Books are packaging, just like other items that sell in the stores. The cover of your book may be the single most important thing that sells it. What colors, images, and packaging will force a reader to grab your book from the shelf, or capture their attention on Amazon, etc.  Even the colors that are used on your cover have meaning to the reader, marketing research proves it.

A successful package has generally three elements working for it:

• It should be associated with positive feelings about the product.
• It should be attractive, to catch the consumer’s attention.
• It should be unique and distinctive.

Product researchers outside the book industry have performed studies that apply to books, as well – strapping headsets onto prospective buyers, for example – to track how people look at covers. (Apparently most readers hone in on the upper left of the package, then spiral clockwise into…