There’s no doubt about it – a great ebook cover is an essential key to selling your ebook. If you’re not a graphic designer and you know how important an ebook cover design is to the success of your ebook – then you’re got a problem.

Fortunately -the web has a solution.  It’s called “crowdsourcing.”

Crowdsourcing is a web 2.0 term coined to describe the process of allowing hundreds of graphic design artists to “compete” for the chance to create an ebook cover for you.

If you don’t have an established relationship with a professional graphic artist – then crowdsourcing is probably the best way to make this valuable connection with an up and coming graphic designer.

Notice how I qualified the above statement by using the term “up and coming graphic designer”.  There are many graphic designers who HATE crowdsourcing with the passion of a thousand blood thirsty pirates.

The reason some graphic artists HATE crowdsourcing is that it reduces the participating artists to performing work on “spec”.  Working on “spec” means that the graphic artist only gets paid for his/her work if you choose their design. It’s possible for a designer to spend several hours designing a cover for your ebook – only to have you choose another artist’s submission.

Now – as an ebook author – you may be thinking, “Hey!  I’m working on spec as well.  I mean – I don’t get paid for my writing work unless people purchase my ebook.”

If you’re thinking that – good for you.  That’s a very “entrepreneurial” point of view and one that will serve you well as an ebook author.

For the record, “entrepreneurial” thinking seems to “clash” with artistic gifts so don’t say that to any graphic artist who chastises you for using a crowdsourcing site to create your ebook cover.  Love the artists for what they are – artists not business people.

How to crowdsource your ebook cover design:

The way crowdsourcing works is you post your project to the site and designers submit their work.  The “winning” design is the one who gets paid.  You determine upfront how much that payment is.  Of course, the more you offer to pay – the more artists you’ll have competing for your ebook cover.

Before you post a “contest” on any of the various crowdsourcing design sites – here’s what you can expect:

1. You will find various levels of skill and talent at any given site.

There is no filter on who can enter your design contest. Some designers are there because they are gifted graphic designers but just getting started.  Others are there because they are gifted graphic designers and they want to build their client list.  Some who are there are not gifted – and aren’t even really  graphic designers.  They are there because they happen to own a pirated copy of Photoshop 4.0 and they are in need of quick and easy cash.

2. You will need to know the specifics about your target audience.

Is your target audience men or women? Young and hip?  Old and sickly?  The more information you can give the participating artists about your project – the better job they can do interpreting what your ebook cover design needs are.

Remember – these people are working on spec – so by posting a contest which basically says “I have no idea what I really want – I’ll know it when I see it” is not going to attract the brightest and best graphic artists to your crowdsourcing contest.

Give as much direction as possible in your contest description.  If the cover NEEDS to match your website – be sure to include a link to your website so participants can see what you’re already using.  If you don’t have a website yet for your ebook – let them know that as well.

3. More often than not – you’ll get exactly what you asked for in your contest description.

I say this because a while ago, I had a client who posted a contest on a crowdsourcing site.  She was very specific about what she wanted in her ebook cover design.  She specified cool colors and wanted a “grunge” look for the cover.  She then contacted me in tears because she absolutely HATED every design submitted in her contest – and she was going to have to pick – and pay – a winner.

In the end- the proper description of what she REALLY wanted could only be described as “warm and fuzzy” not “cool and grungy.”

In her case – she contacted me BEFORE the contest closed – so she was able to give feedback to the artists and let them know she hadn’t communicated what she wanted clearly.

If you launch a design contest – and see that everything is WAY off the mark – be sure to communicate with the participating designers.

One of the GREAT things about crowdsourcing is the ability to work with these designers as the contest is going on.  Many artists WANT your feedback.  They want to know what you like – and don’t like – about their design.  Their business is pleasing clients – and many of them are participating in these contests to win new clients!

4. You’ll get much more quality than you paid for on your ebook cover design by using crowdsourcing design sites.

There’s no doubt about it – when you use crowdsourcing design sites to design the cover of your ebook – you’ll be getting a lot more “quality” than you will any other way.  Just remember to respect these gifted artists time and talent – which they’re sharing freely with you in hopes of getting paid.   When you pick a winner – and if the cover helps propel your ebook to best seller status – be sure to write a glowing testimonials for the artist.  It’s the least you can do.

Keep in mind as you price your ebook cover design contest on the various crowdsourcing sites that you’re asking for a design which in the end will be making YOU a handsome profit.

