals.This example from Self-Publishing Schools coach Marcy Pusey shows just how this technique works in her book, Weirdo and Willy.The idea is to get your reader to open the book. Once they open the book, your magic as a writer will not let them put it down before reading it to the end.But to catch in your spiderweb of literary magic, you need to use a bait. And that is what your cover needs to do for you. It needs to play on the human emotions of intrigue and curiosity.So think about the big picture of what your book cover should represent.Ask yourself these questions when figuring out your book cover:Doe s your idea represent your story or message?Does it illicit intrigue?Does it stand out from other books in your category?#2 Create a Strong CompositionThis is where is start to get into the wizardry that is graphic design and illustration.Composition is one of the most fundamental skills required of anyone working with visuals. And as with all fundamentals, the composition takes a lifetime to master, at least!This is why its advised to hire a book cover designer instead of creating the cover yourself in programs like Canva or Photoshop.But if you have some experience and want to go for it, here are some guidelines on composition:Use the rule of thirdsSymmetry is your friendUse texture and patterns to add non-distracting detailsUse high and low anglesCombine several composition tips into one for full-effect (but not ALL of them)But you can start off with a few interesting guidelines or you can simply hire a book editor whos experienced in the field of composition.#3 Develop a Clear Focal PointEvery composition, every piece of deliberately designed visual communication, needs a focal point. The easiest way to find your focal point is to ask yourself (or, preferably, a friend) where your eye goes first on this piece.Whether it’s the title, your author byline, a figure in the artwork, some specific abstract shape, your focal point is what grabs your attention and catches your eye the first.And it’s not accidental. In this example by Self-Publishing Schools Omer Redden, you can see that the focal point of his book Life Doc is very clearly and intentionally the eye-catching title.There’s a whole science behind this elusive art called composition. It is this magic skill that dictates where a viewer is going to look, and in what order.You can have multiple focal points, but they should not compete with each other. They grab your viewer’s attention in the order you have designed them. Primary, secondary, tertiary and so on.This dance of at tention depends on what story you want to plant in their head. This story will make them open your book and eventually decide to buy it.#4 Title, Subtitle and Their RelativesPlease don’t make the mistake of thinking your cover is completely at your designer’s mercy. No. You are the writer. And you play the key role in determining how well your cover is gonna perform.How? The book title! When trying to come up with a book title idea, ask yourself this: Will it pull your reader from across the store? Or the webpage? It should be compelling. It should be visible and readable.AND it should be strengthened further by any additional visual elements on your cover.  Self-Publishing School coach Scott Allans book Undefeated is a great example of this. Here you can see his title plays an integral role in the cover design as a whole, with a very telling message with the torn reveal of un in undefeatedYour title, and any subtitles and taglines are going to play a pivotal role i n selling your book. So get your inner Don Draper out when crafting your cover copy!#5 Simplistic Book Cover DesignAnd finally, I like to keep my covers simple. And I personally tend to like covers that are simple and minimalistic.Although, my covers may sometimes look complex because of all the digitally painted and photo-manipulated detail, the ideas and composition must remain simple. It all goes in favor of the focal point and our intention to just say enough that will compel our viewer to buy the book.Overly complex covers usually give a very blatant impression of desperation, where the designer didn’t exactly know what to put in. And hence, they put everything they could think of in there. Not cool. Don’t do this. Keep it simple!So when you decide to finally lock down your book cover, remember to keep it simple stupid. Keep the big picture of your story in mind.Make your viewers focus on the key selling points of your book. If you feel stumped about your book co ver design, you can always reach out to a professional for help. If youre a student of Self-Publishing School, youll even be provided a list of cover designers whose work already checks the boxes of this list.You can see a little preview of this below:Just keep these guidelines in mind, whether you are designing the cover yourself, or paying someone to do it for you.Ready to get serious about selling your book?If youre ready to actually have success with your book (instead of hitting publish and hearing crickets from no book sales), we have the tried-and-true methods to help you get there.

