Archive for the ‘Design’ Category
A well-designed book cover is important
November 4th, 2009 by Tina JacobsonA well-designed book cover will not only help define your book, but help sell your book.
Are you wondering just how important it is to have a great design on the cover of your book? Now more than ever the front cover of a book needs to be striking and enticing to look at. And it needs to draw the reader in enough to at least pick it up. With the fast-paced lifestyle most consumers lead, the cover of a book needs to grab someone immediately.
You basically have one shot. When someone walks into a Barnes & Noble, for example, they are hit with an endless supply of books. While browsing the shelves of thousands of books, the reader’s eyes are going to stop every now and then on a book because it’s well-designed – because something made them want to stop and look more closely at it. This might be due to color, type, overall design, imagery and/or the arrangement of all these things. it should make the reader want to stop and take notice….that’s part of the intent of design.
The human eye scans color and shapes before it reads words. Chances are your eyes are going to go to something other than type (the title of the book) first. They’re going to notice the juxtaposition of elements, a catchy photograph, an arresting image, or even an unusual color. Then after that, they’ll read the title. You get one shot to do that. Remember, you’re competing with all of the other books in your section. You have to ask yourself, “How can I set my book cover apart from all of the others?” If the potential reader skips right past your book, you’ve lost your opportunity.
Good design has always been important but it is especially important now. A good design should marry all of the components involved in a book to peak the interest of the reader. The design should appeal to the market the book is written for and should not only be visually appealing but also have reasons for making you want to pick it up, even if subtle. Color, typeface, type treatment, images, white space, etc., should work together to create and convey a feeling of what the book is about. We’re talking problems and solutions here. The problem is to entice the reader enough to notice and pick up the book. The solution? A good design. it should take all of the information and put it together to be more than just aesthetically pleasing. The cover should convey a feeling or an emotion of what the book is about.
The design needs to work. Having an attractive cover does nothing unless it also invites the reader to open the book, look inside, and ultimately decide to buy it. Everything about the design has a purpose. Color evokes certain feelings and emotions, as do images. All of these elements need to work together to appeal to the target market. If may seem simple but you wouldn’t use the color red and a photo of a man on a book written to appeal to women and the importance of rest, for example. Good design should not be offensive, it should compel the reader to dig deeper, to look further and to see what the book has to offer.
Your book needs to cut through the clutter. Your book cover needs to look different from the rest. Especially in the spiritual and religious section of books. Think of your book not just as a stand alone book, but as a book that’s in a sea of thousands and thousands. You can’t have tunnel vision and only concentrate on your book because it’s competing with so many others. That’s why the front cover is extremely important.
A good cover can make even a bad book look enticing. But a great cover can make a good book even better. It would be shame for you, as an author, to spend months and years of researching and writing a book, only to have the cover fall short and not sell any books. Don’t find yourself at the end of your project trying to get things done quickly and cheaply, just trying to get your book on the shelves. Take the time, spend the money, and get a great cover design because ultimately, it will help sell your book.
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Bethany Press Launches BelieversPress to Give Author’s Faith a Voice
November 2nd, 2009 by Nick CiskeFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Publishing Model for Authors:
Bethany Press Launches BelieversPress to Give Author’s Faith a Voice
Bloomington, MN – Authors face an enormous challenge; a one in thousands chance of getting their manuscript published by major Christian publishers. Until now, the industry has only offered authors royalty and self-publishing models. Rejected authors are often left to fend for themselves. Some talented authors will give up. Others will try to solo-navigate the shifting currents of self/subsidy publishing and find themselves limited by the one-size-fits-all approach of these services.
BelieversPress, a new venture just launched by Bethany Press, offers multiple publishing tracks for authors where they control the process.
1. Royalty Publishing
In collaboration with ECPA, BelieversPress critiques and edits author proposals prior to posting on the ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com website enabling agents and publishers to sort and filter for high quality submissions. Each of these proposals features a BelieversPress badge.
2. Independent Publishing
At BelieversPress, professional authors who pursue independent publishing can now access
- Coaching and editorial services from Jeff Gerke, (longtime editor for the CBA industry, former editor at NavPress) and Barb Lilland Editorial Services (former senior editor, Bethany House Publishing)
- Cover design from The DesignWorks Group and Dugan Design Group
- Publicity services from B&B Media (clients include Charles Stanley, John C. Maxwell, Chuck Swindoll, Tim LaHaye, Melody Carlson, Bruce Wilkinson)
- Marketing tools from Heinlein Publishing Services (Publishing Professional, 20+ Years: including executive positions with United Methodist Publishing House, Thomas Nelson, and Word Publishing)
- Printing from Bethany Press (producer of almost 30% of the best-selling Christian paperbacks)
- Sales and distribution through STL Distribution (the largest exclusively Christian distributor in North America).
