You see your upcoming book’s cover for the first time. What do you feel? It must be euphoria, joy, slight disbelief. So, why not share this joy with the world and market your book in the process? A book cover reveal event will help you do both with style.
But, book cover reveals aren’t created equal. Basic methods won’t always cut it in the saturated niche. Sometimes, you need to get creative to attract more attention. To help you out, here are 10 out-of-the-box book cover reveal ideas that can help you drive more sales.
Top 10 Book Cover Reveal Ideas
No matter how you approach your book cover reveal, our advice is — hype it up. So, don’t forget to announce the event beforehand. Also, remind people about it a few times across all your channels: social media, newsletters, blog, website.
1. Cover sneak peek
Remember that intrigue is essential for stirring up interest. It’s like flirting — hinting at your intentions may be much more effective than clearly stating them.
An effective book cover reveal is just like that. Why show everything at once so people scroll past your cover and forget it in several minutes if you can hold their attention for longer. Get readers’ curiosity; let them wait a while, thinking about how your book art looks.
A great way to get people guessing and anticipating the reveal is a beautiful cover sneak peek image. You can use it for your announcement of the reveal event.
2. Q&A book cover reveal stream or post
Hook more people into your cover reveal event with the opportunity to ask you questions. It’s a great idea for authors who have an active community.
There are two primary ways of organizing the event:
- Do a stream on Youtube or Twitch;
- Conduct the event on social media asking people to comment their questions under the post.
Each option has its pros and cons. Your choice comes down to your target audience’s preferences and your possibilities.
3. Reverse Q&A game
Have you heard that people who ask questions are more likable? So, kill two birds with one stone — boost your liability and reveal the cover.
You can ask your readers tricky questions about
- your books;
- real-life facts that are connected to your upcoming novel;
- some classic riddles (yes, just like Bilbo and Gollum);
- personal literature-related questions to learn more about your readers.
You can even turn it into a fun game. For each answer from the audience, reveal a part of the book cover. In this case, you’ll have to prepare images for the event. And the more questions you’ll have, the more images you’ll need. If you’re not sure how to do it or don’t have time, a designer will handle it for you.
4. Giveaway + cover reveal
Why not combine two pleasantries people enjoy: gorgeous book covers and free things.
You can announce a giveaway along with your cover reveal event. Then, share the results of the giveaway during the event. It will boost engagement and help share the word across social media.
You can give away whatever you find the most relevant. For example, your books, free masterclasses if you have any, merchandise, one-on-one dialogue with fans, etc.
You can stick to basic giveaway rules: ask people to share your post, follow your page, and determine the winner randomly.
5. Creative contest + cover reveal
Similar to the previous idea, but instead of a giveaway, you conduct a creative contest among your followers.
For example, use a sneak peek and ask for people to guess what else your cover contains. A person who will describe the cover most accurately receives a gift. Also, be ready that several people will come close to guessing your cover art, so you will have to share several gifts.
Or, you can give a small writing prompt for your followers to create a short story, and share it in the comments. The comment that gathers the most likes wins. Then, announce the winner along with the cover reveal.
Think about what your audience will enjoy the most — the only limit is your imagination.
6. A cover reveal video
Videos are great for targeting people who’d rather watch something during dinner. Besides, video is a wonderful medium that significantly expands your marketing possibilities. You can play with sound effects, music, and make a fun edit. For example,
- Add music that emphasizes the mood of the book;
- If you have a green screen, put a cover as a background;
- Make a montage of the book cover design process (you can ask the designer to record it).
Even if you don’t have a green screen, equipment, or editing chops, you still can get a compelling video. What you need are okay lighting, a decent camera, and a microphone that can record your voice fine. A modern smartphone in a quiet room will do the job.
As for the content of the video, here’s a few handy ideas:
- Share a story of how you worked on the cover;
- Share your reaction upon receiving the final result;
- Speak about what was your inspiration behind the cover;
- Describe the synopsis of the book and how the cover reflects it;
- If the new cover is a part of the series, tell how it relates to the previous covers.
The book cover reveal videos shouldn’t be lengthy, but they should be personal. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Make your character shine through — your audience will feel and value your sincerity.
7. Interactive games
Let’s be honest, no matter the age, people like fun and games. Sometimes, we’re just shy about it. Interactive games with the audience are a great way to have some fun and associate said fun with your cover.
Here are a few game ideas for streaming services or social media:
- A collaborative story — each user writes a single sentence to complete the story. Either give a prompt or not, write the first sentence, and let people continue.
- Complete the sentence — you start the sentence, people should complete it to make it funny (or sinister, scary, confusing, whatever you prefer).
- Would you rather — hypothetical questions concerning your books. Would you rather spend a night in Mordor or pet Shelob?
- Kiss, Marry, Kill with the characters of your books. You name a character, and users decide what they’ll do with them (can also explain why).
- Marbles — is a game with Twitch integration. Each chat user who wants to participate is given a marble, which rolls down an elaborate track with obstacles. The marbles that manage to overcome all difficulties and reach the finish win. The game plays itself — the behavior of marbles is random and affected by virtual gravity. Still, it’s fun and funny.
8. Lengthy “find the book cover” quest
If your audience likes mysteries and puzzles, you can organize an online hunt for the new book cover design. Create various clues and scatter them online. Each clue leads to the next one until the cover is reached.
For example, you can use a simple cipher to protect a URL link. A simple way to do it, is to use a Ceasher Shift converter, which simply shifts all letters by a certain value. You can hint at the value of the key to your audience and direct them to the Caesar Shift converter.
The decrypted link could lead to an audio file or image. The file hints at the next location, where the zip file with the book cover is located. Though the file is protected by the password, so the hunt continues.
You can also organize gifts for people who manage to find the cover first. For example, you can include a discount code in the same file as your new cover.
9. Slow cover reveal
Make a cover reveal a long haul by showing a little more of the cover each day — like a curtain that slowly raises to show a gorgeous stage.
Accompany each post with interesting information about the book or personal anecdotes that inspired you. You can also add paragraphs from the book’s chapters to the post to hook people into the story. If done well, your readers will anticipate new posts and engage with them more actively.
10. Thematic photo shoot
A gorgeous photo shoot is the meat and potatoes of social media engagement. It’s straightforward, and it gets the job done. The receipt to success is to create the atmosphere that suits your book’s mood and emphasizes the vibe of the cover.
Source: Instagram by hashtag #coverreveal
Or if you feel like it, you can dress up as the character of the novel and take photos with the book cover. It’s more work, but the result will be unique and more memorable. So, if you’ve ever dreamt about dressing up as a victorian-era dame or a cyberpunk protagonist, now you have a solid reason to do so.
Beware though that you either need to have decent photography and set design skills or hire professionals. You want your photos to be top-notch.
Conclusion
The cover reveal is a great marketing opportunity that you can use to drive engagement and potentially more book sales. Regardless of the path you’ll choose, remember to announce it several times across all your channels, make it clear where and when it will take place, and have fun.
If you wonder which approach will suit your readers the best, conduct research. You can ask your audience directly, consult with colleagues, and dig around the Internet.
What’s your favorite book cover reveal approach?
