Book Design Demystified

(Originally published at Authopublisher.com)

I Need a Book Designer?

Seven years ago, when self-publishing was just beginning to take off, I talked with author Jane Kimball, who had recently learned from a book printer that the services of a book designer were required before her book could be printed.

Thus began our nearly year-long association to design her masterwork, Trench Art: An Illustrated History, a 400+ page, full-color book featuring more than 1,000 items from her personal collection of war souvenirs. These artifacts, collectively known as trench art, were meticulously crafted by soldiers from spent shell casings and other materials beginning in World War I.

“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a book designer!” she quipped.

“That’s alright,” I replied. “I didn’t know there was such a thing as trench art!”

I relate this story because at the time I was taken aback by Jane’s comment. Until then, every customer who came to us already understood what we did. It wasn’t necessary to explain our services. The landscape, I realized, had changed, and it remains so to this day.

In subsequent conversations, Jane taught me that book design and production is a very scary subject to many first-time authors, who worry that hiring experts will cause them to lose control of their “baby.”

What follows is a brief description of a typical book design project that will hopefully put your mind at ease. Far from losing control of your book, you’ll actually collaborate closely with experts every step of the way to make your book the very best it can be.

6 Steps to a Quality Book

Step 1: Cover Design

The first task in preparing a book for publication is Book Cover Design. The designer will ask for a synopsis of your book and ask about your goals and your intended audience. He/she will then find appropriate images and fonts, and create a design that is in line with similar bestselling books on the market. This ensures that your cover will look as good as, or better than, the competitive titles that will displayed alongside it online. A good cover is absolutely essential to the success of your book. Cover design is not the place to save money. Most designers will adjust their services to your budget, if you ask.

Step 2: Manuscript Editing

The benefits of Professional Editing, offered by an experienced book editor, cannot be overstated. When we read our own writing, we know what we mean to say, so our brain fills in the gaps. The fresh eyes of an outside editor will find and correct these gaps for a smoother reading experience, without changing your style or your voice. Authors can always decline the editor’s suggestions, but most are pleasantly surprised at the skills an editor brings to the table.

Step 3: Interior Layout (aka Typesetting)

When editing is complete, the next step in book production is Book Interior Layout, also known as Typesetting. Designers usually show one or more sample interior designs to give the author an opportunity to compare different type fonts, type sizes, chapter openers, sidebars, and other decorative elements that may be employed to enhance the appearance of the text. Once a sample chapter has been approved, the rest of the book is typeset to match. You’ll be amazed at how much better  your text looks, compared to the original Word document, when it is designed by a pro.

Step 4: Proofreading

After Interior Layout, the next step in the book production process is Proofreading. Proofreading should always be done after the book is typeset (as well as before). Those pesky typos, extra word spaces, and unnecessary tabs that escaped detection in Word stand out like a sore thumb in typeset text. Many self-publishers unfortunately decline this service, thinking it’s not needed, to the detriment of their book. I can attest that we have never once proofed a book without finding errors, sometimes hundreds of errors, even when the manuscript was previously edited.

Step 5: Corrections and Final Review

Once Proofreading is complete, and the errors identified by the proofreader are fixed, it’s time to read the book from start to finish one final time. Yes, I know, you just can’t stand to read it one more time . . . but you must. There’s an old saying in publishing, “You don’t complete a book; you declare an ending.” The proofreading and correction process never really ends, but at some point you just have to go to press.

Step 6: Digital File Prep

The final step in the production process is to prepare the digital files for printing. You can relax at this stage, because this behind-the-scenes geeky stuff is entirely the responsibility of your designer. This final step ensures that your book will print successfully.

So, How Long Does All This Take?

It’s always good to schedule far more time than you think you’ll need for book production. I recommend at least 2 weeks each for steps 1-5 above, though some services, such as cover design and editing, can be worked on concurrently. If you must have books in hand by a specific date, be sure to tell your designer, so the two of you, along with the eventual printer, can create a schedule with milestones to make it happen.

How Much of My Time is Required?

That depends on your experience, your personality, and your available time. Many authors relish the “hands-on” approach and enjoy the prospect of talking with multiple providers. Others prefer to hand the project over to a company that will manage the entire project for them. Fortunately, providers are available to suit every preference.