Authors interested in submitting to agents and small publishers can receive mentoring, editorial, and proposal evaluation from D.C. Jacobson (Don Jacobson’s group, former President of Multnomah Publishers) and The Writing Spa (Mary DeMuth) at BelieversPress.
BelieversPress counsels authors that if they cannot sell their books via platforms such as speaking, established ministries, or direct to readers through venues such as blogging, the internet, articles, etc. then they should not self-publish.
Agents and publishers can offer their authors a trustworthy team to help them to publish both their out-of-print books and unpublished manuscripts, further building their readership with the ability to sell directly through the author’s website, the BelieversPress E-store, and to the trade through STL Distribution. Or, they can refer authors needing mentoring and further development to trusted professionals who can help them hone their skill and platform before re-submitting.
BelieversPress authors can:
- Engage an elite team of the best talent in Christian publishing to take their manuscript from good to great!
- Benefit from experienced professionals in marketing, publicity, and sales who help them get their message heard
- Connect with authors who have traveled the path before them
- Take control of your publishing future – there are no packages and no royalty schemes
- Bring unpublished titles and out-of-print books to their readers
- Print with the company that produces 30% of Christian best-sellers
- Make a difference – a portion of their dollars are used to fund ministry
Contact BelieversPress:
6820 West 115th Street • Bloomington, MN 55438
(800) 341-4192 • www.believerspress.com • info@believerspress.com
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How to Get The Best (and Your Money’s Worth) Out of Your Cover Designer- Part II
October 14th, 2009 by Terry DuganI’m offering tips from time to time, from a book designer’s perspective, on how to get the creative best out of creatives.
Again a disclaimer: None of this is meant to suggest that you have to be extra careful around artist-types and only approach them in certain ways. If you run into a prima donna book designer who seems to be there to serve himself and not you, find a new one. Most of us have learned to be flexible and accommodating to a wide variety of art directors and clients. If you’re new at this, not to worry. You’re absolutely welcomed here on BelieversPress… don’t feel intimidated.
There are some keys to your designer’s psyche and working style, however, that will keep him designing more efficiently and giving you his absolute best. Here are a couple more…
1. Establish clear deadlines for each phase of the cover design project.
Whatever level of design service you choose on Believer’s Press, spelled out there is a list of project stages: Concepts, Revisions, Final Design, Files delivered to printer. It’s a good idea to work backward from that final printer deadline and pin your designer down to a date for each stage. Creatives have sort of a love/hate relationship with deadlines. We hate the pressure and yet thrive on it somehow, and you certainly need to be confident that your project is moving along as it should. Your designer will probably initiate the calendar discussion, but be sure you’re both on the same page.
2. Get objective feedback at the concept stage.
Particularly if your design package provides you with multiple concepts, show them to family and friends but also to people who know nothing about the book project. Some good questions to start with:
- First impression—which one appeals to you more than the others?
- What do you think this book is about?
- Do any of these remind you of anything—good, bad or indifferent?
- Who do you think this book is for—men, women, children, etc.?
From a broad enough objective sampling you will gain invaluable insight that can be passed along to your designer. You know which option you like best, but responses from others just might surprise you! A good designer needs and welcomes this sort of feedback and is eager to respond.
3. Get some “feedback” from your designer.
You might ask him which of the concepts he likes best and what his reasons were for each approach. Let him “sell” his ideas a bit, incorporate the other feedback you’re getting, then make your choice.
Happy publishing!
Previously: How to Get The Best (and Your Money’s Worth) Out of Your Cover Designer- Part I
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Some Great Design Blogs
October 9th, 2009 by Torrey SharpPossible dilemma: You need to hire a book cover designer for your project, but have not been trained in graphic design, have never art directed before and/or are generally not too immersed in the field of graphic design, art or culture. So, how do you become informed in some of these areas? Where do you go?
A helpful first step is to simply jump into this arena and check out what’s going on. It may feel overwhelming and this awareness won’t necessarily make the process of working with a designer go smoother, but it will give you some added perspective and appreciation for the range of style and solutions that come to bear on design related problems. This awareness will enable you to ask more questions and enhance the communication with your designer. The better the communication, the better chance your designer will find the right solution for your book. Here are a few blogs our studio frequents to stay on top of what’ happening. Of course, there are countless others. Some of these are specific to book design and some are more general in nature. Enjoy!
