For a while now I've been doing a lot of thinking and innate deliberations. I went through a situation that gave a reason to think deeper, evaluate and reevaluate a lot of things. At the end of that exercise, I arrived at certain deductions. I'll want to liken my thoughts and conclusions to a book.
Normally, every book has a cover and then it's content which comprises of the details of the book. Most times we buy books based on the topic, the cover, the author and any other specification we choose. I've also had to read through the preview of the book just to have an additional idea of what the book is all about before I go ahead to buy it. All this we do to ensure we buy a book worthwhile and will build us up or just enlighten us according to our need.
There are different parts of a book but as my thoughts led me, I'm just going to talk about the book's COVER and its CONTENT.
The Cover of a book is usually the first thing we look at when we want to buy a book or just read a book we come across. It's usually made to be so beautiful and irresistible that mere looking at it would make you want to read it. I've really not seen a book that has an ugly or bad cover even if the words within is gibberish. Authors of books ensure that in addition to producing something that addresses an issue or portrays their idea of a subject, they do their best to give their book a befitting cover.
Basically, a book's cover creates the first impression on its potential buyers (Ann Carton). It is one of the most important aspects of marketing a book. Essentially, when your book cover isn't well designed, you are sure to loose sales. A good book cover;
☆ helps the reader 'feel' the manuscript of the author/content of the book.
☆ draws the attention of people and gives enough intrigue and charm that makes them to just get the book.
☆ communicates that the pages within the book are worthy of the buyers time.
Among all the good things a book cover does, it doesn't give the full details of the content of the book.
We grew up being told not to judge a book by its cover and that still applies. No matter how beautiful and charming a book cover is, the content of a book is still the most important part of that book. You and I can buy a book based on the cover but when you start reading it and its content is insipid, we most often drop it and start looking for another one. For this reason, we prefer to get recommendations from people or purchase books because we have listened to or heard about the author somewhere.
What then makes a content? Content speaks to the details of a book, the innate characteristics of a person. The content is not the first thing you see when you buy a book or meet a person. You only get to know it when you've started reading the book. Just like a cover, the content is that part of a book that;
☆ let's you know what a book is about.
☆ educates you and gives you the information that you desire which led you to purchasing the book.
☆ builds you up or brings you down.
☆ defines an author as it portrays his/her idea.
☆ introduces the author to the world.
☆ gives readers a clearer view of an author's personality.
Have you ever seen a headline that gets your attention on the Internet but then you click on it to read the details and all of a sudden it doesn't resonate with you nor speak to the headline you saw. What did you do? I'm guessing you just left the page for another one. Have you met somebody who has a wonderful look (book cover) but an ungracious personality (content). Did you ignore the content to stay with them just because they had a beautiful and handsome cover?
Well we all have various reasons why we do what we do. But I believe that most of us do things not just because of what we stand to gain. We also want to be better individuals that will stand out and make impacts in our generation. If so, then I'm sure the content matters more to you.
The content I speak about is not about your occupation or ministry. So regardless of what you do for a living, you'd focus first of all on building the content called YOU.
None of us was born perfect but we can all work towards perfection. You can not expect to see a difference if you don't stand out.
A number of people have a good cover (looks) with the right graphics (body type) and a captivating title (name). Infacts, that's actually the first thing people see and it's good you have them. Nonetheless, what do you have on the inside to offer them or do you just want them to treat you as a good book with a flat content which is tossed aside after the introduction is read.
Build YOU, there's no content more important than that. It's about YOU as a person and your character.
Share you opinion, let's interact in the comments section...
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