Experts = An Enjoyable Process and a Better Book

The fear of losing control prompts many first-time authors to adopt the “do-it-yourself” approach, or to sign up with huge “self-publishing factories” who produce terrible work for very low fees, but both of these approaches are usually a mistake. Experts abound in every area of life, from medicine to pest control. Their knowledge and experience, even in areas that may seem low skilled or mundane, enhance our lives and give us far better products and services than we can ever hope to produce on our own. Book design is no exception.

If you’re about to enter one of the most brutally competitive industries on the planet, I hope this post has helped to clarify the process so that the book design process is an enjoyable one and the book you eventually offer to the public will be the very best it can be, and one that you will be proud to market.

How Do I Copyright My Book?

One of the first questions asked by new self-publishers is, “How do I copyright my book?”

Technically, copyright is automatic, by virtue of the fact that you wrote the manuscript. While copywriting your book is not required, following the simple steps to “deposit” and register your work with the US Copyright Office gives you an additional advantage in the event someone plagiarizes your work.

Your book can be copyrighted either before or after publication, either in hard-copy form or electronically. As you might expect, the electronic alternative is faster, easier, and less expensive. This method also offers the ability to monitor the status of your application online.

Basic instructions from the US Copyright office begin here:

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl109.html

This page contains links to other resources that will help you make the decisions that are best for your situation.

Most authors are surprised to learn that only the content of a book can be copyrighted; individual book titles are not protected by copyright law. A quick trip to Amazon will confirm that many books share identical titles. Milions and millions of books have been published. There simply aren’t enough words in the English language for each of them to have a unique title.

Series titles are another matter. These can be protected under trademark law. Trademarks are granted on a first-come basis, so it’s important to conduct a screening search to make sure your intended series title is not already in use.

A discussion of this topic and other publishing-related legal issues can be found at www.copylaw.com and many other websites.

Copyright and trademark issues are much more complex than they seem. It’s possible, but may not be advisable, to “do-it-yourself.” There’s no substitute for a consultation with your own attorney, who will apply his or her in-depth knowledge of the law to your unique publishing situation.

Publishing Wisdom from Goldilocks

We all know the story of Goldilocks and the The Three Bears. In her exploration of the bears’ home, Goldilocks judged the three bowls of porridge to be too hot, too cold, and just right. She judged the three chairs as too big, too small, and just right. Finally, she judged the three beds as too hard, too soft, and just right.

Of course, Goldilocks forgot all about her preferences as soon as the three bears came home, when she rightly bolted out the door to save her life. The Goldilocks character is a pretty good metaphor for clients, I think.

To switch stories for a moment, a few weeks ago I was listening to a financial advisor on the radio. “Visit my web site and fill out the contact form,” she said. “I’ll be in touch to learn about your needs and explore how my company can help you.” She seemed knowledgable and genuinely interested, so expecting a personal follow-up, that’s exactly what I did.

Instead, I received a postcard in the mail, inviting me to a restaurant torture session, where I and a hundred others would be bribed by a free lunch to endure a “one-solution-fits-all” lecture. What a letdown.

Like Goldilocks, or any prospective client, I was looking for a financial advisor who was “just right” when I contacted this company. No matter the product or service being purchased, isn’t that what every client seeks…and deserves?

Too many companies today, especially the dreaded “self-publishing companies,” cruelly peddle one-size-fits-all solutions to hopeful authors. Instead of a custom analysis of the author’s needs by a publishing expert, a phone room full of high-pressure sales consultants use carefully crafted scripts to steer authors into pre-defined package deals that maximize company profits.

What on earth has happened to American business, and why aren’t we all bolting out the door just like Goldilocks did?

1106 Design is a publishing services company that

* appreciates the value of a one-on-one conversation;
* will honestly tell you when you don’t need one of our services;
* works with you to craft a top-quality book that will help you achieve your unique publishing goals; and
* offers the convenience of project management.

If that sounds good, contact us today. 1106 Design is small enough to deliver quality work with all the hand-holding you need, and large enough to get the job done quickly and conveniently. As Goldilocks might say, “1106 Design is just right.”

