Let's Go To The Mattresses!
Isn't that the famous line from The Godfather?
I feel like that is where we are after receiving the following email from the Associate Director of Book Design at our new publisher today:
Hi Lee,
I feel like that is where we are after receiving the following email from the Associate Director of Book Design at our new publisher today:
Hi Lee,
Thank you for your cover submission, we
certainly appreciate any input you wish to provide. As you know, the
book cover is so important to both bookstore owners, and the end
consumer. Our ultimate goal is to create a cover that can compete with
the bestsellers in our market today, and hold their own right next to
them. We want to help you have the best opportunity possible to get
your foot in the door to as many bookstores as possible, and to gain as
much attention as possible for your book.
That
being said, I believe that we can create a more marketable cover for
your book that will do just that. The submitted cover, while it does
have its merits, does appear to give off a self published, or home-made
look, and that is exactly what we try to steer clear of. I hope that
you are on the same page!
We will keep this
cover submission in our files for reference, but please take full
advantage of working with [Their Designer]. He is a skilled designer and has the
knowledge and experience necessary to create a marketable book cover
for you. He will present several options to you, and help guide you
through the process. With over 3,000 books released each day in the U.S., this is a tough market! Our desire is for this book to have the best shot possible.
Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great day!
Here is my response:
I don't have questions, [her name]; I have doubts.
I have heard a lot of talk from [Publisher's Name], but I have seen little action. I have been waiting since early July, for example, just to receive a version of the manuscript that is color-coded in a way that I can read it. At this rate, we will never need a book cover for a second edition of the book. I have also been waiting for someone at [Publisher's Name] to actually read the things about the book that I spent hours and hours thinking about and writing, much of it in response to a questionnaire that I received from [Publisher's Name], but that clearly has not happened.
I accept that [Designer's Name] must be a skilled designer or he wouldn't be working at [Publisher's Name.] My son is also a skilled designer - with a Masters Degree from Rhode Island School of Design. You can't get any better than that in terms of qualifications. But being a skilled designer doesn't mean my son understands what will make this book appeal to its target niche market. I will certainly look at whatever [Designer's Name] prepares, but your denigrating shots at the cover on the first edition of the book indicate to me only two things: 1) You have no idea what is inside the book, and 2) you have no idea what the book means to its target niche market.
Let's be honest here. This book will never be a best seller - its appeal is not that broad. But for its intended niche market, the existing cover speaks more than words could ever say. I know - readers from around the world have told me - over and over and over again.
More importantly, while it would be nice if the book sold a million copies, the real money from the book comes from new clients who are drawn to my law firm from around the world by the book. When a copy of the book sells, I might net a few bucks. For each new client that the book brings to my law firm, however, I receive a fee of at least $_____. You can do the math. If the book brings in 100 new clients each month, that equates to $____ million a year.
There is another benefit as well. When a client walks in the door of my law firm and is greeted by my wife, the client recognizes her immediately from her picture on the cover of the book. This brings a lot of value to our law firm, but not from the masses. It brings value from its target niche market, because those people can see that I am an expert in something that is very important in their lives. They know that we can help them make their dreams come true. We have the books on display throughout our law firm. We give one of our books to each new marriage or fiancee visa client of the firm. People in our niche target market love our story, and they follow my blog about our family every day. Is [Designer's Name] going to design a cover that will accomplish all of this for us?
Don't get me wrong, because I do care about book sales. Just this morning I checked and the book was ranked in the top 130,000 of all books sold by Amazon. That number fluctuates, of course, but the book has been as ranked as high as number 42 for romance books sold by Amazon. But I am also a realist. We had a successful booksigning event in a ritzy part of Houston in May, selling about fifty books, but I neither expected nor did we see a spike in sales for the book. People enjoy reading the book - the reviews on Amazon say a lot - but for this book to be really successful, we need to do the things that will appeal to its niche target market. Those readers are the ones who cry when they read the book. Those readers are the ones who appreciate the haunting beauty, the promises, the dreams, and the aura of mystery that are evoked by its cover.
