Into the Fire

Passionate thoughts about the world of writing and the Power of God

                             Question

So when do you think is the right time for a cover reveal? Just before release? Several days, weeks, even months before release? When? Or not at all? 

Understanding that different promotional activities might precede a book release depending on a marketing team, design for marketing, publicity factors – all might contribute to an author's/publisher's decisions . . .  Do you want to see a cover before you see the entire book? 

 

Father, the only thing that truly matters is what you want. Help me to be who you designed me to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

 

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4 responses to “Question?”

  1. Debra Avatar
    Debra

    It doesn’t matter to me at all when, or if, the cover is revealed before the book comes out. I want to read the book!

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  2. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    Good question. This process is something I’ve never paid attention to in terms of book launches so I don’t know what people do in actual practice. For most of the Jance series I’ve been reading, I’ve been playing catch-up & the books were not current year releases. However her latest one is & I learned about it from Amazon (when they send you emails of things you might like based on previous purchases).
    I’ll be curious what people’s responses are to the question. Generally speaking, people have such tiny attention spans these days (whether or not you are formally ADD) I would think doing a cover reveal months in advance wouldn’t benefit. But it would seem to make sense doing so a month or so before release. I’m not sure how far in advance making a book available for pre-order is done either.

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  3. Brenda S. Anderson Avatar

    It really depends upon the situation. Normally I like a cover reveal when the book can be ordered or pre-ordered. But with the current author group I’m on, pre-orders don’t happen until 4 weeks prior to the book coming out, and by the time my books go on pre-order, the cover is already splashed out through the group. So, in this case, since I want to be the first to reveal the cover, and not the group, I revealed it right away.
    As for sales, even though this new one isn’t up for pre-order, sales for my other books increased since the cover reveal, so I guess it was worth it. 🙂

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  4. Nicole Petrino-Salter Avatar

    Good to know, Bren.
    Brenda, so far I haven’t purchased a marketing package so I don’t know what the “norm” is for the cover reveal strategy. With my new release not so far away, there will be a partial marketing package included, but at this stage I have no idea what to expect. It’ll be interesting. And since I’m independently published, the book et. al. belongs to me so I can reveal the cover any time I want, I guess.
    Deb, I’m with you. However, I will confess to being intrigued and encouraged to watch for a new/upcoming book if the cover is spectacular or enticing.
    Having said all that, maybe soon you’ll see the cover for my new book Race.

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