- FFFFound
- Design Observer
- FWIS
- The Book Design Review
- FaceOut Books
- By Henry Sene Yee Design
- David Drummond | Covers
- Books Covered
- Notcot
- Jacket Mechanical
- Ace Jet 170
- Grain Edit
- The DieLine
- Cool Hunting
- David Gee Works on Paper
- Core77
- The Font Feed
- Design You Trust
- Arthur Cherry
- Ideas on Ideas
- Publication Design
- Alltop
- Dwell
- The Daily Discussion
- Visual Culture
- Ellen Lupton Design Writing Research
- Putting People First
- Graphicology
- Netdiver
- Good Is
- Designers Who Blog
- Speak Up
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Book Covers as Packaging in the New Marketing Environment
October 1st, 2009 by Terry DuganWhen deciding whether a cover design is right for your book, as with any product package you’re first asking a couple of important questions:
- Does it accurately represent the contents?
- Does it engage customers emotionally? Make them want to pick it up, turn it over, flip through it, find out what’s inside?
Good questions, but there are others to ask too. Does it look new? Contemporary? Fresh? As in all categories of design, fashion, automotive, architecture etc., what’s new is appealing, and what looks “new” is defined by a balance between trendiness and originality. So typefaces, color palettes, ways of rendering photos and images will need to fit in with other books currently making an impact, and yet have something fresh and different about them. That’s the task and the joy of a book designer, to find a perfect balance between fashion and originality while faithfully representing the contents of your book.
But there’s another key category, more important now than ever. Marketing. Where will the book be sold? How will it be promoted? Answers to these questions will increasingly drive cover design trends. For example, a traditional measure of a book title treatment in the past was often whether it could be read and would “pop” on a store shelf 10-20 feet away. So titles got huge…”wall-to-wall type” was the publisher’s request, and the blockbuster look was born. Then, in reaction to that—in recognition that out of the screaming throng of titles on a bookstore shelf, sometimes “small and understated” actually stands out from the crowd—a new trend was born, the sophisticated, simple, understated use of type and other elements. We now see that everywhere.
However, as books are sold more and more on the internet, with covers viewed on smaller and smaller screens, I think we’re going to see a design trend back to bigger and bolder titles and graphics. Titles now need to stand out in an Amazon lineup presented at low resolution 1 1/2 inches high! Particularly for self-publishers, if a cover doesn’t work at that size, it’s probably not going to work. Something to think about.
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Rick Warren’s New Book Cover Contest
September 21st, 2009 by Nick CiskeIf you haven’t heard/read about Rick Warren’s contest to design his new book cover, well, it’s too late (the content ended Saturday).
From the press release:
Grand Rapids, Mich., September 17, 2009 — 99designs.com, the largest marketplace for crowdsourced graphic design, last night announced that best-selling author Rick Warren is running an open design project for the cover of his new book, The Hope You Need: from The Lord’s Prayer, to be published by Zondervan. Since that announcement, the website is being flooded with designs.
“As of 11 a.m. East Coast time today, 327 designs have been submitted to the website,” said Steve Sammons, Zondervan’s Executive Vice President of Consumer Engagement. ”We’re announcing this morning that the winning design will now receive $5,000 rather than the original $3,000.”
The Hope You Need: from The Lord’s Prayer, scheduled for hardcover release on November 17, was inspired by a sermon series Warren taught at Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA. It invites readers to plug into the unparalleled power that exists within the words of the best-known prayer on the planet. With his classic approachability, passion and candor, Warren will provide helpful insight and much-needed inspiration for reviving whatever seems to be dying in life.
The final tally: 3189 designs.
There’s a lot of debate (resulting in a very heated dialogue) going on about this being spec work, which many people and organizations feel is bad for both clients and companies, but I won’t get into that here.
I’d like to talk about the practical implications of this, and why it’s probably a bad idea for anyone to mimic this publicity stunt.
- It’s Rick Warren — attach his name to anything and you will have some amount of success. You are not Rick Warren.
- The prize was $5,000. You can get a professionally designed cover for much less — and you get to work directly with the cover designer. Offering a smaller reward would likely get you some entries, but not the number Rick did.
- Side note: If you were one of the most successful authors of modern times and had signed an exclusive deal with Zondervan to publish your next book, why would you fork over $3,000 of your own money for a cover design contest? Zondervan would have hired a professional designer and paid the bill!
- Speaking of the number of entries… would you rather: sift through hundreds (or thousands) of cliche, poorly designed book cover concepts (many of which couldn’t follow simple instructions like the trim size) or 2-3 high quality concepts? There are a few decent covers in the pile, but it’s definitely entered “needle in a haystack” territory. Some of the entries are intentional jokes… while others are just terrible.