The Ultimate ACT Writing Study Guide Tips, Strategies, and Practice

The Ultimate ACT Writing Study Guide Tips, Strategies, and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips We've written the best study guide to ACT Writing section and the ACT essay available anywhere. This is a bold statement, but it's not an exaggeration.We have read many, many different ACT prep books and thoroughly studied ACT, Inc’s resources. Based on our research, we believe that this guide is the best resource available by farfor ACT Writing. In this guide, we cover each aspect of the ACT essay in detail, from what kinds of prompts you'll be asked to write abouttothe essential underlying skills the essay prompt is testing.You'll learn the best ACT writing tips and strategies as well as how to get the most out of ACT writing practice and prep. If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to ACT Writing and how to improve your ACT Writing score, you'll find this resource invaluable.By mastering the skills tested, practicing with realistic ACT Writing prompts, and zeroing in on your weak spots, you'll have the tools to dramatically boost your ACT Writing score. I've organized this article into fivedifferent sections,based on the level of detail covered in the articles.We'll start with understanding the general structure of theACT Writing section and having the right mindset for the essay. Next, we'll cover why colleges care about the ACT essay and which colleges require or recommend it. In the third section of this article, we'll go into ACT Writing in more detailand examinethe rubric, prompts, and format. We'll then take a look at how to fit ACT Writing prep into yourstudy plan and how to get the most out ofyour study time for score improvement. Finally, we'llend with a couple of special guides aboutavoiding plagiarism and dealing with ACT Writing scoring issues. We suggest reading this guide in order to start, then using itas a reference page to come back to as you progress in your test prep. ACT Writing: The Basics The articles in this first section of our ultimate ACT Writing Guide introduce you to the ACT essay task and scoring without getting too far into the details.Use these articles to learn the best way to approach the ACT essay. The New Enhanced ACT Writing Test (2016): Complete Guide This article serves as an introduction to ACT Writing test changes that were implemented September 2015. We gointo the difference between the current ACT essayand the previous ACT Writing test, which is great if you took the old ACT Writing and aren't sure what the new one looks like. It's also a helpful general overview of what's in the section and how it differs from other essays you might have written in the past. How Long Is the ACT With Writing? In this guide, we walk you through the layout of the ACT test and how long each of the sections and breaks is. You'll find informationfor regular and extended time, along with tips for dealing with the extreme length of the test and maintaining stamina and focus through the essay. ACT Essay Scoring: Completely Explained Read this guide to get anoverview of the way the ACT essay is scored and a brief discussion of each of the rubric criteria. You'll get a taste of what the essay graders are looking for and high-level advice on how to meet those expectationswith your ACT essay. What Is a Good ACT Writing Score? As with the ACT overall, it's important to have a score goal in mind when you study for ACT Writing. Because the weight placed on ACT Writing scores varies from school to school and schools' average ACT Writing scores are not always in line with their other ACT scores, you'll want to set your ACT Writing score goal based on the specific requirements of the schools you're applying to and nothing else. What's an Average ACT Writing Score? We do the work of keeping up with ACT Writing score data releases and percentile rankings for you and give you the big picture of what it all means in this article. How Do Colleges View ACT Writing? One of the things that distinguishes ACT Writing from the other sections of the ACT is thatyou have the option not to take it every time you take the test.These guides are designed to help you navigate the confusing world of what "optional" means when it comes to the ACT essay. Is ACT Writing Important? Expert Guide It can be a little tricky to figure out what impact ACT Writing has on your college application, particularly since it's not required (or even recommended) by all schools. Read this article to better understand the rationale behind schools requiring ACT Writing and what rolethe ACT essayplays in the college admissions process. Should You Take the ACT With or Without Writing? There are both pros and cons to choosing to take the ACT essay. This article will help youlearn what all the factors are and whether they apply to you. Complete List: Which Colleges Require ACT Writing: 500+ Schools Do you even need to take the ACT with Writing? A lot of whether or not you decide to take theACT with Writing depends upon which colleges you'll be applying to. Find out if the schools you want to get into recommend or require you to take ACT Writing in this article. Understanding ACT Writing Prompts and the ACT Essay Rubric The articles mentioned in this section break down the ACT essay prompt and discuss the different ways to approach writing the essay.Learn what skills are needed to excel on ACT Writing and strategies for developing and sharpening those skills. Follow along with our step-by-step walkthroughs of practice ACT essays and put your new knowledge to work by writing practice essays. How To Attack ACT Essay Prompts and Raise Your Score Dive into the ACT essay with this dissection of how ACT essay prompts are constructed. You'll learn about the three core perspectives and what the implications are for your essay's organization. ACT Writing Prompts: The Complete