There is a very famous quote – “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. I disagree with it, as much as I agree. Read ahead to see a sea change perspective.
I recently visited a library in the UK. It’s a humongous one, spread across acres of land. The exteriors are mesmerizing. The lush green campus, breezy winds around, buzzing flying bees, feels like a different world altogether. The walls are made of hard stone, with a texture of rough wet cement, alike an old castle.
At the main entrance, there is a map to reach different sections of books. It seemed like a Maze game. I love books on management, strategies and biographies. I checked for these sections in the map and walked the way. The reading places all along were so quiet, that I could hear my own footsteps. People stared at me as if I was an alien. With quite a walk, I finally reached my favorite section. I was flabbergasted and my eyes remained wide open, looking at the variety of books it had. It’s a holy place for book lovers. I wondered, how awesome it would be, if I could read each of the books, by just touching them !
With 32 sub-categories, about 850 books in each, this section alone had a whopping 25000+ books ! Imagine, how many books and how much content this library would have in total ! Imagine, how many authors were sitting in each of these shelves ! And in such a mammoth setup, I was here to pick 4-5 books. I glanced from top to bottom of all the book shelves. The first things that caught my sight were fascinating spines and attractive coverpages. Then, a captivating intrigue title held my interest. I turned to the back, to check if summary was also engaging enough. These were my selects, and rest all went straight back into the shelf. With all these sub-conscious appealing factors, I picked-up 20 books at random.
Remember the quote – “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. But my Question is – How will you opinion a book, that’s not even in your picks? How does one particular book sneak into choices of the few picks of a reader? I didn’t read the content beforehand, when I picked those 20 books !
It’s the superficial’s that determine if a book is picked up. If not more, they contribute an equal weightage as much as the content, in making a book – THE BESTSELLER. The coverpage, the title, the summary, the referrals, the fonts, page quality, book size all need to be just right. It’s only after that, the content gets to be seen. Content can further strengthen the feel or deteriorate the feel.
Similarly, a great effective presentation starts with your Coverpage. i.e. Your overall persona, charisma, dressing sense, your confidence, smile, brand value, your presentation skills, audience connect, stage presence all of it matters. The moment you are on the stage, your Coverpage is unveiled and is in spotlight. Even before you start your presentation, people judge you and form an unconscious opinion. So, while you put days and nights to prepare your content, don’t forget to put up a strong Coverpage.
Similarly, when you attend an interview, your Coverpage forms the first impression. i.e. The way you introduce yourself, your confident stance, your grace, smile & warmth that radiates your humane, a firm hand shake, eye contact etc. are the appealing factors. And then comes your content, skillsets and accomplishments.
Similarly, food is not about just taste anymore. The visuals of its presentation, texture, color, sense and smell are felt even before one orders it. No wonder, Rs 2000 is spent on photography of a dish item that costs just Rs 200. Because, that’s the Coverpage for its first emotional appeal.
There are “n+1” steps in a journey to be a bestseller. Good content is definitely required, and it is that “+1” factor, but only after “n” factors in place. Scientific statistics states – It’s in the the first 7 seconds, an unconscious “liking” or “disliking”mental image is formed in the mind. From then on, it’s mostly enriching the feel and riding the wave.
As per UNESCO, approx. 35 books are published every hour, 2.2 million English books are published every year. Across the globe, there are more than 130 million good books. And out of these, is your book among the few that a reader picks?
Your life is a novel. If you aspire to make it a bestseller, then don’t be short of efforts to meticulously design the best Coverpage you possibly can. After all, journey to a bestseller, starts with a strong Coverpage. A Coverpage, strong enough to seek attention. A Coverpage, unique enough to set the differentiation. A Coverpage, bold enough to signal your presence out of competition and help choosers, choose you for the next big opportunity.