- One cover is supposed to be of a person kneeling in prayer, but the focus is on the, uh, lower front of the mans torso. Imagine that face out at your local Christian bookstore!
- There’s no guarantee you’ll get concepts from a Christian cover designer. If your book deals with abstract spiritual concepts the results could be comical or downright offensive.
- If you pick a winning entry — will that designer be able to produce press ready files or will you need to pay extra for that?
I could go on, but you get the point: there’s little added value to a contest like this, and in this case, the price tag was higher. Of course, the exposure the book received was priceless, but it hadn’t been Rick Warren, it wouldn’t have been newsworthy.
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Inspiration and Fish.
August 24th, 2009 by Nikki Wallace“Don’t wait for inspiration. Get to work.” — Twyla Tharp
Years ago I had this quote scrawled on a yellow post-it-note and stuck to the side of my computer monitor at work. I had stumbled upon it in a magazine somewhere, and it resonated with me. Big time. I knew it must be immediately captured and placed somewhere in plain view, for I was well aware of how often I’d need its reminder.
I struggled, you see, with grabbing hold of that elusive thing called “inspiration”. It’s a dilemma I still find myself in, as I would imagine that any creative professional does.
After all, what artist hasn’t found herself staring at a blank canvas? An empty stage? A blinking cursor? A silent guitar? Or (in my case) a glaringly white new Photoshop document?
To the recreational artist, this isn’t that much of a problem. With no schedule, no deadlines, and no client to please, the art can be put on the shelf until inspiration arrives.
After all, that is the natural, human inclination.
And there’s the rub. For once the thin line between “recreational artist” and “creative professional” has been crossed (that is, as soon as the artist is creating something for someone else, to meet a deadline, and/or for any kind of payment), inspiration is not something that the artist can afford to wait for. Literally.
Deadlines can be counted on. Inspiration can’t.
So when I need to design a cover but the inspiration is just not there, instead of just walking away altogether, wishing that inspiration came on tap or could be bottled and sold (I’d be happy to design the label, pro bono, by the way), I try to practice Ms. Tharp’s advice:
I get to work.
I make pencil sketches. I do a photo search of key themes of the book to see what shows up. I set the title in a number of different fonts. I start piecing together random photos and title configurations to see if anything “clicks”. I move to a different project for a few minutes, hoping that it will stimulate the creative juices. I take a walk, breathing the fresh air and drinking in the beauty of creation. I brainstorm cover concepts with myself, jotting down any ideas that come to mind — good or bad. I ask someone else for their perspective. If possible, I change my work setting (a coffee-shop bustling with people or a quiet room with wide windows overlooking a lovely outdoor scenic can stir up emotions and ideas that an office can’t — and vice versa). I’ll even do petty things like change my computer’s desktop background (hey, it works for me).
The point is that I keep working, moving, thinking, and trying; persevering until I have something to show for it. It may take awhile, but it almost always proves effective in giving me something to work with.
I’ve heard it put this way: if you go fishing, you might not catch any fish. If you don’t go fishing, you definitely won’t catch any fish.
And so, along the lines of that last analogy, I offer this challenge and encouragement to myself and my fellow “creatives” in the publishing industry — designers, authors, illustrators, and the like: keep fishing, no matter how futile it may seem. There is much to be said — plenty of fish to be caught. Maybe all we need is to try some different bait.
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Sally Stuart on the responsibility of self-publishing
June 30th, 2009 by Nick CiskeThe vision behind BelieversPress is to provide the tools to help Christians publish books that are equivalent to those of royalty publishers.
From the award winning designers (who also design for large royalty publishers) to printing by Bethany Press (who prints about 30% of the best-selling Christian paperbacks*), to experienced editors (who edit books for major authors) — everything at BelieversPress is designed to help you publish the best possible book.
I ran across this quote from the Advanced Christian Writer column by Sally Stuart (author of the Christian Writers’ Market Guide) that sums it up well:
In the past, I have talked about the change of attitude toward self-published or print-on-demand books within the Christian publishing industry … While it is true
these options are making it possible for more writers to get their books published, that opportunity also brings with it a responsibility to maintain an appropriate level of
professionalism.Although the stigma attached to self-published books is blurring, it is still true that in order for such a book to get equal attention it must also maintain the highest quality of workmanship. For that reason, you must make every effort to produce a product that is equivalent to a royalty-published book.
