A Design Nut…and Proud of It!

This week, I came across what I’d hoped would be really useful advice to pass along to clients…a program from successful authors willing to share their thoughts on book writing, book marketing, and a better, more profitable way to self-publish.

As an introduction to participation in the program, the authors offered their book for review. The table of contents contained quite a useful list of information, but then, as oh-so-many times before, came the inevitable section telling authors that they really, really, really don’t need to spend money on design…they can do it “on the cheap” by doing it themselves.

As proof of the validity of this advice, the authors pointed out that they had formatted their own book pages using Microsoft Office products, and then, to add insult to injury, they declared that only a “design nut” would notice the difference between their results and professional design. I beg to differ.

The cover of their book was just awful. The title was rendered without any typographic skill at all. The design (if you could call it that) looked no better than a homemade flyer that you might find on your front porch. The interior text formatting…you know, those details that only a “design nut” would care about…was filled with loose lines. Just about every other typographic convention that book designers and editors so carefully follow was ignored.

If this book reflected only one consultant’s opinion, I wouldn’t be concerned, but it seems to have become the ONLY message that is disseminated these days to authors learning about self-publishing. The inmates have taken over the asylum, it seems, and in my view, the victims will be book buyers.

Not very long ago, when you purchased a book, the price included a reasonable expectation that experts worked to make the product worth your money. You know, little things like fact-checking, assuring that the author was an expert, careful editing, careful design and typesetting to ensure maximum reading comprehension, and careful printing.

What happens when these standards are completely thrown to the wind? How will buyers react when they’re just as likely to receive a terrible book as a good one? Will they decide that it’s just not worth spending hard-earned money on books?

Is the “success” of these consultants (at least by their own description) confirmation that it is OK to release work that would never pass muster in an earlier day? I can’t answer that, but I can say for certain that 1106 Design is a team of “design nuts” and “editing nuts” and “typesetting nuts” and we will continue to offer top-level work to our clients. We hope you agree.

Tell us what you think! What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design