Judging a book by its cover
Help us understand your vision for the cover of your book. Please fill out both forms for the front and back cover of the book.
Help us understand your vision for the cover of your book. Please fill out both forms for the front and back cover of the book.
Michael Jenet
Journey Institute Press
(303) 906.9988
publisher@journeyinstitutepress.com
Given the state of affairs in our world, couldn’t we ALL use something to laugh about? Something to distract us from the negativity that bombards us at every turn.
August 23, 2021, DENVER, COLORADO
More than just a funny story, we all want something real, and really funny.
Something that brings us along for the ride and gives us the belly laugh we’ve all but forgotten was even possible in our lives.
What if the answer to those all-but-forgotten belly laughs came from a Coloradan’s adventure of moving her entire family of four to Italy for one year? What could possibly go wrong?
Everything!
Joining her on this comical journey will transport the reader, if only for a while, to a place and time away from the troubles and strife of the day.
Sometimes we all just need a break. My Modena offers that break in a hilarious true story of one woman’s attempt to do the simplest of things in a foreign country with hilarious results.
“My Modena is a scrumptious literary tiramisu, layered with history, art, food, fashion, culture (and culture shock), all topped with generous dollops of hilarity.”
– Dianne Hales, New York Times bestselling author of La Bella Lingua, Mona Lisa and La Passione.
“My Modena is an utterly hilarious memoir of expat life in Modena, Italy.”
– Christina Lynch, New York Times bestselling author of The Italian Party
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andrea Susan Valentine Gelfuso Goetz is an environmental attorney who adores Italy and all things Italian. A year in Italy with her husband and two kids, while living in an apartment that was like camping, with tile, and in a city that was like God’s attic, made her appreciate Italian culture, art, and heart-stoppingly gorgeous Italians. She lives with her family in Colorado.
# # # # #
About Journey Institute Press:
Journey Institute Press is a non-profit publishing house created by authors to serve burgeoning authors whose stories otherwise might not be told. Publishing across multiple genres, imprints of Journey Institute Press cover NonFiction, Fiction, Education, Childrens, Business, and Self-Help categories. Journey Institute Press is headquartered in Colorado and can be visited online at journeyinstitute.org/press/
Journey Institute Press is a division of 50in52Journey, Inc.
The back cover copy you write for your book is among the most important marketing messages you’ll craft. It’s the essence of your book’s most exciting features, distilled into a few hundred words. It typically serves as the foundation for your online book descriptions, as well as any press releases or pitches you make to the media. It will get re-used and re-fashioned for dozens of purposes. Whatever labor you expend on perfecting it will reward you in the long run.
Here are the key principles that publishers and authors alike use to create what should become a masterpiece of your book marketing and an essential piece of your book metadata.
The most important question you must answer in your back cover copy is: Why and how will the reader benefit from this book? If you know your audience well, then you know the problems they face; your back cover copy should tell how your book addresses these problems head on and helps readers overcome a challenge or succeed.
Two of the most common mistakes that nonfiction authors make in crafting their back cover is:
Rather than crafting copy that’s a long, solid block of text, you can help ensure the copy is read by including (in this order):
A professional designer can work wonders in arranging this information in a way that helps it get read, especially if you have a range of elements you’re trying to assemble (description, blurbs, bio, photo, awards, and so on).
It’s not uncommon for traditional publishers to put nothing but blurbs or book reviews on a novel’s back cover, especially if it’s by an author who is already well-known. But that’s rarely the best strategy for authors who don’t already have an established audience. Potential readers will want to know what the story is about before committing, and the hook you provide may determine whether they start reading the first page or chapter. (The same is true of memoir and other true-to-life stories.)
The hook for the back cover isn’t so different from the hook you’d put in a query letter to a literary agent. The hook needs to convey:
If you can’t identify what the main character deeply desires, then ask: What challenge do they face? What sets their story in motion?
Ultimately, what you’re trying to get across is an intriguing story premise. For example, My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult tells the story of 13-year-old Anna, who was born as a “savior sister” specifically so she can save her older sister’s life. When Anna turns 13, she is told that she will have to donate one of her kidneys, and she sues her parents for medical emancipation.
That length of description is all you need to sell the story to potential readers. To improve your own story description, read the book marketing copy for dozens (even hundreds) of books in your genre, and pay attention to length, point of view or voice, as well as how much of the story is described. For example, it’s very popular for contemporary romance novel descriptions to be written from the point-of-view of the heroine. Here’s how the book marketing copy for Baller by Vi Keeland starts:
The first time I met Brody Easton was in the men’s locker room.
It was my first interview as a professional sportscaster.
The famed quarterback decided to bare all.
And by all, I don’t mean he told me any of his secrets.
No. The arrogant ass decided to drop his towel, just as I asked the first question. On camera.
In those 60 words, we know who the main character is, a good idea of what she desires (or will desire!), and what her challenge will be. We also know the setting or context.
No matter what category or genre your book falls into, you have to pack a lot of punch into a couple hundred words, sometimes less. Don’t just write one version and consider it done. Write multiple versions, test and gather feedback, and improve it until you feel it’s the best possible sales piece for your book.