Articles on Book Matters:

You Do Judge a Book or eBook By Its Cover

Do you buy ugly books? Probably not. Book covers sell books. Ask any bookstore manager. Ask any successful Web site that sells books.

"Don't judge a book by its cover." We've all heard this saying before but the truth is, we all do it anyway.

First impressions greatly influence how we judge people. Impressions are no less important when it comes to the items we buy. For example, imagine that you are looking through a magazine. You come to a page that has two nearly identical ads side by side. Both ads are selling books on the same subject. However, in one ad the book is shown with a plain cover with text only and no illustrations. In the other ad, the book has a colorful, illustrated cover, along with the text. Now, which ad is likely to catch your interest?

Sure, the title and other text will go a long way to inform of the book's contents. But, unconsciously you are going to be attracted to the illustrated cover. Your impression will be that this book has greater value. Simply put, you decide that "what you see is what you get" and that is usually enough to sway you to buy that particular book.

Let's say you visit two different Web sites, both selling an ebook about starting a home-based business.

On one site, the book cover is a flat rectangle representing the basic shape of the front of a book. Furthermore, while it has some color and illustrations, these images have nothing to do with the subject of the book, plus the photo is a little blurry.

The second site shows a three-dimensional ebook image. It "looks" like a real book. The picture conveys a mom working on a computer with a child on her lamp, representing a home-based computer business. Added to that, the photo and the colors on the cover image all work well together.

Now, which ebook are you likely to be drawn to? Which one gives you a sense that it has greater value? Clearly, the one represented by the well-designed, 3D cover with a relevant image will influence you in a more positive way, and will more likely induce you to purchase that book.

Every successful marketer learned back in Marketing 101 that the packaging will most often determine how well an item will sell. Successful Internet marketers of ebooks and software already know this. These ebook and software sellers understand the importance of the cover design (book or box). They use quality 3D images to represent their products and increase their perceived value.

Let's put it this way: You may have produced the world's most important book on your subject, but who is going to know if nobody reads it?

A quality ebook image is vital to your ebook sales! If you are selling a book on the Internet (heck, even if you are giving it away), your marketing success is going to depend on how potential buyers perceive its value.

Put a little more crudely, dress your ebook in rags, showing a flat cover with no illustrations or inappropriate images, and no one will want it. Display your ebook in the equivalent of a tuxedo, a 3D cover with well-thought-out images, colors and title text, and you will instantly boost your ebook sales!

Leva Duell
30 Jan 2007

Boost Credibility with Images!
Header Templates/Web Templates/FREE 34+ Clipart Resources/ FREE report, How To Avoid 10 Mistakes That Will Make You Lose Saleshttp://QualityHeaderTemplates.com - © Leva Duell 2006

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Using the Right Images and Photos for your Ebook Cover

"A picture is worth a thousand words." That saying may be ages old but its message is just as vital today as when it was first uttered. Simply put, a single image can often communicate what might take you one thousand words (more or less) to say or write.

You have already spent the time putting together an ebook or software package that you want to market on the Internet. You have chosen the right words for your title and any other text you might use on the book cover.

Now you have to carefully design your cover to best represent your book or software. You have to find the right graphic(s) that will support the title and enhance the perceived value of your ebook.

There are two common forms of graphics: clip art and stock photos. Take some time exploring sites providing stock photos and clip art. It can be a lot of fun.

First of all, what is clip art? There are many differing opinions out there. Some call it "ready-made art" because sometimes clip art can include photos, pictures, or complete illustrations. But, for the sake of this article, we are defining clip art to mean: All ready-made pieces of digital art, such as illustrations, borders and line drawings that are used as graphic elements in a document. They can be either raster images (jpeg, tiff, bmp, gif) or vector images (eps, wmf, ai). They can be black and white, or color.

Regardless of what you call it, clip art should be used sparingly in quality ebook covers or software boxes. The fact is, clip art can range in quality from rough drawings to refined images. But, clip art is never mistaken for high quality paintings or photos. It is not intended to be the only or the primary image in a larger work (like an ebook cover).

Perhaps the best rule of thumb is: If you are not sure if you should use a piece of clip art in your document (ebook cover, box cover), don't use it. If you are not careful, the wrong choice of clip art can imply a lack of quality.

The above statements notwithstanding, clip art can, if used properly, be an effective element in a quality ebook cover.