Book Cover Design for a Series

When we work with clients who are planning a book series, two questions frequently come up:

After the first cover is designed, what will you charge me to design the others?

The answer is, it depends on the degree of change needed. Authors and publishers of a series should be aware of the issues involved and ask plenty of questions in advance to avoid unpleasant surprises later.

Some designers hold that a new title triggers a full design fee, even if it’s clear that they’ll spend very little time on the job.

We were recently hired by a publisher to create the second cover in his series. He had every intention of hiring the designer of his first cover for the second book. He explained that the cover image and the series title would remain the same, and only the subtitle and back cover text would change.

When he was told by the original designer that this would be considered a new title and a full redesign cost, he rightfully considered this a “gotcha.” We negotiated a fair price that would cover our time, a price that was less than the original designer wanted.

The above example is the simplest situation, and an uncommon one. Most follow-on covers in a series involve more work than many authors realize. We’ll often be asked, “Doesn’t it take just a few minutes to swap out the image and type over the old title with the new one?” In a word, no.

Changing the image involves finding (or creating) one that is compatible with the first cover. Even if the publisher provides the image, it almost always contains different colors and may have different proportions.

In a series design, it’s essential to communicate to the buyer that the titles are related, and at the same time, unique. Changing the picture usually means changing the background color and the color of the front cover text. If the new image cannot be cropped to the same proportions that were used on the first cover, then it can take considerable time to rearrange all the elements while remaining true to the established design.

At 1106 Design, we typically recommend our Level 1 Cover Design for the first book in the series, so that the publisher has access to all the information necessary to design the series correctly from the start. Then we recommend our lower levels of design for the follow-on titles. Sometimes we negotiate a different solution, again depending on the amount of work involved.

The second question we often hear from authors is:

Will you give me the files from the first cover so I can design the others myself?

This request is rooted in a misunderstanding of the issues involved in cover design. In addition to the easily seen elements of cover design, there are many unseen elements that designers attend to behind the scenes, including the proper preparation of the digital files required by the printer.

We often talk to authors who purchased the software they thought they needed, spent countless hours trying to master it, and then were disappointed to discover that their printer rejected the files.

Publishing one book can be a hobby or a business. Publishing a series is always a business. Contact us today to get the expert help you need to launch your book business in the best possible way.

Are You Publishing a Book Series?

Publishing a book is a huge undertaking, reserved for the truly courageous. Launching a series is more challenging than launching a single book, because it’s difficult to recover from a false start. Here are a few pointers:

(1) Before launching any book, but especially a series, a survey of the competition is in order. When buyers search your topic, and even when they enter your title word for word, your cover will be displayed alonside similar best sellers at Amazon. Your cover can borrow credibility from these best sellers if it is designed to look like them. If your cover concept is significantly different from others on display, it can scare buyers away.

(2) The titles and subtitles of all the books in your series should be written well in advance of the text. An experienced book title consultant will ensure that the words resonate with, and don’t repel, buyers.

(3) The cover design of the first title will become the foundation for all the books to follow. Keeping the above research in mind, your book designer will ensure that the design is flexible enough to accommodate the longest and shortest title in the series as well as consistently highlight the brand. (See the “For Dummies” books. The subject “pops” in white, but the series title is nearly as large. It takes second place visually because it’s yellow.)

(4) Just as with cover design, pricing research is important when launching a series. Buyers who enjoyed your first book will expect the price of the others to be similar. Pricing your book accurately from the start will deliver this consistency and ward off unpleasant surprises.

You may have guessed by now that 1106 Design offers all of the above services and more. Our team of dedicated experts will hold your hand throughout the book preparation process to give your book or your book series the best possible chance to succeed. Contact us today!

Why Book Publishers Need a Corporate Image

What is a “Corporate Image” and Why Does It Matter?

A professionally-designed book cover is absolutely essential when it comes to marketing your book. If your book looks good and stands out from the crowd, it has a better chance to sell.

The exact same principle also applies when prospective buyers are viewing the marketing materials of your publishing company. It’s imperative to cut through the clutter, establish credibility, and help busy buyers pay attention to your sales message.

