I sometimes wonder whether we’ve become more interested in introductions than the stories themselves.
A book used to appear when it was finished. An author wrote it, a publisher designed a cover and readers decided whether it looked interesting enough to open. Everything else happened afterwards. Today, the introduction to a book often begins months or even years before the story exists. Readers are invited to follow the writing process, watch cover reveals, subscribe to newsletters, browse websites, listen to interviews and celebrate milestones long before there’s a completed story waiting behind the cover. By the time the book finally arrives, many people know far more about its journey than they do about the story itself.
The same change has quietly happened to people. Social media has made it possible to package ourselves continuously. Rather than allowing our story to unfold naturally through experience, we document almost every step as it happens. What we eat, where we travel, how we feel, what we’re planning and even what we’re thinking about doing next all become part of an ongoing introduction. The packaging never really stops because there is always another update to share.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Sharing experiences has always been part of being human. What has changed is the order. The introduction has gradually become more important than the discovery. We no longer wait for the story before deciding whether it’s worth our attention. We try to make that decision while the packaging is still being built.
Publishing reflects this perfectly. Many aspiring authors begin building an audience before they’ve written a finished book. Readers follow writing updates, word counts, difficult days, favourite cafés, research trips and cover designs. They become familiar with the journey of writing without ever having the opportunity to judge the finished work. Sometimes the packaging becomes so complete that it almost feels as though the story is expected to justify the introduction rather than the introduction simply inviting us towards the story.
I often notice the same thing with influencers. Their audience isn’t really following a completed story because there may never be one. Instead, they’re following an ongoing package built from daily updates. Every post becomes another introduction to the next post. Every achievement becomes the beginning of the next announcement. The packaging doesn’t lead to the story. The packaging becomes the story.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve never felt comfortable approaching my own writing that way. I’m very much an “it’s done or it’s not done” person. While I’m writing, I’d rather disappear than provide a running commentary on every chapter, every setback or every day’s progress. None of those things are the story I want readers to discover. They’re simply part of the process that allowed the story to exist.
When I finally place a book in someone’s hands, I want the cover to do the job it was always designed to do. I want it to create just enough curiosity for someone to decide whether they’d like to begin. After that, I want the story to speak for itself. If it succeeds, it should be because of the pages that follow, not because of months of introductions explaining why it deserves to be read.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I still believe that’s true because the cover can never tell us everything waiting inside. What concerns me today isn’t the cover itself. It’s everything we’ve started placing around it before anyone even has the opportunity to see it.
Perhaps we’ve quietly created a new saying for ourselves.
Don’t judge a cover by its packaging.
The cover should still be the beginning. It should be the first invitation to discover a story, not the final layer beneath months or years of marketing, promotion and carefully constructed introductions. When the packaging arrives before the cover, we risk making our decision long before the story has had the opportunity to introduce itself.
That’s why I’ve chosen a different path. My story is finished. Here is the cover. Now make your decision the way readers always have. If it invites your curiosity, turn the first page and discover the story for yourself.
Topics:
#HumanConnection #Discovery #Authenticity #Storytelling #Books #Packaging #FirstImpressions #Curiosity #Fakaging #Identity #Writing #DJGifford