“Should I put ‘by’ in front of my name on my front cover?”

“Should I put ‘by’ in front of my name on my front cover?”

Q –

Hi Angela,

Should I put “a novel” on the cover of my book under the title? 

I have another question. Should I have “by” in front of my name on the front cover of my book?

Thanks!

Olive G.


A – 

1. Unless you truly believe that someone might mistake your novel for being non-fiction, I do not recommend putting “a novel” on the front cover.

The book I’m featuring here appears to be non-fiction but it’s not. It’s actually historical fiction. That’s why the author put “a novel” at the bottom of the cover. By the way, Pawnee Prisoner is BookLocker’s #1 best seller right now! 🙂

Pawnee Prisoner: The Story of Jane Gotcher Crawford by Vivian McCullough

A tale of survival, set in the 1830s, and based on the true story of the daughter of Texas pioneer James Gotcher and widow of Alamo defender Lemuel Crawford.

The book below is clearly a novel so the author did not add “a novel” under the title:

From Texas, With Love by Lewis Allen Lambert

A rags to riches relationship born in west Texas, incubated during the Vietnam War, and culminated in California.

2. I see many self-published authors putting “by” in front of their name on their cover. Do NOT do that. It makes a book look self-published (amateurish). 🙂

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One Response to "“Should I put ‘by’ in front of my name on my front cover?”"

  1. Linda G  May 29, 2025 at 3:23 pm

    Yes I said the same thing about the “by” preceding the author’s name and thanks for elucidation regarding “a novel.”

    Reply

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