
Your Friends Lied About Your Book Cover
From Novel Marketing by Thomas Umstattd Jr.
March 25, 2026 · 46 min · Episode 496
About this episode
This episode discusses the pitfalls of seeking feedback on book covers from friends and emphasizes the importance of designing covers for the target audience instead.
Your author friends are lying to you about your book cover. Well, not on purpose. They can’t help it. When authors are trying to pick a book cover, they often ask their friends which cover they like best. But that strategy doesn’t work because your friends look too closely. They think about your feelings. They vote based on which cover has more votes. But your cover isn’t for your friends. It’s for strangers. In this week’s episode, we unpack why beautiful covers, which are loved by your frie...
People in this episode
Host: Thomas Umstattd Jr.
Topics covered
- book cover design
- author marketing
- friend feedback
- cover aesthetics
- reader perception
Keywords
- book cover
- author friends
- feedback
- marketing
- design
- reader
- aesthetics
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