According to an article in the NY Times from 2001 – 81 percent of Americans feel they have a book in them — and that they should write it. A lot has changed since then- most notably the rise in the popularity of ebooks.  Whether they’re using an ebook reader (Kindle, Nook) – or a tablet PC with an ebook reader app (like the iPad or HP TouchPad), people are embracing the joys of ebooks over traditionally published books.

So rather than write a book – you – yes YOU should write an ebook.  Need more convincing?  Here are the 12 reasons why you should publish an ebook:

1. You need to establish your expertise in a field.

Whether it’s 10 pages or 400 – writing an ebook is a great way to demonstrate your expertise in any given area.  Your ebook serves as written “proof” of your expertise.   Ebooks are gaining the same “cache” as traditionally published books – and in some areas – such as technology – it’s expected that your work be in the form of an ebook rather than an “obsolete” traditionally printed and bound work.

2. You want to charge higher fees for the work you do.

When you’re a recognized and published “expert” you can charge more and your ebook demonstrates your expertise.

3. Launch a new career

If you want to “break into” a new career field, writing and publishing an ebook may provide the golden ticket.  You can gain ready access to leaders in any field by approaching them in search of an “interview” instead of approaching them for a job.  The best case scenario is those contacts could provide valuable job leads which aren’t publicized or advertised.   The worst case scenario is… you’ve created a product you can sell which will provide much needed income.

4. You want to make (more) money.

Ebooks are an incredibly profitable product to sell.  Once you invest your time creating the ebook – the sky is the limit on how much money you can make selling your ebook.

5. You see a pressing need for topic or issue to be tackled.

A great way to pick a topic for your ebook is to target a hot issue that’s making the news.  Because you can produce an ebook quickly, you can respond to the latest news stories – and provide much needed information to those who want to learn more about the topic.   Whether it’s the national debt – or homeschooling options for children of working parents – when you publish an ebook – you can make a difference in the way your readers view the issue.

6. Start/support a consulting business

When you’re a consultant – all you have to offer is your “expertise”.  Prospective clients need a way to measure whether or not you know what you’re talking about and an ebook is a great way to accomplish this.

7. Grow a database of potential clients.

Ebooks make great “legal bribes” to get people to sign up for your newsletter.  If you’ve been disappointed in the volume of sign ups for your newsletter, try offering an ebook as a “reward” for those who sign up.

8. Go on more vacations (write them off if you write travel books)

Do you love to travel?  Then you should write an ebook about what you’ve learned.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to writing travel ebooks.  Whether it’s “The Beginner’s Guide to RV travel” or “Traveling by Air with Toddlers: 10 Sanity Saving Tips for Parents”… your ebook can not only be fun – but provide a nice tax write off as well.

9. Gain writing experience.

The process of writing an book is often a truly enlightening experience.  Don’t be surprised if you learn more about your subject matter when you begin researching your topic.

10. Become famous – especially in a specialized niche

When you write an ebook which others find useful – you’ll find you gain a certain level of “notoriety” within your specialized niche.

11.  Create and sell information products based on your ebook.

My App Builder allows you to take your ebook and create an iPhone or Android App for smart phone users.

When your book is already in ebook format – it’s as easy as creating a blog post.  You simply add a new chapter, give it a name, and then just copy and paste the text into My App Builder and then sell it via iTunes or the Android App store.

12. A sense of accomplishment

Writing and self publishing an ebook is a journey – one which will change the way you view the world.   There’s a real sense of accomplishment with you see your ebook offered for sale on the retailing giant Amazon.

What’s your reason for writing and publishing your ebook?   If you haven’t written one yet – what’s stopping you?

When it comes to cover images for your ebook – the world is your oyster.  You can choose from a virtually unlimited selection of images including – using your own photos or images on the cover.

One of the best things about self-publishing your ebook is that you can “experiment” with different images to see how the image of your ebook cover affects sales and or downloads.

One of the most important issues affecting the design of your ebook cover is how it will be displayed when offered for sale online. Take a moment and search for an ebook on Ereadable and you’ll see why it’s so important that the cover image for your ebook conveys what your ebook is all about.

There’s no doubt about it, ebook covers sell ebooks.  James Moushon wrote a post  eBook Cover Study – Can you really till about an eBook by its cover? in which he shares his analysis of the eBook covers for the eBooks Amazon ranked as their top 100 Customer Favorites for 2010.

The ebook covers in the study were graded and assigned to one of four different categories: Good, Ave, Poor, and Unreadable

In order to receive a ranking of “good”, the ebook cover had to meet the following criteria:

1. The Author’s name could be read in the thumbnail image of the cover
2. The Title of the ebook could be read in the thumbnail image of the cover.
3. The image or background did not interfere with the legibility of the two.