A “corporate image” is a graphic “plan” that  begins with a professional logo and carries on with consistent use of type fonts, colors, even the arrangement of elements on the page, that will identify your publishing company to the prospective buyer before they have a chance to read one word. For an example of this, notice your own response to printed materials, and how you instantly recognize that a flyer or insert is from a particular store, without the need to actually see the store’s logo.

The same principle can be employed to your benefit as a publisher. It doesn’t matter if you publish one book or a hundred, buyers will likely see your marketing message more than once before they buy. They want to do business with a company that will be there tomorrow. Since they can’t meet you personally, the only way they can judge the reliability of your company is from your marketing materials.

Every contact you make with a potential buyer sends a message about your publishing company, whether it is a postcard, bookmark, sell sheet, book signing announcement, letter, or website. If  all of your materials are designed with a “family look,” you can maximize recognition of your company and communicate to your prospective buyer that you are a stable, reliable source for the information they seek. Plopping a professionally designed cover on a homemade flyer sends the opposite message.

Corporate Image Step One: A Professional Logo

The first step to a professional corporate identity is to design a logo that reflects the vision and purpose of your publishing company. The best logos are simple and should be designed to look contemporary for a minimum of 10 years. Your designer will present a number of ideas and refine them until you are delighted with the result.

A logo isn’t just a design for one purpose today, but also for many purposes in the future, so there are some considerations to discuss with your logo designer as work proceeds. A logo should be designed to look good in black and white first, because that’s how it will often be seen (on faxes and invoices, for example). Color enhances, but is never a substitute for, strong design.  If your logo doesn’t work in black and white, it simply doesn’t work. A strong logo design can be printed in black and white or one color, saving you money on printing down the road.

Logos should also be designed so that they can be used anywhere: on a book spine, on a billboard, on a banner, even engraved in metal for an office sign. Once the basic logo design is established, publishers generally need two or more versions of a logo — a vertical logo for book spines, and a horizontal version for brochures and correspondence.

If you’re tempted to acquire a logo on the cheap from a contest site or $99 logo design sites, be careful. Many customers have presented such logos to us, only to be disappointed when we tell them that the type is unreadable on a book spine, or that the logo has been created in a format that is not easily adjustable for other purposes.

Corporate Image Step Two: Written Graphic Standards

Step two in the establishment of a professional corporate identity is to write down design standards so that all of your marketing materials will have a consistent look. These standards define the size and position of your logo, as well as type faces and colors to be used consistently, so that your marketing materials won’t drift into uncharted territory every time a new item is designed. Your designer can write a graphic standards manual that explains how your logo is (and is not) to be used. With this document for reference, every marketing piece you produce now or in the future, either in house or with the help of an outside designer, will be consistent.

How Can I Minimize Costs While Projecting a Consistent Corporate Image?

A professional corporate identity consistently applied needn’t be expensive. While it’s convenient to call a quick printer every time you think of a new marketing piece, planning ahead can save you significant money on printing. Designers can suggest ways to stretch your printing budget that will still allow you the flexibility to update materials on your desktop whenever the need arises.

For example, if you know you’ll be sending out mailers every two months for the next year, you can realize savings by printing “shells” in color and then updating the message in house on your laser printer.

Another way to save money on printing is to produce bookmarks and postcards at the same time that your book cover prints. Not all book printers will do this, but even if they don’t, you can get the most for your printing dollar locally by “ganging up” your printing jobs instead of ordering each project individually.

Someone once said “the most expensive brochure is the one that doesn’t work.” Reserving a portion of your production budget for a professional logo and designed marketing materials will pay for itself many times over.

Follow Michele on Twitter.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. Attractive pricing choices to fit almost any budget. Prompt, personalized service. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Offset Printing Tips for Self-Publishers

I recently contributed the following post to authopublisher.com.  Check out this site to read posts from and ask questions of many experts there who can help you self-publish the very best book. This post was prompted by a conversation with an author who did not know that “offset” book printing existed. Today, all the news is about POD, but “offset” printing is the method used for most books found in bookstores and, in certain circumstances, it can be an appropriate and money-saving choice for self-publishers, too.

What the Heck is Offset Printing?

