#32 of 100 things I learned from attending LITERARY CONFERENCES

#32. How Important Is Your Name?

Last year when I attended Romcon, I sat in on a workshop about book covers. This wasn’t so much about choosing the right stock photos for them, but how consistent our names appear on the covers, and whether the title is overshadowing the author’s name.

The speaker asked what do we want readers to remember, the title of our book, unless it’s a blockbuster, or our names? A no brainer question for me, I answered, my name. True confession: when I was creating my covers, I picked fonts I thought matched the story, or if they were pretty, or other reasons I can’t remember.

I have a novella called THE KEEPSAKE, so does NY Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. There could be ten books with the same title, so readers have to remember our names to know which book to buy. The images on our covers will change from story to story, but the fonts we use for our names should be consistent, as well as where we place them on the cover. Below, the banner shows four books in my Love at the Crossroads series—no consistency. I had the covers tweaked, so my name looks consistent. 

Can you see the difference?

Browse through titles on Amazon. Check out author Lee Child’s books. A couple of other authors who come to mind are: Brenda Barrett (Her name drew me into her books), Vanessa Miller and Brenda Jackson. Remember, your name is just as important as your title.

Until next time, be blessed!