Judging ERE book by its cover

Questions and comments
Post Reply
akilligelisim
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:54 pm
Contact:

Post by akilligelisim »

First of all, I really liked the ERE book. Its mind opening and includes valuable and mostly timeless content. These are the criteria for me to buy a book and ERE satisfies them.
Normally I hate judging books by its cover. BUT Jacob, this book's cover is terrible.
There cannot be less efficient way of visualizing early retirement by the sketch of a men's head with a dollar sign in it. It looks like a representation of a subconscious mind of a mental patient.
The color of the book is just irritating. I know you cannot judge any one's color preference but It doesn't make me feel like "oh this book must be full of content"
And quality of the print is really low. Some of the printed pages' angle is shifted, not aligned on a vertical line.
I guess your print house did not help you much with the book's cover or you didn't care enough. At the end of the day what values most is the content of the book right?
But in my opinion majority of the book buyers judge books first by its cover, than its content. Because when you go to a bookstore, search for any finance book you basicly have 2-5 minutes of your time per book. That's enough time to get an idea about how a book seems to be "professional", but not enough time to evaluate content.
If you want to sell your book more, its a good idea to reconsider cover page and try to increase print quality.


slacker
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:40 am

Post by slacker »

I didn't like the cover either. It had the look of a biology textbook, and is largely unattractive IMHO. But at least the title grabs attention like no other and is perfect( you should have seen the other names Jacob had suggested..lol)
Then again, the stuff inside is not easy by most standards, so it would be unfair to have a 'fun' cover and target the wrong audience. Like some say, the book chooses the reader..and a cover like this helps in that regard.
But from a purely marketing perspective, if everything were about the number of copies sold, then a different cover is what's most needed.
btw..I didn't find any issues with alignment- I checked again, now- but I did find some typos and other issues.


Dragline
Posts: 4436
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:50 am

Post by Dragline »

I guess there are unanticipated benefits to owning the electronic version. ;-)
Honestly, this amuses me, because I don't think I have ever paid any attention to the cover of a book. But its probably a valid criticism from a marketing perspective.


User avatar
jennypenny
Posts: 6851
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm

Post by jennypenny »

After the first couple of snarky comments from friends I covered the book. It should probably come with a fake cover since the mere suggestion of retiring early seems to set so many people off. Maybe it should come with the paper jacket from "The Secret" ;)


jacob
Site Admin
Posts: 15907
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: USA, Zone 5b, Koppen Dfa, Elev. 620ft, Walkscore 77
Contact:

Post by jacob »

Well, if I had to redo the cover, I would do at least the following two things

1) Big sticker that says "Hard to read". This would avoid the negative reviews from those who found the writing "incomprehensible".

2) Big red warning label that says "Extreme content". This will avoid the negative reviews from those who found it "too extreme"---the title wasn't warning enough apparently.
This would leave me with only 1 negative review (on amazon.co.uk) which found the book "unconvincing".
Seriously though, I like the cover (which incidentally was outsourced). Of course me liking something should indicate that many won't approve. It's all in the eye of the beholder. My personal cover peeve is when there's a picture of a smiling author. Anyway, I also like that it's different from most other covers (perhaps indicating that the content is different too?). My taste is inspired by the Von Mises Institute or the 19th century style. Very plain.
In any case, I almost prefer it that people don't buy the book spontaneously. I think the negative reviews come from people who didn't find the book via the blog and thus were surprised negatively. I'm not interested in sales as much as "legacy".
BTW I've seen quite a few of the ERE books on the inside (20+) and I never noticed a print/typesetting problem. The typos were fixed in May 2011 so earlier versions will have typos and later versions won't (as far as I know).


Chad
Posts: 3844
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:10 pm

Post by Chad »

Whether I like the cover or not doesn't matter, as the cover is approriate for the book. ERE is something you have to want to find, not something you pick up in the check out line at Wal-Mart. The cover should not be splashy or gimmicky, as anyone attracted to that would be unlikely to accept even ER let alone ERE.


baggywrinkle
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:57 am

Post by baggywrinkle »

I also liked the cover, and the idea of a red sticker warning

to not bother if one is unable to think outside the box
It is catchy like Abbie Hoffman's "Steal this Book".


Surio
Posts: 602
Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:58 am
Contact:

Post by Surio »

@Interesting,

I too happen to be the minority that really liked the cover. Pista green is always a soothing colour. Walls are painted with that colour to bring calmness to the room.
I liked the image as well. As Jacob puts it "it is in the eyes of the beholder". The imagery on the cover is this for me:
1. Pick this book if you want to *re-shape* your thinking on *finances* (Hence the prominent superposition of the $ sign in the middle)

2. This book is going to replace your current thinking(*) with cold, hard finance knowledge (hence the large $ sign prominently occupying the lobes)

3. How much (hence the large $ sign prominently placed in the middle of the brain) and how differently you should be thinking about finances if you want to retire early!
And yes, the Pista Green.... Mmmmm Pista! ;-)
(*) Current thinking is something like this:




clarkai
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:23 am
Contact:

Post by clarkai »

I personally like the cover, but then I haven't bought one yet :) I'm waiting to get it from the library.


User avatar
C40
Posts: 2748
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:30 am

Post by C40 »

My $0.02:
- I like the color

- I think the picture is ok. Maybe something other than a dollar sign would be better. To me, ERE is more about living a deliberate life than it is about money. Money is just a medium.


secretwealth
Posts: 1948
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:31 am

Post by secretwealth »

Maybe there's a graphic designer out there willing to barter a new cover for a second edition in exchange for a free copy.


dragoncar
Posts: 1316
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:17 pm

Post by dragoncar »

Is this book even in bookstores? I would think the vast majority of sales are online, where the cover matters a lot less.
I always thought the cover accurately depicted the style of the book... they have the same "feel."


BeyondtheWrap
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:38 pm
Location: NYC

Post by BeyondtheWrap »

I personally would have liked the word "EXTREME" to be in big red all-capital letters, possibly with a blood-dripping looking font, and positioned diagonally, so I could imagine some TV announcer yelling the word.


chuckles
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:55 pm

Post by chuckles »

I really think Jacob should pay a little more attention to guys like Tim Ferriss who really can market themselves.


Post Reply