Most self-publishers today take advantage of Print on Demand technology and/or release their books in various eBook formats. Still, the “old fashioned” method of book printing, known as offset printing, retains its place in the list of choices available to  you. Offset printing used to be the only method available to print books, and it’s still used today when publishers need large quantities of books at a low unit price. With offset book printing, the unit cost per book comes down as the quantity of books printed goes up. The downside is that you must pay for all the books in advance, before you sell them. For some situations, though, this make perfect sense.

Who Should Consider Offset Printing?

If you’re new to publishing, and you’re not sure how many books you’ll sell, offset printing is a risky choice, because to get the low unit price mentioned above, it’s necessary to print at least 1,000 copies of your book, and preferably more.  On the other hand, if you’re a professional speaker who regcan sell books at the back of the room to large audiences, and you know that you will sell an order of 1,000 or more books in a year, then offset printing will reduce your unit cost per book considerably, boosting your profits. Or, perhaps your marketing plan includes pre-selling books on a non-returnable basis to organizations who plan to use it for fund-raising or other purposes. In this case, too, offset printing offers real benefits (but I wouldn’t print books without a signed contract.)

What Information Does an Offset Book Printer Need from Me?

There’s quite a bit to know about offset printing. It’s not quite as automated as print-on-demand, but don’t despair. The expertise you need is free for the asking… and printers WANT you to ask! Since you’ll be laying out significant cash upfront, it’s important to talk to—and learn from—the folks who know offset printing inside out—those who do it every day.

At a recent Arizona Book Publishing Association dinner, representatives from four offset book printers shared their knowledge of the printing process, offered the vendor’s perspective on choosing a book manufacturer, and emphasized the benefits of early communication with your printer.  The comments below are formatted as bullet points and are in no particular order, because there were four speakers. Here’s what they had to say:

• Planning your project upfront will prevent many production problems later on. To avoid delays and unplanned-for costs, your book should be designed with your printer’s requirements in mind. It’s much easier (and less expensive) to submit your job with the correct file formats, halftone adjustments, fonts, trim sizes, bleeds, and more than to ask your printer’s pre-press department to fix problems at the last moment and delay production.
• Printers consider it a major annoyance when they receive a quote request that is also sent to 50 other printers. It tells them right away that this quote is from a person new to the industry, who probably assumes that all printers are alike, and who will make a decision based on price alone. There are many variables from printer to printer on any job and even if you did get 50 responses—which you probably won’t—it would be impossible to compare them.
• Paper is one of your largest costs and it’s a good idea to choose one of the printer’s “house” stocks for greatest economy. Everyone should talk to their printing representative early and often to ensure a smooth book-printing experience.
• Regarding the “business” side of printing, the signed quote is a contract and it’s important to review and understand every detail of the agreement before signing up. For example, if your quote is based on “trouble-free” files, then you can expect extra charges if your files require intervention to print properly. No printer will begin a job without a signed bid. Hiring an experienced book designer is the best way to avoid problems on press.
• The brand of cover cloth you choose for a case-bound book can make a big difference in the price, so it’s important to pay attention to this detail on your quote. (Rainbow cloth vs. Arrestox B can result in a $1,000 difference on 2,000 books.)
• It’s  extremely important to review your printer’s proof very carefully. Every printer considers this proof the “bible,” and once you sign off on it, this is what you will get, even if you overlooked something or it’s the printer’s mistake.
• Turnaround time should be discussed with your printing representative well in advance of submitting your job. If you need books by a certain date, it is your responsibility to inform the printer so your job can be scheduled accordingly. You’ll pay extra for rush service.
• The issue of “overs and unders” is often misunderstood. A printing press cannot be “stopped on a dime” like a copier. About 5–10% more books than ordered must be printed to allow for “make-ready” on press and for spoilage in the bindery. If these “overs” are not spoiled, printers offer them to the customer at a discount price. “Unders” are deducted from your final invoice.
• It’s important to specify “residential” or “loading dock” delivery when you request a quote, as residential delivery costs more. Most book manufacturers negotiate large discounts with freight companies and don’t mark up this service, so you won’t save money by arranging for your own freight.
• Like any business, printers reserve their best prices and terms for repeat customers. Establishing a positive long-term relationship with your printer pays you back in dollars as well as in peace of mind.
• Book printers recommend that publishers work with an experienced book designer who understands the peculiarities of book design. Graphic designers who don’t have book design experience can create an “over-designed” book that can be costly and sometimes even impossible to print. Even though Word files can be converted to PDF and printed, Word does not compose type as well as a page layout program, so this is not the recommended way to go.
• So how do you “qualify” a book printer? The first step is to understand that book printing is a custom operation, not a commodity. Each book is unique and each book manufacturer is unique in terms of equipment, customer service and capabilities. It’s important to match the book with the manufacturer.
  Just as customers select vendors through the quoting process, printers select their customers through pricing. If you don’t know what you’re talking about when you request a quote, the printer will immediately know that you’re likely to be a “high maintenance” customer and will price the job accordingly. Working through an experienced book designer who speaks the language of printing will benefit you in the long run, because the printer knows he will receive correctly-prepared files.
• So how do you become a desirable customer? Do your homework before you ask for quotes. Rather than shotgun a quote to 50 printers you know nothing about, ask your peers who they recommend for book printing. Choose a few printers to research thoroughly. Ask for an equipment list to make sure your book fits their capabilities. Ask for references. Check with Dunn and Bradstreet to make sure the company is healthy. Visit the plant. Is it clean and organized? Meet with your Customer Service Representative, who is your advocate in the plant. Do you feel this person truly cares about your book?
• Once those tasks are completed, you should ask for a quote only from those printers who are qualified and who make you feel most comfortable. Knowing that the printer will “be there” for you throughout the process will give meaning to the numbers you receive. Following this procedure will also let your printer know that you are a serious customer, and every printer wants serious, repeat customers.
• After your book is printed, conduct an evaluation and discuss any problems that may have occurred with your representative to learn how they can be avoided in the future.
• Most of all, remember that all printers want to do a good job and want you to succeed, because your success is their success. Everyone should think of a printer representative as a “free consultant” who will gladly help you through the intricacies of the book manufacturing process.