Moushon shares the following take away in the post:

All top authors had good eBook covers.

Even though all the top ebook authors had “good” ebook covers – (covers which met the criteria above)  some top publishers actually offered “poor” ebook covers. So much for “I’ll allow my publisher to make the decisions about my ebook cover” mentality.

Keep Moushon’s criteria in mind for “good” ebook covers when choosing your ebook cover design.

Ebooks are the perfect product to sell online.  Every day, millions of people search the internet looking for information and ebooks offer that information in an easy to access format, easy to deliver format.

Publishing an ebook can be as easy as converting it into a PDF file and then offering it for download via your website.

If you’re offering your ebook for free, then there’s literally nothing else you have to do to publish an ebook.

Where publishing an ebook starts to get tricky is when you want to sell your ebook.  Ah- then it gets more complicated.   Technically, publishing includes the sales process, so you if you want publish your own ebook, you’ll need a way to collect the orders and – most importantly – a way to process the payments.

Fortunately, publishing ebooks is INFINITELY easier than publishing traditional books because at least with ebooks – the delivery is digital.  That means misprints, no shipping  and no handling.

While making money is one of the most universally appealing,  there are quite a few perfectly good reasons to publish an ebook and to offer it for free:

1. Free Ebooks make great “legal bribes”.
   Email newsletters are a GREAT way to connect with prospective customers – but most people won’t just hand over their email address.  They need an incentive – and a free ebook makes a GREAT legal bribe to entice web visitors to become email newsletter subscribers.  (Click here if you need help setting up your email newsletter.)
2. Free Ebooks make great “client education” tools.
   If your prospective clients or customers need to KNOW something before they buy from you – then a free ebook is a great way to allow them to “learn more” before they become your client or customer.
3. Free Ebooks make great “advertising brochures”
   When the free educational ebook you created gets passed along to others – it becomes more than an educational tool – it actually become an advertising brochure.

Before you even begin to write your ebook, decide whether you’ll be offering it for free or for sale.  Decide what you want your ebook to DO for you or your business.  Just because you’re offering your ebook for free doesn’t mean it can’t still be a big money earner for your business.

While there are many differences when it comes to publishing an ebook and a traditional book – one factor BOTH share is the importance of the cover design.

I had an interesting experience today which illustrated the importance of the cover design for either an ebook OR a traditionally published book.

I logged into my Facebook account and one of my friends had posted a status report.  She said she’d been up late reading a book she literally couldn’t put down.

Now THAT is some great word of mouth marketing for this particular title. So – I went to investigate further.  I logged on to the web’s largest book retailer Amazon and looked up the book. When Amazon displays a book for purchase – they show – you guessed it – THE COVER!

In this case – the cover did NOTHING to “sell” me on buying the book.  So despite a “I couldn’t put it down last night” review from a friend on Facebook – I didn’t purchase the book.

When people are tying to decide whether or not to buy your ebook, they’ll naturally make this decision based on the cover.   The cover is the first thing they see and it literally sets the tone for the book.

Whether it’s ebooks or traditionally published books, cover design has a huge impact on the purchasing decision.

Potential ebook buyers mayread the introduction to a book – they may read the reviews -  but in the end, they will be influenced on whether to buy or not buy based upon the cover.

If you walk into a Barnes and Nobels, you’ll see literally thousands of books on display.  Within that store, you can have two books,  both with the virtuall identical  information shared within, both exquistiely written.  If one has a great design on the cover and the other doesn’t, which do you think sells more copies?

Great book cover designs sell books.   A great ebook cover design will increases both sales and profits.

The incredible BENEFIT you have when it comes to ebook cover design is that you have the ability to “split test” various cover designs.  There’s no economical way to achieve that in the world of “traditional” book publishing – however you can AND SHOULD do such testing with your ebook cover design.  That’s why EZ Ebook Cover Designs offers an economical ebook cover design service – so you can test the effect of different ebook covers on the sales and profitability of your ebook.

A picture paints a thousand words… but when it comes to pictures, you’ve got a lot of options when it comes to the picture you use on your ebook cover design.

Your ebook book cover design is composed of several elements, but none speak as loudly as the image you choose.

So what is the “right” image.  Again, this depends upon your goals for your ebook as well as your audience.

For example, if you’ve written your ebook as a way to establish your authority on a subject, you may very well want to choose a photo of YOU as the predominant image on the front of your ebook.  If you’ve got a great head shot – even if it’s 20 years old – sometimes that can be the absolute BEST choice for the dominant image on an ebook cover.

