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!
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