So, How Much Can I Save?

The discussion above may seem like a lot of trouble compared to ordering POD books online, but the price difference can be dramatic. A print-on-demand book that costs $6 can cost half as much from an offset book printer. On an order of 1,000 books, that’s $3,000 in your pocket, but ONLY if you sell all 1,000 books. Weighing the risks and benefits of offset printing can be time well spent.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. Attractive pricing choices to fit almost any budget. Prompt, personalized service. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Book Design and Self-Publishing Questions? Ask Them Here.

New self-publisher have questions. Lots of them. This post is an experiment. Ask your question here, and we’ll do our best to answer it, or find an expert who can. Your question can be on almost any topic related to book design: covers, interior design and typesetting, editing, indexing, best POD printer, whatever is on your mind.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. Attractive pricing choices to fit almost any budget. Prompt, personalized service. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

The Forgotten Element in Book Marketing

Nearly every morning, I start the day browsing messages on Twitter, Facebook, and my favorite book industry and self-publishing blogs. I always find dozens of articles about book marketing. Tens of thousands of authors want to know how to promote their book in a cost-effective manner, who they should hire to help, and how they can measure results to ensure they are spending wisely. All good questions. And naturally, in today’s connected world, there are just as many experts willing to help them.

Most of these articles offer marketing strategies that begin too late. They teach the author how to spend his or her time and money to promote a book that has already been published (or at least prepared for printing). Often, due to the overwhelming amount of bad advice available online, the book has been prepared in a substandard way, and all the marketing in the world, at any price, isn’t going to help it sell.

Book marketing should start before the writing begins. Budding authors should savor that wonderful, initial “Aha!” moment, of course. But then, they should take off the “author” hat and put on the “publisher” hat to conduct some critical analysis. What is my book about? Why am I writing it? Does it solve a problem? Does it offer unique information, or at least a creative twist on an existing topic that will capture the buyer’s imagination? Will anybody but me think it is worth spending money on?

It’s tough to be objective about our own work. We love our own ideas because…well…they are our own ideas. That’s why it’s imperative to seek out objective advice, in publishing and any other business endeavor. When authors decide (or are told by subsidy publishers) that they don’t need developmental editing, copyediting, professional cover and interior design, professional proofreading and a useful index, they are making a decision to produce a terrible book.

