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Tag: Book Cover Design

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Amazon Author Page

Do you have an Amazon Author Page?

Set up your Amazon author page to promote your book!

Did you know that you can have your own author page on Amazon? Yes you can - and it is pretty easy to set up. It only takes a few minutes and it's free!
Amazon Author Central enables authors to utilize the Amazon author page as a way to connect with readers. The Amazon author page is a valuable marketing tool that you can personalize. It's essentially a landing page on Amazon where readers can learn about you, see all the books you've published, see your recent blog posts if you have one, follow you and more.
Here's a list of the things that you can add to your page:
  • Books: After claiming your page you'll need to add your books to it by searching for the title or ISBN.
  • Bio: Use this section to enter a short bio. Make sure to include your website if you have one. Some people use this area to list upcoming events, new release dates, their social media links and contact email. Get creative!
  • Photos: You can upload multiple images. Include a professionally taken photo of yourself so people can see you and any other images that are relevant to you or your books.
  • Videos: If you have created a book trailer or have other videos that help you connect with your audience upload them here.
  • Blog: Do you have a blog with an RSS feed? Be sure to include it on your author page. Whenever you update your blog, the blog teasers that appear on the author page on Amazon update automatically, within 24 hours of being posted on your blog.
  • Customized URL: An author page URL is an easily shared link to your page on Amazon.com. It can be customized with whatever you wish it to be as long as it hasn't been taken by another user. In that case you'll need an alternative. Use your author page URL in your email signature, blog posts, Facebook posts and tweets.

Pro Tip: Write under a pen name? You can manage up to three pen names within a single Amazon Author Central account.

Amazon Author Central is an easy to use, valuable marketing tool for creating credibility, and driving sales of your books. To get started sign in with your amazon account here: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/
 
 
 
 

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Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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What goes on your front cover?

Tips for book cover design success.

Last month I talked about what content to include on your back cover, so, naturally, I thought I would expand on the important elements to include on your front cover. As with the back cover, it is critical to know who your audience is as you begin developing the copy and design of the front cover.
Because it is the first thing that potential readers will see, everything that is placed on the cover needs to be well thought out and intentional. The actual visual approach that you take with the design will vary depending on if your book is fiction or nonfiction, but in both cases the front cover should immediately speak to your audience when they see it.
Here are some things to include:
  • Title. The title will want to be the most prominent element on the page and set in a font that is fairly simple and easy to read. Keep in mind that if you are selling your book online the front cover will be thumbnail size when presented to online shoppers in browsers and reading devices. Therefore the legibility of the title needs to be crystal clear in both the larger printed version and the digital thumbnail size.
  • Subtitle (if applicable). This element is #2 in priority after the title. It also wants to be very legible and easy to read at small sizes. Often the subtitle is set in a smaller less "fancy" font than the title, but is still complimentary to the title. The design of the title and subtitle work together to create a typographic grouping that works with and enhances the rest of the design.
  • Series Number (if applicable). If your book is part of a series you can choose to include this information on the front cover. Usually it is quite small and worked into the typographic design of the title and subtitle or, in some cases, across the top of the page. Some authors choose to only put this on the spine or back cover, but if your book's fans will mostly be reading it as an ebook it can be helpful for them to see the series number on the front cover.
  • Endorsement. If you have an endorsement from a person with a well-known name, great for you! Endorsements can help add credibility to your book and it may work well to give a big name endorsement some prominence on the front cover, but limit it to one and keep it short. Start collecting endorsements and reviews early!
  • Author Name. Of course readers will want to know who the author is! This element is most commonly placed in the lower third of the front cover. Unless you are a super well-known and established author, the prevailing advice is to keep the author name small.
  • Design. Buyers do judge books by their covers! All of the previously mentioned elements need to work seamlessly with the overall design of the book. Hire a professional book cover designer to avoid a front cover design that is easily recognized as amateurish. The design of your book cover can be made up of images, or illustrations, it can be strictly typographic, or it can be a combination of all these things. Whichever direction you choose should reveal the tone of your book right away so that upon first glance the reader can instantly get a sense for the content inside. The design should also be reflective of other books in your genre - similar, but distinct, so that it "fits" with the other books on the shelf and also stands out. Finally - don't forget to look at a gray scale version of your cover - some e-readers don't display color, so the cover must still look good and be readable in gray scale.

