Judging a Book By Its Cover

Indie Publishing

Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 3/24/2006

At last week’s AAP meeting for smaller and independent presses, B&N's director of small press relations, Marcella Smith, and Workman's CEO Walter Weintz, looked at how to synch the right promotional efforts with the right cover in order to make a book sell.

After two prior sessions dedicated to picking the best title and cover design, Smith and Weintz looked at books which had publicity in their favor, and those that didn't. Tackling the topic from the bookseller's perspective, Smith first looked at two titles from men she described as great thinkers of her generation: Kurt Vonnegut's 2005 hit A Man Without a Country (Seven Stories Press) and William Sloane Coffin's less successful Letters to a Young Doubter (John Knox Press). Noting that the jacket for Vonnegut's book, which displays the familiar cartoon-like profile of the author in white against a brown background, made the title immediately recognizable, Smith explained that this straightforward cover there came together with a strong publicity effort as Vonnegut hit the road and took to the press. Coffin, on the other hand, was ill and unable to do much to promote his title. That fact, in conjunction with a cover that didn't stand out enough, made the book unable to use the cache of its big-name author.

Using another example, The Little Book That Beats the Market (Wiley), Smith related that the original jacket for the book was pale blue and featured a dollar sign. After a conversations with buyers, Wiley went with the book's current look—a classic dark blue jacket with simple white type. Explaining that the change was essential—Wiley had a major hit with Little Book—Smith noted that the publisher recognized that simple and classic look of the final jacket made the book more appealing as a business title and something that could attract a Wall Street audience.

For his presentation, about a campaign that went very right, Weintz discussed Workman's runaway hit Bad Cat. Explaining that the cover worked—the image is of a drenched feline and the title looms in convict-like print in the bottom right-hand corner—Weintz explained that Workman tried to give the book legs for the longest period of time. He said that after the first printing of the book sold out, it was followed up with not only more books but companion calendars, a 16-month planner and finally a second book: Bad Dog. To hold the new products, Workman created a "Bad Boutique" for booksellers—a 90-copy store display that held the books and all its add-ons—during the holiday season. None of this would have been possible, Weintz said, if the striking cover image of the first title hadn’t been successful.

In closing Weintz said publishers need to remember what he calls the 'five Ps' when it comes to moving books: knowing your Product, doing the right Packaging, giving it the right Price, doing the correct Promotion and getting the best Point of sale.