4 Tips To 'Brand' Your E-Book
E-books are quickly becoming a popular source for valuable content and information within the big wide world of web. E-books are a great tool for business owners to share their valuable knowledge with their audience while producing another income stream for their business. Unfortunately, majority of e-books that are being published are not distinctly recognisable to a person or business and seems as though their 'brand' is thrown out the window. E-books CAN be a valuable asset to your brand but they need to be done right in order to start building awareness and strengthening the overall brand.
I recently had the opportunity to create an e-book cover for a series of books my client had written and now wanted to publish within the online space. Her business is hugely built on her personal brand which makes her brand assets a valuable resource to use. With her entering into the property space with countless amounts of e-books and information out there already, is was important that the visual components of her e-books reflected her and her brand and could distinctly seperate from her competitors in a positive way.
4 Tips to successfully 'Brand' your e-book.
1. Research
Researching other e-book covers that have been produced within your genre assists in making sure your design stays clear from the generic versions. People DO judge a book by it's cover, so it is important that your e-book can stand out amongst the crowd and visually appeal to your audience.
2. Find your valuable asset.
Depending on what industry you are in, you will have a visual asset of your brand that people will associate you with. It could be your face, your logo or simply a distinct colour you use throughout your brand identity. In our case, it was her logo and styled images. Because we have built a very consistent brand over social media, her images are starting to build traction and become distinctly unique to her. It is this visual touch point that we must carry through over every branded element and her e-book was no different.
3. Avoid 'STOCK' imagery.
Every book cover needs a visual draw card wether that be some awesome typography or a styled image, it is important to stay true to who you are; the author, and present an authentic front. However tread carefully as a selfie taken on your I Phone will not do the trick. If you can work your way around a camera, then get a little creative and take a few pics of your own. It could simply be arranging a few items on your desk, taking some nature shots, or asking a few friends to strut a pose.
OR (RECOMMENDED) If you do not have a creative bone in your body and your time is too valuable to waste, then I would recommend to commission a photographer. Organise to take a few photos of you and items/objects that relate to your business. Get a collection of unique and authentic imagery together which you could also use over your social media accounts and website to carry your brand across all touch points.
You would be spending money on stock images that even your competitors could use, so why not invest it in creating unique images that only your business will have?
HOT TIP* Ensure to have something within your photograph that is the same colour as your brand identity. Colours, when used consistently can be one of the first triggers points back to your brand when someone views your e-book. I personally commissioned a photographer to take a few profile photos because like my client, my face and talent is the heart of my brand (on a visual level). So I ensured that the clothes I wore reflected my brands colours of white and a mustard yellow.
4. Make it big
1. The biggest text on your cover should be your title. It should take up at least a quarter of the page. With a high percentage of people now reading most of their content from a mobile phone or tablet, you need to ensure that the title of your book is large enough to be seen clearly on a phone.
2. Your Name. The content within your e-book is valuable, so make sure that everyone knows who wrote it. This is especially important if you are building a personal brand.
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