Pro Tip: Don't try to do too many things on the cover design. Any image or illustration should only hint at the story inside the book. To create impact, try to limit the cover design to one striking image or symbol.

 

After the audience is defined and the research and planning is done then is it ready for the design phase. When I design the front cover of your book some of my goals include:

  • Readability of the title font
  • Seeking creative continuity from the front cover, over the spine and onto the back cover (and inside/outside flaps if it's a dust jacket).
  • Making sure the cover scales down to smaller sizes well.
  • Creating a cover that is unique but fits in the genre.
  • And finally...ensuring that you - the publisher! - absolutely love your book's cover design.

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to my monthly book design newsletter.

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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Back Cover Copy – What goes here?

Learn about which elements should go on your back cover to help sell more books.

Ever wonder what to put on the back cover of your book? This area should be used as a marketing tool that helps people see the benefits of buying your book. The copy that you put here should be aimed specifically at your audience, using language that they resonate and connect with. Ultimately, the back cover content is what sells the book. After the front cover or spine has snagged their attention, the copy that appears here will hopefully seal the deal and result in your reader making the purchase. And, because attention spans are short, this content needs to be easy to quickly read.
Here are some things to include:
  • A tagline. Appearing at the very top of the page, use an enticing one or two line sentence to provoke interest or intrigue. Keep it short to grab your reader's attention and pull them further down the page into more details about the book.
  • A book summary or blurb. This one or two paragraph block should be written with your reader in mind. However, it shouldn't be written in the same style as your book. Think of it more like ad copy, and to write effective ad copy it is critical to know who your reader is and then talk directly to them using language that they'll relate to. The book summary can help your reader understand why they want to buy your book and communicate to them how this book will benefit their life.
  • Reviews, endorsements, testimonials. Include 2-3 of your best reviews on the back cover. These short statements of praise from others helps add a feeling of credibility to your book. Seeing that other people, maybe some of them well-known, have read, endorsed and recommend your book, builds a sense of trust with your potential reader. Be sure to include your reviewer's name and credentials if they have them.

Pro Tip: Obtaining reviews, testimonials and endorsements can sometimes be a lengthy process. Don't wait until your cover is ready to be designed to ask people for these. Plan ahead and start early so they are available when your cover is ready to be designed.

  • Author biography and photo. Give people a way to start getting to know you as an author. Include a short bio about yourself and why you wrote the book. Keep it brief and clear, saving the longer list of achievements and story for your "About the Author" page in your book or on your website. Use a simple, professionally taken head shot for the photo.
  • Publishing Information. This section is for your ISBN bar code and could include the bookstore category, price (if you choose to include that), and your website address.

 

After you have all of the copy for the cover, only then is it ready for the design phase. When I design the back cover of your book some of my goals include:

  • Maintaining visual continuity that may come from the front cover and/or elements of the interior style. 
  • Keeping the information on the back cover easily digestible with the most important copy presented in a way that grabs the eye. 
  • Using various design techniques to eliminate any potential for an overcrowded, or cluttered feeling.

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to my monthly book design newsletter.

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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The benefits of having an ISBN number.

What is an ISBN number and why do you need one?

ISBNs are the global standard for book identification. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, and is a unique 13-digit numeric identifier linked to a book. It identifies the publisher (that is you if you are self-publishing) as well as the specific book title, edition and format.

Do you need one? There may be instances where you don't need an ISBN number, however there are so many advantages to having one that it is strongly recommended.

Some of those advantages include:

  • It establishes the publisher of record
  • It improves the likelihood your book will be found and purchased because, by having an ISBN, your book is included in databases that booksellers and libraries use to find books
  • It links to essential information about your book
  • It enables more efficient marketing and distribution of your title
  • It helps you analyze sales

An ISBN is not necessary if you do not intend to place the book in stores or libraries.