Here is the bottom line. You are talking about designing a book cover that will appeal to the masses, when the book itself does not target the masses. You are talking about trying to sell a lot of copies of the book through bookstores, rather than focusing on where its target niche market can be reached. I am not being critical of you; I am just being candid. You are talking in abstract marketing terms that have nothing to do with this book, because you haven't read it. Design as you will, but before you decide what the design should be, you might want to read the book first.
As you can see, [her name], we are not on the same page, but we might get there if you were to read the things I submitted to [Publisher's Name} about the book before you criticize its cover.
Lee Solomon
Here is my response:
I don't have questions, [her name]; I have doubts.
I have heard a lot of talk from [Publisher's Name], but I have seen little action. I have been waiting since early July, for example, just to receive a version of the manuscript that is color-coded in a way that I can read it. At this rate, we will never need a book cover for a second edition of the book. I have also been waiting for someone at [Publisher's Name] to actually read the things about the book that I spent hours and hours thinking about and writing, much of it in response to a questionnaire that I received from [Publisher's Name], but that clearly has not happened.
I accept that [Designer's Name] must be a skilled designer or he wouldn't be working at [Publisher's Name.] My son is also a skilled designer - with a Masters Degree from Rhode Island School of Design. You can't get any better than that in terms of qualifications. But being a skilled designer doesn't mean my son understands what will make this book appeal to its target niche market. I will certainly look at whatever [Designer's Name] prepares, but your denigrating shots at the cover on the first edition of the book indicate to me only two things: 1) You have no idea what is inside the book, and 2) you have no idea what the book means to its target niche market.
Let's be honest here. This book will never be a best seller - its appeal is not that broad. But for its intended niche market, the existing cover speaks more than words could ever say. I know - readers from around the world have told me - over and over and over again.
More importantly, while it would be nice if the book sold a million copies, the real money from the book comes from new clients who are drawn to my law firm from around the world by the book. When a copy of the book sells, I might net a few bucks. For each new client that the book brings to my law firm, however, I receive a fee of at least $_____. You can do the math. If the book brings in 100 new clients each month, that equates to $____ million a year.
There is another benefit as well. When a client walks in the door of my law firm and is greeted by my wife, the client recognizes her immediately from her picture on the cover of the book. This brings a lot of value to our law firm, but not from the masses. It brings value from its target niche market, because those people can see that I am an expert in something that is very important in their lives. They know that we can help them make their dreams come true. We have the books on display throughout our law firm. We give one of our books to each new marriage or fiancee visa client of the firm. People in our niche target market love our story, and they follow my blog about our family every day. Is [Designer's Name] going to design a cover that will accomplish all of this for us?
Don't get me wrong, because I do care about book sales. Just this morning I checked and the book was ranked in the top 130,000 of all books sold by Amazon. That number fluctuates, of course, but the book has been as ranked as high as number 42 for romance books sold by Amazon. But I am also a realist. We had a successful booksigning event in a ritzy part of Houston in May, selling about fifty books, but I neither expected nor did we see a spike in sales for the book. People enjoy reading the book - the reviews on Amazon say a lot - but for this book to be really successful, we need to do the things that will appeal to its niche target market. Those readers are the ones who cry when they read the book. Those readers are the ones who appreciate the haunting beauty, the promises, the dreams, and the aura of mystery that are evoked by its cover.
Here is the bottom line. You are talking about designing a book cover that will appeal to the masses, when the book itself does not target the masses. You are talking about trying to sell a lot of copies of the book through bookstores, rather than focusing on where its target niche market can be reached. I am not being critical of you; I am just being candid. You are talking in abstract marketing terms that have nothing to do with this book, because you haven't read it. Design as you will, but before you decide what the design should be, you might want to read the book first.
As you can see, [her name], we are not on the same page, but we might get there if you were to read the things I submitted to [Publisher's Name} about the book before you criticize its cover.
Lee Solomon
Give 'em Hell Harry!
What ever happened with the Oprah opportunity?
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Good for you Lee, I let two people here read the copy of the book that I have and both have said that they will call you to do thier K-3 and CR-1 Visa's, don't let them change a thing.
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