Somehow, in all the noise, everyone has forgotten that marketing cannot sell a bad book. Marketing can only bring a book to the prospective buyer’s attention. In an instant, with a quick glance at the cover and perhaps a cursory flip through the pages, the buyer decides whether or not your book is a fair trade for hard-earned dollars. If the buyer decides in your favor and is rewarded with a good book, he tells everyone he knows. If he is disappointed, he also tells everyone he knows, perhaps at Amazon, where millions of others will use his opinion to buy someone else’s book.

If your reaction to the above paragraph is, “I can’t afford these things because I don’t know if my book will sell,” then please reread paragraph three.

The demise of the gatekeepers in publishing is hailed as a good thing. I agree, but only to a point. No good book idea should die simply because it can’t earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for a major publisher. But with freedom comes responsibility. Self-publishers have a new obligation to produce the good book their readers expect and to deliver real value to the buyer. If your book is meant to promote your business or your career, then quality is even more important. A quality book can land you a new client, a speaking gig, or a consulting contract. A bad book can send just the opposite message to your prospect.

Quality book development and design costs money, but it’s money well spent. A solid book concept, carefully planned and edited, with an eye-catching cover, a beautiful interior design, and a useful index will get good reviews and be recommended by buyers to others. Your quality book is your 24/7 sales force, convincing people to buy when you’re not around. Big publishers have their problems to be sure, but this is one area that they always get right, and one area that self-publishers should emulate.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. Attractive pricing choices to fit almost any budget. Prompt, personalized service. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

When I Want Your Opinion, I’ll Give It To You

Ah, human nature.

I just came across this post by Irene Watson, owner of Reader Views, a long-time and well-regarded source for book reviews in the publishing industry. In it, Irene describes how she was taken aback by an author’s accusation that her staff was not professional for offering an objective opinion about the book:

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/3/13/authors-tell-the-truth-and-you-will-gain-brownie-points.html

Don’t feel bad, Irene. Welcome to the club. The same thing happened to us last month.

We were hired to design a book cover. It was to be the first in a series, so naturally we  wanted to make sure this first book was as strong as it could be to establish interest in future titles.

As always, we began the job by asking the author for his thoughts. After all, we want to design in the right direction from the start, and nobody can know  a book better than the author, right? Well, in this case, not so much.

The author’s first mistake was a misleading title. It had nothing to do with the content of the book, and it contained a word that any reasonable person would associate with the offerings of  a very large company. Perhaps not a trademark in the legal sense, but certainly an association that could pose a problem. When  I brought this up, his response was, “It will be good publicity for my book if a big company goes after a little author like me.” Hmm.

The author’s second mistake was to choose a cover graphic that had nothing whatever to do with the subject. And I mean nothing. We’ve seen a lot of strange choices in cover graphics over the years, but this was beyond the pale.

Shortly after our conversation, I received an email from the author’s business partner. “Tell us what you really think,” he wrote. “We’re new at this, and we want to be sure we’re heading in the right direction.”

Silly me, I believed him.

I wrote back that we had discussed his title and cover graphic and we didn’t get the connection between the two. We were promptly fired, with the accusation “Well, if you don’t get it, we’ll need to work with someone who does.” Hmm.

I won’t tell you the name of the book, because the author is an attorney, and I’ve got better things to do with my time than defend against a lawsuit. But really, was this response even remotely sensible? Why did he ask for an honest opinion, if he didn’t really want one? And further, why did he hire us if he planned to tell us what to do?

When I was growing up, my parents were in awe of experts: doctors, lawyers, priests. They never would have questioned, let alone argued with, the advice of someone far more educated than themselves.

Today, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Self-esteem has become so inflated that many people won’t believe the advice of others who really do know more.  Like authors who write their own titles, choose their own cover graphics, design their own book covers, and insist that laying out a book in Word is sufficient. A curious blindness sets in, and the amateur results are judged to be “as good as” professional work.

I’m not saying we should go back to the days when experts were all-powerful people who regularly intimidated their clients. But can we take just a few steps back in time, and recognize that we all have different areas of expertise? I think Irene would agree, and I hope you do, too.

As to the author of the above book, you can bet I’ll be watching Amazon to see what happened.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

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