Doing so means you must pay someone to design an appropriate cover; use quality paper and a reputable printer; and especially pay a well-qualified editor to do a thorough, line-by-line editing of the manuscript. To take shortcuts in any of these areas will lessen your chances of being noticed—and your book bought—once you get to the marketplace.
Ultimately it may also mean that you need to take a realistic look at your project and determine first if you have enough experience and credits to justify producing a book at this point—and then to be sure there is a place and need for it in the market at this time.
* Based on the ECPA best-seller list
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The 10 Biggest Mistakes Made by Christians in Entertainment
June 19th, 2009 by Nick CiskePhil Cooke (author of 4 books and a really sharp guy) just posted a great list of the top 10 mistakes he sees Christians make when they try to break into the entertainment business.
Most apply to publishing as well:
The following list contains the most common mistakes I see with Christians who want to “move to LA” and get a job in the secular entertainment industry. Learn to overcome these 10 areas, and you’ll have a far better chance of success:
1) Explicit Style – Just because we’re Christians, we don’t have to produce explicitly Christian programs. When Jesus told parables, he never mentioned church, and only rarely even mentioned “God.” Learn to be subtle and win the audience with creative and compelling programming. Remember – your first priority is to make a good movie or TV program.
2) Poor Writing – Learn the art of storytelling, whether or not you want to be a writer. Every member of the production team needs to be able to recognize good writing. The fact is – most movies by Christians fail because they’re just not good stories.
3) Being Out of Touch with the Culture – Christian producers often don’t keep up with current TV, movies, internet, or graphic styles. Trends change faster every year, so stay on top of what’s working, and what people are watching.
4) Poor “Branding” – Know the importance of “branding” and how it can work for you personally as well as for the project. You can influence people’s perceptions of you and your projects – so learn the techniques of branding and put them to work for you!
5) Christian “Lingo” – Check the dialogue in most projects written by Christians… We have to dump Christian “lingo” and learn to speak in a language and style this culture understands.
Head over to Phil’s blog to read the other 5 Biggest Mistakes Made by Christians in Entertainment
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How to Get The Best (and Your Money’s Worth) Out of Your Cover Designer: Part I
June 10th, 2009 by Terry DuganI hope to offer tips from time to time, from a book designer’s perspective of course, on how to get the creative best out of creative types. I will suggest three for the moment.
First off, let’s dispel some myths about working with artists:
- They’re not all prima donnas, and successful designers are used to a fair amount of direction and even rejection.
- Sometimes they nail it on the first try, usually it’s an interactive process to get to just the right idea.
- Cover artists are wise to leave fragile egos and artistic temperaments outside the studio door, and you can talk straight, be clear about your expectations and your reactions to the design options they show you.
Having said that, there are some keys to your designer’s soul that will keep him/her working hard on your project, loving it, and giving you more than your money’s worth:
1. Point her to what you like and don’t like.
In the assignment phase, load her up with JPEGs and Amazon links and snapshots of covers that you like, especially in categories where your new book fits. She might need a list of no-no’s too: kinds of photos to avoid, competitors you want to not look like, etc., things you know as author/publisher in your field that others may not. She’ll be doing her own research, but your input at the beginning gets her going down the right paths.
2. If possible, specify what you’re hoping to see in round one.
If he is to give you three initial design options, let him know, for example, you’d like to see one with the provided photo dominating, one with type and graphics only, and one left up to the designer’s intuition—you know, “surprise me.” Creative latitude within established limits helps designers focus their talents.
3. Give her strategic feedback rather than micromanagement.
When asking for revisions on round one of your cover designs, think strategically.
Here’s what I mean:
- If the title is weak, say “it needs to be stronger,” rather than “set it in Cooper Black.” Designers care deeply (sometimes too deeply) about typefaces and trends and will do their best to come up with a solution that answers your concern and looks great.
- Perhaps you like a concept but it seems too dark and serious. “We need a brighter, lighter, more optimistic feel” is probably better direction than “make it yellow.”
- Again, no need to walk on eggshells around the “artiste,” just let her work for her fee and do what she does best, and you’ll get a better end result.
Designers are taught to think in terms of “problems” and “solutions.” Good ones get no greater satisfaction than getting inside your head, your market, your product, and coming up with a cover solution that sells your book and makes you proud.
Continued: How to Get The Best (and Your Money’s Worth) Out of Your Cover Designer- Part II
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Because I am a struggling Christian, it’s inevitable that I superimpose my awareness of all that happened in the life of Jesus upon what I’m reading, upon Buber, upon Plato, upon the Book of Daniel. But I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know him as all in all.
— , Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
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