Where do you find graphics? Without a doubt, there are many sites where you can get images and photos you can use. There are literally hundreds of Web sites where you can find clip art of all types and quality. Just search online for "free clip art", "free images", or "free graphics." Some may require that you sign up for a free membership.

Just be sure that you are allowed to use any clip art you find, and that it is of high quality. It is very important that you carefully read the "Terms of Use" before using any image. Some sites may only allow use of their images for personal use. Others allow commercial use. Still other sites let each contributor of the images determine what kinds of usage will be allowed. When paying a fee for an image, the fee usually grants you permission to use the image freely in any way that you wish.

When using an image for your ebook cover, make sure it is okay to use in a commercial situation, and check to see if you have to pay for that use, or if there are other requirements like giving the author/photographer credit for the image. You can also purchase large collections of clip art on CD sets in computer stores or on the Internet.

Good luck in your search for the right images. Finding the right picture will make your efforts worthwhile. It will increase sales of your ebook or software. If you find yourself a little lost trying to find the right images and design of your cover, then perhaps you should consider hiring an experienced graphic designer to produce the cover for you.

Leva Duell
07 Feb 2007

Boost Credibility with Images!
Header Templates/Web Templates/FREE 34+ Clipart Resources/ FREE report, How To Avoid 10 Mistakes That Will Make You Lose Sales.  http://QualityHeaderTemplates.com - © Leva Duell 2006
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Publish Your Own Ebook In Less Than One Week

There are too many lies on the internet these days that tell you that it's possible to get rich online without money, without investing any time and you don't need your own product. Just buy their product or sell it for them and you're on your way to making millions of dollars.

Well they're right about one thing. It is possible to make money online - but you need your own products that you can produce quickly and cheaply and sell over and over again with little or no further input from you required.

It's easier than ever before to make a living online because people now have a better understanding of how to use the internet than they've ever had before.

But making money without effort, time or investment? WAKE UP!

Only a fool would believe that they can get rich by doing absolutely nothing, or that someone else is prepared to help them get rich for no return. Just remember that other people are online to make themselves money, not to make it for others. If you want money you have to make it from your own products.

In anything we do in life we reap what we sow. This means that if you do nothing, nothing happens - "Nothing in... nothing out."

If you only do a little, you still get nothing - "Garbage in...garbage out."

But if you take consistent purposed-filled action, you reap your desired rewards - "Quality in...quality out."

But to achieve a consistent quality income from a thriving online business, you MUST invest time and energy, and there are two ways you can do this:

*You can hire someone to do all the work and invest their time and energy (which can be a lot cheaper than you think, although no one will do it for free as some people would lead you to believe.

*You can do it yourself and invest your own time and energy and save the money you might have used to pay someone else.

But either way you have to have your own product to sell. And the easiest product to create and sell on the internet is an eBook.

Now I know that there are plenty of people who make money on the internet with affiliate programs, and these affiliates can earn quite a bit of money.

But you can make more money and provide yourself with long-term success if you have your own product and get these affiliates helping to build your business for you.

To work successfully and easily on the internet your product needs to be downloadable and this is why creating an eBook is ideal. This way your product only has to be created once and you can sell it over and over again. Also your website can become a veritable "oil well" that does all the selling, payment processing and product delivery without you having to do anything else.

Just think, your one-time action of creating an eBook enables you to get paid over and over again. This is what makes working on the internet so exciting.

But first you have to create it.

Your eBook is usually delivered as a PDF file and is a neatly packaged information product with a beginning, middle and end that solves a problem or satisfies a need of your customers.

This gives your eBook a highly perceived value. An eBook is also one of the fastest products to produce and market, even if you don't have a large budget.

It's possible to produce a profitable eBook in only one week if you know the technique of doing so. You can also use the sales from your eBook to build up a string of customers to sell more eBooks or other products to.

Your web page that you use to promote your eBook needs to be one big killer sales letter that you and your army of affiliates can use to drive your sales through the roof.

So if you really apply yourself, by this time next week you could have your own profitable eBook, plus a whole army of affiliates promoting and selling your product all over the World Wide Web.
And who knows, by this time next year you could have dozens of profitable eBooks being sold all over the world by thousands of eager affiliates.

Once you know how to quickly and easily create your own eBooks, the possibilities are endless...

Ruth Barringham
23 Feb 2007

Ruth Barringham is a freelance writer. See her website at
http://www.writerholics.net. Find out more about writing your own profitable eBook at http://writeaholics.net/7dayebook.html


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