As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
On The Table Read, “the best arts magazine in the UK“, JJ Barnes writes about how to make book adverts that stand out, and how her animated book covers can be used in social media marketing.
Written by JJ Barnes
Getting attention for your book in a saturated market can be incredibly challenging. There are so many creative people doing wonderful work who want to get attention for their books, and they all deserve that attention, but how do you compete?
Book Adverts
Writing your book is only the first challenge. After that, you need to get people to read it. But that isn’t always easy. You worked so hard, and you poured your heart and soul into it, and it deserves attention. But how do you get that attention? Publicity can be expensive, and unless you’re an established author with a large following, you’re probably not going to have a big advertising budget behind you.
Social media is an incredibly useful tool for an author, and there are so many platforms available to you, you’re sure to find somewhere that you feel comfortable telling the world about your work. A great way to do this is through book adverts, but how do you make yours stand out?
First up, you need some easy to use art software. I use Canva.
Secondly, work out what kind of book advert you’re making. Book adverts can be quotes from your work, a brief synopsis, or an announcement such as “on sale now”. But whatever you pick, it needs to be something that catches the eye.
Thirdly, upload your book cover image, put your information with it, and save.
Once you’ve made your book advert, it’s time to send it out into the world and hope that the readers who will love your work can find your work.
Animated Book Covers
To make your book cover stand out, I am animating them to bring them to live. Imagine the pictures in the Harry Potterverse, but with your own art and your own book.
Whether it’s making your character move, adding weather to a sky scene, or making a background dynamic, an animated book cover grabs the attention of your readers in a striking way.
I am selling them through my Ko-Fi account for £8 a cover. When you’ve ordered, email me your cover to jjbarnes@sirenstories.co.uk and I will send back your animated cover.
Using Your Animated Book Cover In A Book Advert
These animated book covers can be uploaded as a book advert in their own right. For Instagram, you’ll need to set them in a square (or ask me and I’ll do it for you and send over both options). For Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok etc, they can be uploaded as they are. Then use the description area to explain why your beautiful living book is the book people should read.
Alternatively, upload your video into your art software and create a video advert with the description as you would do with a still graphic.
When your animated book cover moves, your audience will notice. They’ll be drawn to read more about your work and, hopefully, buy it.
Writer’s Life
Being a writer can be a difficult life. The world doesn’t always understand the weird creatives who get blisters from their typing so fast, but it does depend on us. A world without stories would be a dark and scary one. Stories are the light that help us find joy, understand ourselves and one another, face fears, and survive challenges.
I hope that through The Table Read I can help grab your work the attention it deserves, and I hope through my animated covers I can help you grab that attention yourself.
Find more now:
Order your animated book cover through Ko-Fi now: https://ko-fi.com/s/be776d1b43
You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk
Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books
Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose
Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jjbarnesauthor
Find all my socials here: https://www.jjbarnes.co.uk/contact-jj-barnes/
We strive to keep The Table Read free for both our readers and our contributors. If you have enjoyed our work, please consider donating to help keep The Table Read going!
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.