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) had a very informative and helpful blog post in their Self-Publishing Advice Center last week that I recommend reading. It explains in-depth about the ISBN number, why you need one - and why you may choose not to have one.

If you are publishing multiple forms of your book, for example, a hard cover, paperback, and an eBook, each of those will need its own ISBN number. ISBN numbers are available for purchase from Bowker. On their website, they offer several options for purchasing them. If you plan to write multiple books and offer them in multiple formats, my recommendation is to start with the block of 10 because it brings the cost per ISBN number down substantially. ISBNs never expire, so you will have them available for future use as needed.

If you would like to learn more about book publishing numbers and other self-publishing resources, check out the book design resources page on my website.

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to my monthly book design newsletter.

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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Hit the Book Cover Design Grand Slam!

For a Grand Slam Cover Design, start with a Book Cover Design Brief.

What is a Book Cover Design Brief, and why do you need one?

A book cover design brief is something that is vital to any design project. It provides, me, your book cover designer, with clear and precise information about your book so that I can effectively do my job and create a book cover that you love!

Without some direction, your designer has to make assumptions about what they think you will like. Sometimes it works out and you get a cover that is acceptable, but more often than not, without a proper set of expectations and guidelines, it misses the mark and they have to go back to the drawing board and begin again. This can be frustrating to both the author and designer as it inevitably adds more time and cost to the project.

This scenario can be avoided by taking some time before the design process begins to develop your ideas and vision. A book cover design brief will help you collect, compile, and distill these ideas, thoughts, and research into a format that you can hand to your book cover designer. Think of this as an opportunity for you to deeply explore what you want your book cover to look like and then tell your designer exactly what you want to achieve. A book cover design brief is no place for generalities. Here, you should be as specific as possible and move past the impulse to say things like “I want this design to pop” or “Just make my cover look good.”

To help you with this process, using resources and suggestions from other designers as well as pulling from my own experience, I've compiled a book cover design brief that you can review and start developing the specific vision and goal for your book cover. When you sign up for my newsletter, you can download it for free!

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to my monthly book design newsletter.

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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The Change Code Book

Custom Book Design for

The Change Code: A Practical Guide to Making a Difference in a Polarized World

written by Monica Bourgeau
published by New Phase Publishing

This book has it all! A custom designed cover, call outs, pull quotes, tables, charts, custom designed graphics, an appendix and bibliography. It was so fun and challenging to design this book.

Cover Design

After our initial consultation meeting, learning about the content and purpose of the book, the author sent me her design vision for the cover. The book is about Spiral Dynamics and and she wanted a very natural, beautiful look that incorporated a spiral. I spent some time researching other book covers to get an idea of what already existed in this genre and to help me create a design that fit within that genre, but also stood on its own. Then, after a lengthy search for just the right images, I sourced a couple that were beautiful and helped me to design the cover that you see.

I use a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign to complete a cover design.

book cover design

Interior Design

This book has many complex design components that help Monica tell and exhibit her story in a way that makes it easy for readers to learn and enjoy. Some of these design elements include:

  • Quotes
  • Pullouts
  • Sidebars
  • Custom Illustrations
  • Exercises
  • Endnotes
  • Appendix
  • Bibliography

Except for the custom illustration, I do my design work on book interiors in Adobe InDesign.

Custom Book Design
Interior Book Design and Layout
Interior Book Design and Layout

eBook Conversion

This book is also available as an ebook.

 

Interior Book Design and Layout

Print on Demand

The printers of choice are Ingram Spark and Amazon and are available to order on all the major online outlets.

Visit The Change Code website to order your copy!

 

Website Graphics

This project included custom web graphics designed to compliment the design of the book.

 

Cover and Interior Book Design and Layout

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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What is your resolution?

With the holiday season upon us and the new year quickly approaching, many people spend time thinking about resolutions that they want to fold into their life.
When I, your book designer, think about resolutions I am hopeful for only the best! That is to say - at least 300 dpi. What on earth could that mean? Why, image quality of course!

