Bragging on book covers – Yea or Nay? #WriterWednesday #AuthorMarketing
There are basically two ways to ‘brag’ on a book cover: advertise your status as a bestselling author or include a review blurb. Many, many (times a gazillion or so) experts will tell you this is an awesome marketing tool. I think I’ve proven on more occasions than I’d like to admit that I’m no expert. What I am is a voracious reader. I’m also a reader who is constantly looking for new authors to read. Yes, constantly. I average a book a day, and I’m usually reading several at once. And because I’m a bit of a book freak (duh!), I’m constantly analyzing why I chose to try a new author or a certain book. Book covers have a lot to do with that because we all know that ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ actually refers to humans and not real books. Let’s proceed, shall we?
Bestseller status
I’m going to be totally honest here. The term ‘bestseller’ has lost its glamour in recent years. A bestseller is not a book that made it to the top 100 list on Amazon for a given day. Wouldn’t that be awesome if it were? We’d all be bestsellers. Oh wait! Then, the term would mean absolutely nothing. Here is the definition of bestseller from Wikipedia:
A bestseller is a book that is included on a list of top-selling or frequently-borrowed titles, normally based on publishing industry and book trade figures and library circulation statistics; such lists may be published by newspapers, magazines, or book store chains… Well-known bestseller lists in the U.S. are published by Publishers Weekly, USA Today, New York Times and the Washington Post.
If you meet this definition, you can brag about it on your book cover. Like this awesome author (full disclosure: I just picked the first cover, which had a bestseller status, from Amazon’s top 100 romance ebooks):
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of this type of bragging. Just because a whole bunch of other people liked your book doesn’t mean I will. I’m a unique individual! That said, I have no issues with the above. It looks classy. It’s honest and discreet. I’m more confused about this type of cover:
“Bestselling romance author” – who says? It just sends out all kinds of questions for me. Personally, I would hesitate to buy a book with this ‘bragging’ on the cover. (Please keep in mind that as a former lawyer and cop, I’m a stickler for rules even though I LOVE to break them. Some would say that’s the definition of crazy).
Review Blurb
I’m referring here to the phrase or sentence from a reviewer placed prominently on the front cover. Here’s the perfect example:
Why is this a perfect example? For starters, it’s short. It’s also placed in a manner, which doesn’t detract from the cover picture. But the most important part is the person who made the comment. In this case, Sylvia Day. You don’t have to like Ms. Day’s books, but if you’re a romance reader (and this book is in the romance genre), you know who she is.
Again, I’m not a huge fan of the review blurb. I don’t want anyone telling me what to do and that includes what book I should read. But that’s a personal choice. The above example works, however, and for the most part that’s down to the person writing the blurb. It’s a different story when the review blurb comes from an unknown source. It’s great that you managed to find a blogger who was willing to read your book and write a review before release. But if the blogger is unknown within the reading community, putting the review blurb on the cover just looks desperate to me.
Wrap-Up
What should you take away from this blog article – besides the fact that I have a strange aversion to extraneous information on book covers? It’s simple, really. First: if you aren’t a bestseller, don’t exaggerate the truth and say you are. Second: if your review blurb is from an unknown source, don’t use it on the cover. I’ll talk about the ways in which review blurbs can be used to market your books in a later blog.
Feel free to comment and tell me I have no clue what I’m talking about or that I’m just plain crazy.
Well, I’m no ‘expert’, but I know I’m tired of experts.
Yes, knowledgeable people are needed in every area of life but c’mon…in the literary field you can find books, blogs, websites, Facebook pages, and memes that contradict each other every single day.
And everyone believes they’re right.
I spend a lot of money on books. Just ask my husband. 😀 But I’ve never bought a book because the author’s name was preceded by ‘bestselling author.’
However, I have a sister who won’t touch a book unless it says bestseller somewhere on it. We argue constantly.
I honestly don’t care about review quotes on covers… because I ignore them. But when I go to a book’s retailer page like Amazon and the review blurbs take up more space than the book synopsis… I close the browser. No time for that. As an author, I get it… I understand. But as a reader, I’m just annoyed.
I think I’m getting grumpy in my old age. 😀
I think we’re twins separated at birth. Totally agree with you. I hate those blurbs that start with 2 pages of review quotes. UGH! What’s the book about? Never mind. Moving on…
I usually ignore the ‘bestselling’ author bit when I’m searching for books to read. On my own books I usually add any awards won.
Uh oh.. I feel a new blog coming on about awards 😉
I hadn’t really thought about this much, but now you’ve got me wondering about it for my own books. In terms of my reading, I don’t think either a review or a blurb on the cover has kept me from reading a book (or enticed me to read it). Not sure I paid much attention. You’ve given me some food for thought, both as an author and a reader. Thanks!
I pay way too much attention to detail. I blame the US military.
Ha, I usually do too.
Ever since I learned that places on bestseller lists can be bought, I’ve ceased to be impressed. I wasn’t that impressed before, because I don’t know the NYT or Today or any of the other publications which have bestseller lists. If I recognise the name of a reviewer, however, I’ll pay more attention. Sometimes that means I won’t buy the book because I don’t trust the reviewer.
I’m a NYT reader so I do pay attention to that, but on my own time – not because a writer mentioned it on the book cover.
Oh wow! I don’t think I know enough reviewers to say there are those I don’t trust. But I can recognize those reviews from family and friends who are just being nice or reviews that have been obviously bought (BAD!).
By reviewers I meant the people whose reviews appear on or in the book. If I see, for example, that a historian I respect has given a book a positive review, I’m far more likely to buy it. I’ll be put off buying it, if the positive review is from certain other historians.
Here’s a link to an article talking about the latest scandal to hit the bestseller lists http://kriswrites.com/2017/08/30/business-musings-tempest-in-a-bestseller-list/.
Thanks. I’ll take a look. I did read about last week’s YA topseller list controversy. *Shakes head*
That’s super interesting. I didn’t think of it that way.
I agree. Personally, unless it is a favourite author of mine recommending a book I don’t take much notice. In the past I bought novels with with things like NY Times (not that I am disparaging that particular paper) best seller and got about 50 pages in and gave up because It didn’t interest me. Yes, sometimes a book becomes a best seller because it is fantastic, sadly other times a book is merely fashionable and just because it has sold a lot doesn’t mean many people actually ever finished it.
Totally agree! No fashionable books, please