"Your Name as a Marketing Tool"

See also:
Running Heads as a Marketing Tool
Table of Contents as a Marketing Tool
Copyright Page as a Marketing Tool
Piracy as a Marketing Tool

Rob on Writing:
Does Your Cover Brand You?

Your Name as a Marketing Tool

Oh, man, somebody jumped me on this one. R.S. Guthrie (remember that name!) talks about an idea from Sevastian Winters about book covers.

I should have thought of this. I have a page about my hosting provider, where I try to encourage authors to get a website with their own name as the url. The reason is so when your fans search for you, they find you right away.

So, there's the germ of the idea of using your name for marketing. But Guthrie takes it further. He takes it to the front cover.

The word "brilliant" comes to mind.

Think about the books you see that are written by famous authors. Now consider the relative type size of the author's name and the book's title. If you're Stephen King, your name is bigger than the name of the book, because you are a known quantity.

Someone once told me "if you want to be successful, do what successful people do, even if you are not yet successful." Vernacular version: "Fake it 'til you make it."

Take a look at the before and after covers below. One is just a book named "Lost" by some guy. The other one is by R.S. GUTHRIE !!!! Which one would you buy?

Rob also makes the point that you need to get your name out there. Advertising types will tell you that a customer needs to see your "brand" several times to remember it.

Imagine a reader who's seen your name several times, who is now looking at a page of thumbnails of book covers. You want your name to jump out because they will recognize it.

But even if they don't know your name, having a cover like that will make them think they should.

Seriously, go redesign your cover.