Book Design Tip: Image Quality

Proper resolution for printing success.

To help ensure beautiful, crisp, printed results, a book containing photos - whether they will be printed in color or black and white, need to have a high resolution. The resolution of an image refers to the number of pixels within the image. More pixels means better detail and higher quality. To achieve this, it's best to start with the original photo.
If you will be scanning physical prints, you can adjust your scanner settings to scan the image in to your computer at the proper resolution. The minimum for print is 300 dpi., however, especially if the photo has small physical dimensions, I prefer to receive scanned images at a minimum of 600 dpi.
Digital images from phones or cameras may be successfully used in print as long as the photo was taken with the highest quality settings and it has large physical dimensions.
Here is an example of what happens when a low resolution image goes to press, as opposed to the same image saved with a high resolution:

This photo had a low resolution, and very small physical dimensions. It had to be stretched to fit the space. As is evident, there aren't enough pixels to keep the image detailed and sharp.

This photo had a high resolution and large physical dimensions. The photo will reproduce crisp and clear.
If you aren't sure your photo and image files are saved in high resolution, ask your designer if she can do an assessment to determine if the images will reproduce well in print. Your designer may also be able to offer suggestions to help you get your images saved in high resolution.
Note: Saving a blurry photo in high resolution does not magically make it sharp and in focus. Sometimes editing a photo can improve it somewhat, but it's always best to have a photo that was taken in focus.

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to my monthly book design newsletter.

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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Which Trim Size is Right for Your Book?

Book Design Tip: Trim Size

One of the first things to consider when launching into the design of your book is its physical size. Some things to think about include:
  • The length of your manuscript. This will determine the page count of your book. If you choose a smaller trim size, your page count will go up, creating a thicker book and potentially costing more money per book to print.
  • Common trim sizes in your book's genre. Research what size other books in your book's genre commonly are. Visit your bookstore with a ruler or simply visit Amazon or Barnes & Noble's websites and view this information in the book details.
  • Choosing an industry standard size. Picking an industry standard printing size will save you some money and you will have flexibility when choosing printers. Some standard sizes, in inches, are:
    • 5 x 8
    • 5.5 x 8.5
    • 6 x 9
    • 7 x 10
    • 8 x 10
    • and there are many more!

Do you need help deciding which size would be best for your manuscript? I can help you determine a great size for your book. Send me an email and let's discuss it!

Want more tips like this? Subscribe to my monthly book design newsletter.

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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book design

Hot off the press!

Custom Book Design for

Keep On Going
The History of The Bell Tower on 34th

written by Roger C. Igo
published by Stellar Communications Houston

This book design was super fun with color everywhere! Full color, inside and out I was able to play with a larger creative palette. My assignment was to create a book that reflects the captivating history and elegance of The Bell Tower on 34th, a very successful wedding and event venue in Houston, Texas.

Cover Design

Using a combination images supplied by the author and some that I sourced, I was able to use my powerful design program, Photoshop, to composite this colorful, bright and exciting cover.

book cover design

Interior Design

The interior design of this book accommodates close to 40 images that help tell this compelling entrepreneurial success story. In addition to images, other custom features include call out sections that highlight interesting parallel events and stories that needed a little emphasis.

Custom Book Design
Custom Book Design
interior page layout

Print on Demand

The printer of choice was Ingram Spark and they did a wonderful job. The book was printed with a hard cover and dust jacket. The hardcover is Ingram Spark's new digital cloth with linen textured lamination, essentially a digital image designed to mirror the look and feel of cloth. The glossy finish on the dust jacket really makes the imagery shine! The images and color on the inside really pop against the bright white paper.

 

Help for Independent Presses

Book Design & Production

Have you written a nonfiction or fiction manuscript? After it has been professionally edited, I can design the interior pages and cover, plus guide you through the maze of book publishing and printing. To get started, contact me to discuss your project and my helpful guide for authors.

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