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Tag: Book Design Tip

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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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A Look at Imprints

Should you set up an imprint or multiple imprints for your self publishing company?

As a self publishing author, your books are published under your publishing company name. This is also called your publishing imprint and is what is recorded in book industry databases used by retailers, book wholesalers, and book distributors, it's on your copyright page and is assigned to your ISBN numbers.
You can also have multiple imprints that fall under your publishing company. For example, maybe you normally write and publish nonfiction under your publishing imprint (let's call it "Mountain Life Books"), but then you find that you want to write and publish cookbooks or some other type of book with subject matter that doesn't quite fit under your main imprint. You can choose a new imprint name (let's call it Tasty Eats Press) that better reflects the new books' subject matter. Then, on your copyright page and in other places, it would say "Published by Tasty Eats Press, an imprint of Mountain Life Books."
It is fun to think about different imprint names - you can get creative with it! An imprint represents your business and you as an author. You'll want to carefully research the name that you choose and then register it as either a Fictitious Business Name (FBN) or Doing Business As (DBA) with your state. Check with your local state regulations for specific details.

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 Chapter Opening Page in Book Design

Elements and design choices to consider when designing a chapter opening page.

The first page of each chapter is one of my favorite things to design. This is one place where the tone of your book and its subject matter can be visually communicated. The design of these pages can range from very simple to more elaborate design choices that spread across two pages.
The Chicago Manual of Style says that each chapter normally starts on a new page, and can sit on a verso (left) or recto (right) page, although the first chapter almost always starts on a recto.
Some elements that you can expect to see on a chapter opening page are:

  • Chapter Number (the word chapter is often omitted)
  • Chapter Title
  • Subtitle (if there is one)
  • Epigraph (if there is one)
  • Drop folios (or no folio)
  • No running heads
    • The design of this page can vary greatly and should reflect your book's subject matter and tone. The right choice for you may be incredibly simple and understated with only the chapter title or number, or it could be more lively and contain graphics and other relevant display items.
    Some possible elements for the chapter opening page design include:

  • Ornamentation or graphics
  • Illustration
  • A font complimentary to the body text and expressive of the feeling of the content
  • A font that echoes the font choice on the cover
  • A drop cap in the first paragraph of text
  • Italics or small caps on the first line of the first paragraph

    • Whichever design style that you choose for your chapter opening page, it is important that it does not distract the reader from their reading flow. Beautifully designed chapter opening pages can be enjoyable to the reader and a refreshing pause before diving into the next section of text.
    Below are a few examples of chapter opening pages that I've recently designed.

    Train Traffic chapter opening page design
    Life is a Fifteen Round Fight chapter opening page design
    When I work with you to design and format your book interior we will spend some time together before the project begins so that I can learn about your book and any style preferences or ideas that you have. Using this information I then go to work making that vision come to life. Depending on the project I will present a couple different options for the interior design that you can choose from so that you can see the possibilities and refine it to reflect what is best for your book.
    Please email to set up a consultation to design your self published book!

    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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    Paragraph Separators in Book Page Design

    For when you need a pause or a shift in your narrative.

    When you need to indicate a pause, a passage of time, or a scene change within a chapter of your book use a paragraph separator. This is a visual cue to your reader that something has changed. A paragraph separator can be as simple as an extra line space between two paragraphs, a series of three or four asterisks (*) separated by an em or en space, or they can be a little more graphic with the use of an ornament.

    Margaret Turner Taylor's latest book, Traveling Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, is a historical fiction spy thriller set in WWII Germany. When choosing an ornament to use for paragraph separation in this book I chose the ornament below that also seems representative of the style of the subject matter.

    Ornaments are like little Easter eggs hidden within many common fonts. To find them you'll need to view the full set of characters, known as glyphs, contained within the font. If you have a layout program such as Adobe InDesign the ornaments can be found in the glyphs panel. In Microsoft Word they can be found in the Insert > Symbol menu.

    For the ornament used in Margaret's book I used a font that I purchased called Type Embellishments Two. This set, as well as Type Embellishments One, is made up only of ornaments. I love scrolling through them to choose just the right look for the book that I'm working on. Below is a sampling of some of the ornaments found in this typeface as well as some that you will find hidden in common fonts that may already live on your computer.
    Ornament glyphs in font sets
    Samples of ornament glyphs in different font sets.

    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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    Finding Creativity in the Pause

    Dear Friend and Reader,
    I truly hope that this finds you and your family healthy and well. During this time of isolation and social distancing that is, understandably, very difficult for many, I have never been more grateful that I work from my home office. For some this time has provided a measure of relief from the daily grind, which can feel very rigid, and has opened up some space to pause, recharge, and put attention on (often creative) things that usually get pushed to the side.

    There has been little to no down time for me as authors are utilizing this rare window of space to focus on writing and getting their books published, but I do recognize the importance of pressing pause on the stream of the routine of life.

    For me this often lets the relentless chirping of thoughts, the rigid boundaries of schedule and emotionally challenging need to "keep it all together" settle and quiet down. It allows a little breath to move and within that I find what feels like authentic creativity. I've rarely been successfully creative when it's been pushed, forced or rushed. In my experience, creativity is a slow moving and evolving creature that only reveals itself when unencumbered by demand, distraction, and preoccupation.

    So, if you are in Missoula and see me out walking the neighborhood on a sunny weekday afternoon, this is probably why. I just needed a pause.

    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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    Personalize your book

    Make it special! Personalize it.

    Did you know that Ingram Spark allows you to create and send personalized copies of your book. It's easy to do, inexpensive at only $1 per book, and is a great way to add a special touch when you want to.

    Choosing this option adds one additional page with your personalized content and inserts it as the very first page of your book at the time it’s printed. It will only be added to that specific book and not books that are ordered through other retailers. You can add text and even an image! Simply click “Personalize It!” when placing your order.

    Some ideas offered by Ingram Spark include:

    • One-Off Dedications, such as a special inscription for a friend or give-away winner.
    • Letters to Readers - think book club members.
      or
    • Commemorate an Occasion, such as an event where you will be speaking or your books will be available for sale.

    There are many possibilities and ways to get creative!

    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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