“Good artists borrow, great artists steal,” or so the old adage goes. Around these parts, we’re strongly anti-theft, but we love to gather inspiration.

There’s nothing easier than working with an author who can point out three book covers or interiors that they love and three that they hate. Why does that make life easy? The conversation that goes along with the review of the covers or interiors they’ve selected makes designing for them easy. The process tells a good typesetter or cover designer what you like without you identifying it. You may not notice that all three of the interiors you love use a san serif font for subheadings and block quotes, but your typesetter will. Likewise, you may not notice that the interiors you dislike all feature far too little white space.

Your designer noticed, though, and your book will be designed with more white space. 

So, here’s what I recommend: before you start working with a typesetter or cover designer, take your spouse / best friend / someone who understands you pretty well to your local bookstore. Spend an hour there. Spend that time wandering and paying attention to book covers and interiors. When you encounter a cover that makes you want to pick up the book, make a note of the title. When you see an interior that you find especially readable, note that too.

There will be covers and interiors that make you want to put the book down. Take note of them, too. By the end of the hour, you’ll have stumbled upon books that you otherwise wouldn’t have, and you’ll have a solid list of prospects to review on your favorite bookseller’s website. Then, narrow down the covers you want to talk about with your designer before they start.

If you do this, you’ll go into the process with a better idea of what you like, and so will your designer. Now, rest assured, if you decide to fixate on something that’s a bad design decision, your designer will gently nudge you away from it. But, that risk aside, go gather some inspiration. It’ll make everyone’s life easier!

Andrew Mackay

I’m a publishing specialist with BelieversPress. As an all around book geek, I enthuse over good writing, good books, and learning how to make them happen. I put those passions to work everyday at BelieversPress, helping over 240 authors get their books from manuscript to finished book.