Seven places to put your photo on a book

A guide to help you choose where to put your photo on your book.

Writing your own book is a stellar way to build your name, brand and business. It’s also a great way to raise your visibility.

This includes sharing your face in your book.

Here are seven places to put your face on or in a book:

  1. Cover
  2. Back cover
  3. Inside cover flap
  4. About the Author page
  5. Marketing page
  6. Chapter pages
  7. Amazon Author Page

1. Cover

Many people want to put their photos on the cover. After all, it’s their book and they want to promote themselves.

But unless you’re someone famous with high face recognition, that might not be a good idea. You have to ask if your face will boost book sales. 

Having said that, even if you’re not famous you may choose to put your photos on a book cover for branding reasons.

We have several authors who have chosen to do that.

  • Dave and Melanie Dupuis wanted to grow their brand image as a real estate investing couple. So we put their photo on their book cover.
  • Chandran Rajaratnam wanted to raise his profile as a consultant. He chose to put his photo on the cover. 
  • Jessica Cox is a high-profile international speaker. Her photo supports her sales.
Some of our authors chose to put their photos on their covers for book branding purposes.

Just make sure that for the rest of the years that you sell your book, you keep the same look, hairstyle, hair color and make-up. Or your book will become another Throwback Thursday photo. 

Classic books with photo on book covers.

2. Back cover

The back of your book is an excellent place to put your photo. This is where people look to find out more about a book. The back cover often includes a book summary, testimonials and a blurb about the author.

Putting your photo here says that you’re the author of the book, not the literal face of the book. Here are some examples of our author's books.

3. Inside cover flap

If you have a hardcover book, it will most likely include a paper cover called a dust jacket. That part that wraps around the book and into the cover is called the inside cover flap. The flaps are common places to find author photos.

Here are some examples of our author's books.

4. About the Author page

In the books that we do for our authors, we always include a page towards the end of the book called About the Author.

This is usually a summary of the author’s achievements, vulnerability story and relevant personal details.

Adding a photo on this page creates a personal connection between the author and the reader.

Here are some examples of our author's books.

5. Marketing page

In our author books, we usually reserve 4 pages for marketing the author’s services and products.

This can include the author’s events, workshops, coaching programs, consulting services and online products. For speakers, the marketing page can be like One Sheet, listing speaking topics.

The marketing page is another powerful place to include author photos. These photos can be more casual or playful, creating a more personal connection to the reader.

We also like to include contact information in these pages including website, email and social media handles. The authors also include PR and media contact info.

Here are some examples of our author's books.

6. Chapter pages

Some authors like to include photos of themselves in each of the chapters. These photos can appear at the beginning of the chapter or in the chapter pages.

Photos in these locations tend to be more nostalgic or historic. Like a photo album, they serve as snapshots in time.

Here are some examples of our author's books.

7. Amazon Author Page

Amazon, the world’s largest shopping mall for books, allows you to sell your books and brag about yourself for free. It’s called the Author Central.

It’s not really in your book or on your book so it shouldn’t be on this list, but it’s such an important publicity play, it’s included here.

If you really want your face to be known online, this is a great place to put it.

Here are some examples of our author pages.

The key question to put your photo anywhere in your book is “Will this help me sell books?”

Let that guide your choices.

If you’d like support to write, design or publish your book contact us.


by Helen Chang, ABM Editorial Director

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