However, some people have no desire to see their face staring back at them from their ebook cover – and for those people, there are literally millions of image options available.

The first decision youo’ll need to make is do you want to use an illustration or a photograph?

Illustrations are drawings  – and in some cases a drawing can illustrate a  concept BETTER than a picture can.  An example of this is the “monster” featured on the ebook cover Easy HTML Sidebar Widgets in WordPress.  In this case, the author wanted an image which could connect with everyone AND illustrate subltely how difficult HTML is to master for some people.

Photographs – on the other hand – are capturing the “real”.   Eye tracking studies have shown that while all images will “grab” the eye – the image of a  human face is by far the most “eye grabbing” of all.  This is why a photo of YOU – the author – is a great choice for an ebook cover.

Which brings us to the SOURCE of your images.  If you decide not to use your own photo, be careful where you obtain the image for your ebook cover design. Just because an image is posted on the web doesn’t mean it’s free for the taking.  Be sure to properly license your images before you use them on your ebook cover design.

In the end, the image you choose for your ebook cover design will determine whether or not web visitors become ebuyers of your ebook.  Choose the image carefully!

The good news with ebooks is – you can always change the image and see if sales improve!

We’ve already established that there are a lot of elements which come together to create the all important “first impression” made by Your Ebook Cover Design.

Color plays a critical role in your ebook cover design – but as important as color is the typography used.  Typography refers to the typeface used. When it comes to choosing the right font, it’s more than just a matter of “serif” or “sans serif”.

The font you use on your ebook cover design communicates as much if not more than the colors you choose.

“Many people, designers included, think that typography consists of only selecting a typeface, choosing a font size and whether it should be regular or bold. For most people it ends there. But there is much more to achieving good typography and it’s in the details that designers often neglect.

Type appears at first to be a rigid medium ; but like other rigid media, it is plastic to the living spirit of a craftsman. ”

8 Simple Ways to Improve Typography In Your Designs

They say a picture paints a thousand words – in this case, Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen shares pictures in the form of video in his post Typefaces send us signals.  In the post, he shares two videos that tell this story of the role typefaces play in design better than I can here.    I’ll also share the most recent video Typefaces give us signals from erik spiekermann on Vimeo.

If this is your first foray into the world of design – it may come as a surprise that the style of the letters plays such an important role in design.

“Typographical design should perform optically what the speaker creates through voice and gesture of his thoughts.”

El Lizzitsky as quoted at Inspire Me

The typeface you choose conveys as much meaning and message as not only the colors you choose, but the words you choose as well.   The typeface you choose for your words is as important as the clothes you would wear to an important business meeting or job interview.  The right words can’t do the job of selling your ebook without the right clothes to wear.  The typeface you choose is indeed an important part of the clothes your words will wear.

You know that your ebook cover plays an important role in whether or not your ebook sells.    You also know that you need a professional looking ebook cover design to make a GREAT impression on web visitors.

However, there is another important element to consider when you create your ebook cover design and that is the role of COLOR.

Color plays an important role in design because the use of color has a measurable effect on people.  Color can affect emotions and appetite.  (Blue and yellow are definite “no no’s” in the world of food marketing!)

Whether it’s an ebook cover or the packaging of a product, the colors used in the design are carefully chosen to “carry” the message of the design.

There’s more to the “art” of color psychology than might originally meet the eye.  Different cultures interpret colors differently.  For example, in Japan – white is the color of mourning while in the United States, we dress brides in white to symbolize purity.

So where in the world you (or more importantly – your customers) are affects which colors you use to carry your intended message.

For the sake of simplicity, this article is going to use the color red with a United States point of view.

Ah – the color red.  When you hear read – what do you think?

Do you think of this clear and “pure” color?

This is a “pure” clear red…ff0000.

This shade of red is the shade used for stop signs and it’s used for a reason.  This shade of red literally GRABS your visual attention.

If you’re thinking – “Hey!  My ebook cover should be pure red then!  I really want to capture people’s attention”  – STOP!  It’s not that easy.

Have you ever noticed how FEW products you see that use this strong red color?

While it’s true that red does capture attention – it also carries a message.

Think for a moment of the big brands that you’ve seen which use this shade of red.

The corporate giants of McDonalds and Coca Cola come quickly to mind.

See, a clear pure red like the color above carries a message and that message, while subtle, tends to say “this is inexpensive”.

So using this shade of red in designing the ebook cover for “How to Use Free Software to Create your Ebook”  would be a good thing.