Guide You'll need to practice with official ACT Writing prompts to truly excel at the ACT essay. This article includes all of the free and public official ACT essay prompts, along with five other prompts I constructed based on those official prompts.I also discuss the core question each prompt is asking and how to preplan examples to use in any ACT essay. How To Get A Perfect 12 on the ACT Writing Essay To get a 12 on the ACT essay, youmustunderstand what the differences are between an almost-perfect and a perfect-scoring essay.I've distilled the essentials of my analysis of the ACT essay into this article. Plus, you'll get advice on what to do and what to avoid doing in your essay. How To Write An ACT Essay: Step Learn how to construct a top-scoring essay, one step at a time, by following along as I go through the planning, organizing, writing, and revising stages of the ACT essay. Try the strategies in this article to streamline your essay planning and writing process. ACT Writing Rubric: Full Analysis and Essay Strategies Get into the nitty-gritty of the scoring rubric and the skills the ACT wants to see displayed in your essay with this article. You'll learn about the four different domains (ideas analysis, development support, organization, and language use) and what you need to do to max out your score in each domain. You'll also discover the most effective ways to use the ACT essay rubric in your own studying. ACT Essay Format and Templates You Can Use Because the prompts and perspectives you'll be asked to write about on the ACT essay fall into predictable categories, it's possible to plan out the structure of your essay ahead of time.Follow our tips for creating your own ACT essay template that you can use and reuse on the actual ACT. ACT Writing Strategies and Tips We've gone over the generalities of the ACT essay, the importanceplaced on ACT Writing by colleges, andthe skills it takes to get a top-scoring ACT essay.The only thing left is tolearn how tosynthesize all that knowledgeinto concrete actions you can take to improve your essay writing. That's where the articles in this sectioncome in. The strategies and tips in thefollowingguides are based on our deep knowledge of ACT Writing. From larger issues like writing a long enough essayto smaller issues like including an introduction and conclusion, the advice we offer is designed to maximize your potential essay score improvement. How Does ACT Essay Length Affect Your Score? The ACT essay doesn't have a specified length, but that doesn't mean you can just answer the question in a few sentences and be done. This article discusses the minimum requirements your essay has to meet to score well and what this means for the length of your essay. ACT Writing Tips: 15 Strategies to Increase Your Essay Score You'll want to make sure you're allocating your time and energy during ACT Writing practice to activities that will yield the greatest score improvement. Read these tips for quick strategies that can have a big impact on your score. Does Messy Handwriting Hurt Your ACT Writing Score? It's unlikely you'll score a zero on the essay because your handwriting is so illegible, but that doesn't mean that messy handwriting can't hurt your essay score in other ways. Find out what the impact of bad handwriting on essay scores really is and strategies to avoid getting into that kind of mess. Pargon/Flickr Avoid ruining your essay score with messy handwriting as expertlyas this cat is avoiding the invisible water being sprayed at him. Special Guides for the ACT Essay The two articles included in this sectiongive special guidance ontwo specific aspects of ACT Writing that are unique to this section of the ACT: plagiarism and systematic scoring errors. Why You Shouldn't Copy Skeleton Templates for the SAT/ACT Essay What's the line for what is and is not acceptable when it comes to using ACT essay templates?I draw upon my essay grading experience and ACT Writing expertise to advise you on how to prepare yourself for the essay without plagiarizing. Think Your New ACT Writing Score Is Wrong? Recent Issues, Explained In this article, wediscuss the issues ACT, Inc. had with the rollout of the new ACT essay in September 2015 including scoring delays, scoring inconsistencies, and student complaints. This guideisanessential read if you're trying to decide whether you want to take the SAT with essay or ACT Plus Writing. Even though some of these issues have been resolved with the essay scoring change implemented September 2016, other issues may still be active and affect your ACT Writing score. What's Next? There's a lot of information to take in from thisguide, becausethere's a lot to understand about ACT Writing if you want to write a high-scoring essay.Reading these articles is just the first stage of your test prep, though. After making your way through all the resources linked to in this guide, you should... Go out and forage for high-quality study materials Diagnose your weaknesses and review your mistakes Stay motivated! Don't forget to review our other great ACT ultimate guides for English, Math, Reading, and Science for even more articles, strategies, and practice! If all the information in this guide is overwhelming you and you're not sure you'll be able to adequately prepare for the ACT essay on your own, consider trying out our ACT prep platform. Builtby Harvard grads, our program learns your individual strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics and then uses that information to customize your prep toyou. Our product alsoincludesscoring and custom feedbackforreal ACT essay prompts. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this ACT Writing lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get your ACT essays hand-graded by a master instructor who will give you customized feedback on how you can improve. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial: