Ironically, the whole “not judging a book by its cover” thing is applicable to just about every situation on Earth aside from books, themselves.

Because guess what? Books often sell based entirely on their covers. Even before Steven Spielberg’s “JAWS” terrified audiences in movie theaters, a simple, yet thrilling, concept for the hardcover jacket – a haunting, hungry, and silent silhouette rising from unseen depths toward an oblivious swimmer – helped to make Peter Benchley’s novel a splash.

So, yes. Feel free to judge an actual book by its cover. And even more to the point for publishers – make it a pivotal part of your marketing plans.

Here are just three great reasons to reprint your book with a new cover design:

  1. Reinvigoration: If your book has been sitting on shelves with the same design for a few months or years, it may be prime time for a refresh. When you reprint your book with a new cover design, you may speak to new audiences and cultural touchstones, spark some new interest, and ultimately unearth new audiences.
  2. International sales: Planning to sell your book overseas? You’ll want your first impression with international audiences to be instantly relatable. When it comes to publishing, titles and text frequently stay put in different countries, while covers get makeovers. Why? Because market tastes tend to be different from nation to nation. Interestingly, U.S. publications often showcase main characters – while in England, book marketers prefer to leave such plot points up to the imagination.
  3. Updated editions: Sometimes, cover changes are necessary because the purpose and/or the content of the book, itself, has changed. This can happen from time to time in works of fiction – when a hardback is republished as a softcover, for instance, or for a movie tie-in – but it’s particularly prolific for upgraded and updated editions of textbooks, manuals, cookbooks, How-To’s, and other instructional tomes, which should broadcast new material front and center.

Whatever the case may be, digital book printing makes reprinting your book with a new cover a snap, as files are swiftly and efficiently managed and moved from a Word file to a PDF to a finished product. Gasch Printing can help.