The hard truth in the publishing industry is that the most financially successful books–whether Christian or secular–are written by famous people. That is, people who were already famous (or infamous) long before they (or their ghostwriters) ever decided to join the ranks of the literati. Sure, there is the occasional bestseller that seems to come out of nowhere (i.e. William P. Young’s The Shack), but the fact that the rise of an unknown author becomes the stuff of headlines proves that this is not a common phenomenon.

As book designers, we’re rarely asked to help with the wording of a title. That job is already done–or at least nearly so–by the time a cover design assignment comes to us. Our job is to work with whatever we’re given and make it look great. That’s the challenge and part of the fun of [...]

The various fads of social networking come and go. There’s MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter—and on and on the list goes. But the technology doesn’t really matter. The latest and greatest doesn’t really matter (though you do need to be where your audience is). What matters is the humanity. If you’re trying to market your book, [...]

The various fads of social networking come and go. There’s MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter—and on and on the list goes. But the technology doesn’t really matter. The latest and greatest doesn’t really matter (though you do need to be where your audience is). What matters is the humanity. If you’re trying to market your book, [...]

That’s a headline we’ll be seeing more of in the future.  The barrier erected by agents on behalf of publishers has come back to haunt them.  In this instance we are talking about Carol Buchanan’s historical thriller God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana which has already been reviewed by SPR.  It just won the 2009 [...]

“For many authors self-publishing has become a fantastic marketing tool to garner attention from the industry’s big players. By proving that they are both ambitious and serious, and have sales figures to boot, self-publishing gives new authors even more ammunition; their work stops being just an unsolicited manuscript on a slushpile and becomes instead a ­viable product with its own CV.”

A number of authors have likened the writing process to an artist working on canvas…you begin with a God-inspired vision, a story, a message, and your first tremulous thoughts give the vision substance. Slowly, often painfully, words fill the blankness of the page as the story unfolds. If, like an artist, the work itself is so [...]

Design is all about communication. Design delivers a message — a value proposition. But the right one? Or one at all? Every author out there wants their cover design to be the perfect compliment to their writing. Essentially the cover becomes part of the content. It should not only truthfully reflect the content but inspire [...]

“Why do I need an editor? I’m the only one who knows what I’m really trying to say, and only I can revise my writing with that purpose in mind.” There is truth in that statement. As Arthur Glasser used to say, “There’s no such thing as good writing — only good rewriting.” But there’s [...]