Readers Will Judge Your Book By Its Cover: The online course
What makes a book sell?
- Is it word of mouth?
- Advertising savvy on the part of the author?
- The quality of the writing?
- Telling a gripping story?
All those things help, of course. But before a potential reader reads your book’s description, before they read the reviews, before they know anything about the quality of the writing on the inside of the book, the very first experience a reader has of a book is the cover.
Think about it: when you’re looking for your next great read at an online retailer, what are your eyes seeing first?
Not the book description.
Not the scintillating plot.
You’re scrolling through images of book covers.
And lots of them!
Every year the book market becomes more crowded and there is more competition for your reader’s attention. They’re distracted by social media and endless options for entertainment with streaming services and games.
Your book needs to compete with all that distraction and overwhelm.
It can’t do that if your cover is wrong.
Authors like you (and me) want their books to sell. Of course.
We take marketing classes and can spend hours scrolling around blog posts and Facebook comments, trying to find the magic ingredients that will create a successful ad campaign.
We can sometimes spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on social media ads and other types of promotion.
However…
It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on ads, or what kind of a marketing genius you are, if your book cover isn’t doing the one job it’s supposed to do.
Your book’s cover is the cornerstone of all your book marketing efforts.
Not every author knows this. Many approach their book cover as an afterthought, thinking of it as just the decorative wrapping paper that surrounds the real value, which is the present inside.
And sure, readers are going to remember the details of your book – the way it moved them or made them think, the pleasure they got from it – long after they remember what was on the cover.
But it’s the cover that gets their attention. (Or not.)
It’s the cover that stops them when they’re scrolling. (Or not.)
It’s the cover that lets the reader know, “This book is perfect for you.” (Or not.)
Sadly, many authors before you, including myself, have made mistakes with our book covers. Mostly out of innocence.
We didn’t know what we needed to when it came to a book’s cover.
We’ve perhaps had a cover designed that appeals to us, the author, without thinking much about the reader.
Or we’ve insisted that what mattered on the cover was a specific scene or location or person from the book.
Or we’ve taken an amateur stab at designing the cover ourselves thinking that it’s what’s inside the book that matters.
When we know better we do better.
One of the delights – and challenges – of being an independent author is that we are continually learning.
What I’m teaching in this course is that selling a book requires having the RIGHT cover.
Your cover needs to communicate to your potential reader in a split second that they should stop scrolling and learn more about your book.
That’s its only job.
The right cover for your book is a subliminal tool that speaks to your potential reader’s subconscious, letting them know that they have found what they’re looking for.
Reading your book’s description, checking out the price and the reviews, learning more about you, the author… all these things come a distant second to simply getting the reader to stop scrolling.
If the reader doesn’t stop scrolling, then you’ve likely lost them forever.
In the course you’ll discover:
- The specific elements of a book cover that works
- How to know what your potential readers are looking for in a cover. (This is so essential!)
- Why your cover is the most important tool in your book marketing foundation
- Why having the wrong cover will sabotage your marketing efforts
It’s about what you need to know in order to do research about how your book cover should look and then work effectively with a book cover designer.
Enroll today in Readers Will Judge Your Book By Its Cover and ensure that your book greets the world with its best face forward.
For less than what you probably spend on coffee each month, you can access all the information you need to ensure that your book has the very best chance in today’s crowded reading marketplace.
Watch a sample lesson
A couple of quick PSAs
This course is not for you if:
- You don’t care about selling your books
- You’re not interested in learning more about how book marketing works
- You’re not open to the idea that while your writing is art, your book is a product that needs a proper marketing package, i.e., a cover that works
This course is not about:
- How to become a book cover designer
- How to use software to design a cover
FAQ
When does this course take place? This is a self-paced course that you can do from anywhere at any time, as long as you have an internet connection.
How long does the course take to complete? The course comprises just over 3.5 hours of information.
What does the course include? The course includes 14 lessons, two worksheets, plus a bonus interview with a book cover designer getting her take on what goes into creating book covers that sell.
What does the course cost? The course is priced at US$37.00
How do I access the course materials? When you’ve enrolled you’ll be sent a link where you can sign in and access the course videos and other materials. You can view the course materials and videos from anywhere with an internet connection.
Can I watch the course on my phone? Yes. You can access the course on your phone, tablet, desktop or laptop.
Can I watch the videos more than once? Yes, you can complete the course as many times as you need to.
Do I have to complete the course all at one time? No, the course is entirely self-paced. You can dip into and out of it as much as you need to.
Will I know how to design a book cover when the course is finished? No. This is not a course about how to design your own covers. It’s about doing research and discovering what will attract and hold your potential readers’ attention so that you can successfully work with a cover designer.
Who teaches the course? The course is taught by award-winning, Amazon best-selling author Alexandra Amor. Alexandra has spent over 15 years in the independent book publishing industry and has worked with and learned from the best.
Her memoir about 10 years spent in a cult in the 1990s was published in 2009 and still provides significant income each and every month.
Alexandra is The Self-Publishing Coach. She supports writers and authors who want to publish their books with ease.
Was there any AI used in the creation of this course?
None. Zero. Zilch. We’ve all taken those courses where you can immediately tell the course creator has simply asked AI to outline a course for them on a subject and then recorded videos or audio based on that outline. This course is not that.
Readers Will Judge Your Book By Its Cover was created entirely by a human, Alexandra Amor, based on her experience as The Self-Publishing Coach and as an author who has been independently publishing books since 2009.
Do you offer refunds? No. The course is priced such that I cannot offer refunds.
I have another question that isn’t answered here. Please email me at alexandra@theselfpublishingcoach.com and I’ll be happy to answer.
If you want to sell books, you need a cover that does its job. It’s that simple.
Not a cover that your mum really likes. Not a cover that you made yourself and feel is ‘good enough’.
You need a cover that gets your potential readers to stop scrolling and learn more about your book.
Learn what you need to know in order to work with a book cover designer to create a cover for your book that works!
Book store wall photo courtesy Susan Q Yin on Unsplash
Reading in a hammock photo courtesy Perfecto Capucine on Unsplash