Back Page Design - The Art of Arranging a Book's Exterior
Khalila Salim
Author (The Jungle Leaders); Expert in Digital Financial Inclusion/Services | Gender | Innovations | Design Thinking | Portfolio Management | Business Development | and Strategic Partnerships
The back cover of a book is an important marketing tool for both physical and eBooks. It's a sales pitch that summarises the content of your book to grab the reader's attention. Self-publishing platforms like Amazon have included a feature to review the back page of an eBook. Renowned authors may have the luxury of a publishing house designing the content of the back cover but if you are a new author, the onus will most likely be on you to supply and edit the details then a designer lays it out.
The back cover of a book consists of the following core components
BLURB
A blurb is a persuasive summary of any book or creative work, that doubles as a short promotional description for your target audience. Both fiction and non-fiction books should have blurbs. Typically blurbs should focus on the target audience; should be extremely brief (between 100-200 words maximum); should be legible to the reader with clear paragraphs for fiction and bulleted points for non-fiction; should draw the reader into the book's contents and avoid overuse of capital letters and cliches. The blurb can be designed with carefully crafted taglines.
Non - Fiction Books
The blurb for this category of books should outline the problem statement, how that problem is being solved, and then unpack the value that the readers will gain if they buy or read the book.
Fiction Books
The blurb should hint at the core of the story, dropping hints without revealing the whole plot. The trick is to find that niche or intro that will hook the reader and highlight an interesting twist. Work to set the mood of the story that will make the readers empathize with the content and or relate to it in their daily lives. It is advisable to conclude the blurb with suspense, a rhetorical question, an enigma, or a dilemma question.
Author's Biography
A bio enables the author to connect with the readers. It can affect the audiences' perception of the book's content. Bios should be written in the third person to set a neutral environment for the potential reader to avoid sounding like a self-promotion guide. The bio should be maximum 75 words. You can aim for less. The author's bio is needed for both Non-Fiction and Fiction Books with the following key considerations:
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Non-Fiction Books
Highlighting the author's competence in the subject being written about is crucial. For instance, if writing a book on artificial intelligence, you have to highlight the author's expertise in that sector which will differ from writing a book on how to build business empires. Autobiographies of prominent people like presidents would focus on their rise of leadership and legacies.
Fiction Books
Can give the author's experience or socio-cultural background that inspired the story to make it relatable. One can choose for example to highlight one life-changing experience that triggered the writing and or what other passions the author has on the topic.
Testimonials
Testimonials are positive reviews on your book from well-known experts, publications, fellow authors or readers.?Prior to publishing a book, identify target experts who can review your book and come up with a recommendation for your readers. A testimonial helps to validate the book and elicit trust from your audience. It is recommended to have two or three testimonials to give a balanced view.
If you are a first-time author and or self-publishing and find it hard to secure a good review for a testimonial, you can also focus on a great blurb that will attract the readers.
ISBN
An ISBN is an International Standard Book Number. They consist of a bar code with unique 13 digits that are calculated mathematically and used in identifying a book. You can secure an ISBN through a self-publishing platform, your publisher or a library service in your country. This is an international standard for all published books that makes distribution of your book easy. A shop can scan it as part of identifying existing stock and also confirming an order.
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