However, if your ebook is targeted towards a more “upscale” market – one that showcases your expertise – like Lauren Jordan’s A Self Help Guide to Boosting Low Libido in Women, then using this shade of red would not be a good choice.  (Notice how Lauren’s ebook cover – and website – both use another shade of red -which is commonly called purple.  Purple tends to be a favorite amongst female CEO’s and other strong, intelligent women.  The choice of color in Lauren’s site and ebook was carefully chosen.)

As you can see, when it comes to red – you’ve got a lot of options.

This is also red – but this shade of red doesn’t carry the same meaning as the shade of red above.

This “red” is a much better choice for the professional who wants to give the impression of high class and quality.

This is also another shade of red and it’s obvious that this shade of red obviously carries a completely different message than either of the two reds featured above.

While red with blue makes purple, red with yellow makes orange.  Orange carries a completely different message than the other “reds” shown above.

As you can see – there’s a lot to consider when choosing the color for your ebook cover design.   Try to think about who your target audience is and what you’re wanting to communicate to them.  You’ll find that the right choice of color can say a LOT about the contents of your ebook.

What kind of impression does your ebook cover make when a web visitor sees it for the first time?

First impressions are the only impressions that count – and no where is that more true than when it comes to selling ebooks.

This isn’t just a hunch – the effect of impact and role that first impressions play in perception is well documented.  This is from First Impressions and the Placebo Effect:

It’s nice to think that once someone “gets to know you” that their perceptions will change.  However,  Harvard psychologist Nalini Ambady did a study which seems to show that the first impressions make an indelible effect on people’s perception – and perception is EVERYTHING!
First impressions are embraced more fiercely than anyone ever suspected and it appears that first impressions actually become self-fulfilling prophecies.

The evidence suggests that people will form an impression of the QUALITY of the content of your ebook simply from the first impression the cover makes.

Of course – this concept – which has been carefully studied and documented – extends far beyond the realm of ebook cover design.  From the automobiles to staples – your first impression of the product is often determined by the product’s packaging and/or advertising.

One very successful ebook author reports that she spends 10 % of her time creating each ebook , 20% of her time devoted to the cover and 70% of her time marketing her ebooks.  She reports that she spends twice as much time on the cover as she does on the content creation because the quality of the cover definitely decides how successful her marketing efforts will be.

Which is why it’s essential that YOUR ebook cover design makes a GREAT first impression upon ebook buyers.

There are a lot of elements which come together to create the “first impression” your ebook cover design makes.  We’ll be talking about many of those elements in depth here such as:

• The Role of Color in Ebook Cover Design
• The Role of Typeface in Ebook Cover Design
• The Role of Image selection in ebook cover design.

The cover design of your ebook as plays an important role in the marketing of your ebook.   It carrys a lot of weight and as such, it’s worthy of a significant investment of your time.

Ebooks are simply digital documents.  While a traditionally published book contains only words and images, your ebook can also include sound files, video files or even spreadsheets!

Ebooks are the perfect product to sell online for many reasons.

The first and BEST reason is people use the internet to find INFORMATION.   Your ebook should contain INFORMATION that people are seeking online.

The good news is – millions of people are searching for tens of thousands of topics each and every day.

When your ebook contains the vital information people are seeking, they’ll often choose to buy an ebook  over a traditional book so they can have instant access.

Choose the right topic and you might find yourself making a lot of money by selling your ebook.  Angela Hoy is the owner of the traditional POD publishing house Booklocker.  Her book, How To Publish and Promote Online which is available in both traditional AND ebook format (Booklocker offers both formats to authors) – has reportedly earned her $5,000 per month in sales.

Creating your ebook is the easy part.  SELLING your ebook – now that’s the hard part.

Fortunately, if you’re “in the know” it doesn’t have to be EXPENSIVE to create and sell your ebook.  As a matter of fact, many of the tools you need to sell your ebook are available FOR NO COST!!!

In order to sell your ebook online, you’ll need:

• The content for your ebook.
• The software to convert your written content into a universally available format.  (I share in my free ebook “How to Ebook” a way to convert your ebook into the “preferred” universal format without spending a cent.  Just download this robust application and you can not only create PDF files but also spreadsheets as well!  Just fill in your name and email address in the box on the right to get your copy of the ebook and learn how to do this for free!)
• A website - however, you’ll need more than just a single page website.  You’ll need a website that is search engine friendly with lots of content.  This is why blogs have gotten VERY popular lately.  Blogs make it easy to create a website that the search engines love with lots and lots of content.   Check out How to Start a Blog for more on how to start your own free blog.
• A way to process the sale.  (Again – covered in my free resource.)