book cover evaluation Archives

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. […]

By Michele|September 2nd, 2011|Book Interior Design, Book Printing, Publishing Business|Comments Off

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

By Michele|April 22nd, 2011|Book Interior Design, Book Printing, Editing & Proofreading, Indexing, Publishing Business, Title Writing & Back Cover Copywriting|Comments Off

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 […]

By Michele|April 4th, 2011|Book Interior Design|Comments Off

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 […]

By Michele|March 14th, 2011|Publishing Business, Title Writing & Back Cover Copywriting|Comments Off

35 Classic Mistakes Publishers Make That Limit Their Sales and Success

Guest post by Alan Korwin, owner of Bloomfield Press
1. Not recognizing you’re going into business, you’re not just writing
2. Being undercapitalized (examine the basic costs, $5-10K)
3. Not knowing the last 10% is 90% of the job; you don’t finish, you declare an ending
4. Failure to write a one liner, one graf and one-page description prior to completion
5. Failure to market early and get advanced orders
6. Forgetting you don’t have to write ’em to sell ’em—and not offering a line of books
7. Using small artsy cover text instead of a large and easily readable title
8. Using a local printer instead of a book manufacturer (insufficient margin, do math)
9. Using POD instead of making inventory, limiting (eliminating?) profitability
10. Not identifying your audience carefully in advance
11. Going after general audiences instead of target-rich ones
12. Designing the cover by yourself instead of working with a pro
13. Working in isolation (as in, without your industry’s groups)
14. Picking the wrong cover price (too much or too little)
15. Keeping acknowledgments short instead of recognizing all supporters
16. Forgetting to overrun the covers for promo use
17. Putting out literature, instead of handing out literature
18. Failure to give away books like mad
19. Failure to get Kremer’s book, 1,001 Ways to Market Your Books
20. Failure to have books and promo with you at all times
21. Failure to put your book out where people can see it everywhere you go
22. Failure to inform any interviewer of your one-liner bio and website
23. Failure to write and issue “White Papers” to establish your expertise
24. Referring to your book without using its title
25. Waving your book or failing to hold it next to your face during video interviews
26. Running out of business cards
27. Not having a ready-to-go bag for […]

By Michele|March 9th, 2011|Publishing Business|Comments Off

Arizona Book Publishing Association Offers Full-Day Conference

“Manuscript to Marketing: Publishing in the 21st Century”
Do you have a book inside you? Are you wondering where to start and how to get published? Come find answers at the Arizona Book Publishing Association introduction-to-publishing conference on Saturday April 16, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Fiesta Resort in Tempe.

Called Manuscript to Marketing: Publishing in the 21st Century, the day-long program offers step-by-step advice from experts in editing, cover design, book layout, production and promotion. Join other aspiring authors and prospective publishers who are looking for tools to guide them in the constantly-changing world of books, e-books, apps, and online reading communities.

Eight information-packed sessions will provide an overview of the complete publishing process, drawing on the expertise of the 100+ members of the Arizona Book Publishing Association. Topics will include:

What Is Your Book/Who is Your Audience?
Does your idea need tweaking? How do you get organized?

Writing and Editing Your Manuscript
Do’s and Don’ts of getting your manuscript ready for publication

Cover and Interior Design
Where to splurge, where to save

Brainstorm with Experts (lunch program)
E-mail your questions in advance for the lunchtime session

E-Book Basics
Digesting a big topic by taking small bites

Printing and Distribution
Moving your books to readers

Website Essentials
What you need first, what your future goals should be

Marketing to the Media and Your Audience
Getting the buzz going and keeping it humming

Plenty of time will be available for meeting vendors of publishing services. Bring your idea, draft or manuscript for expert reviews. Space is limited to 60 attendees, so sign up now.

The conference will be held at the Fiesta Resort, 2100 South Priest Drive, Tempe, with sign-in starting at 8:15 on Saturday morning. Cost is $75.00 for members of the ABPA and $95.00 for non-members, until April 4. […]

By Michele|March 2nd, 2011|Events & Announcements, Publishing Business|Comments Off

What Do Book Designers Do, Anyway?

With the availability of text processing tools now available to everyone, book design has become a misunderstood craft. It’s not uncommon for book designers to receive a request to “convert my Word file into a PDF for the printer.” While there are certainly some so-called designers who will do just that, the result will be…um…just like your Word file and nothing like a real book.

Experienced book designers don’t just “click a button” that makes the text automatically snap into final form. We work line by line, word by word, and sometimes letter by letter to achieve optimal spacing between words and letters to maximize reading comprehension and minimize reader distractions.

Here are just a few of the issues book designers attend to during the formatting process to give your book a professional appearance:

The first step in designing the interior of your book is to create a sample chapter. A good book designer doesn’t use a template. We always choose fonts and images that are in keeping with your subject matter to give your book a unique (and appropriate!) look.

Normally, several samples will be developed, because there are multiple ways to design any book. These samples will include subtleties in the use of font styles and sizes that make a book look like a real book, and not a word-processed document. Once these initial concepts are presented, it’s necessary to work back and forth with the author/publisher on this sample until all the details are hammered out. Only then is the rest of the book layed out to match the sample.

Here are just a few of the things book designers attend to during the layout process:

We ensure facing pages end on the same baseline […]

By Michele|February 20th, 2011|Book Interior Design, Finding & Evaluating a Designer|Comments Off

The Parable of the Pumpernickel Baker

Once upon a time, there lived a talented baker named George. Long before dawn each morning, while most people slept, George arrived at his employer’s successful bakery. The boss was demanding and grumpy, always telling George what to bake and when to bake it. “The customer is always right,” the boss said.

George would just shake his head and get back to the work he loved, crafting the tastiest varieties of bread, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, and pot pies that the neighbors had come to expect. Each afternoon, when he left for the day, he said to himself, Someday, I’ll open my own bakery, and I’ll bake whatever I want. He saved his money and waited patiently for that day to arrive.

At long last, the perfect building for George’s bakery became available. It was located on a busy street, near a bus stop, a school, a factory, and many homes. This is wonderful, thought George. I’ll have customers all day long, and maybe during the factory’s night shift, too.

For weeks before the grand opening, everyone in the area eagerly anticipated the breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, and pot pies they’d be able to buy. The factory workers and tired commuters looked forward to a savory, ready-to-eat dinner; the schoolchildren waited for a sweet after-school snack; everyone looked forward to their favorite varieties of breads and rolls.

George was more nervous than he expected, so he played it safe. On grand opening day, customers streamed into George’s bakery, but curiously, the only item for sale was pumpernickel bread. Dozens and dozens of loaves of pumpernickel bread. Nothing else. Oh, well, they thought, it’s only the first day. Maybe tomorrow there will be more breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, […]

By Michele|February 13th, 2011|Book Interior Design, Publishing Business|Comments Off

Self-Publishing for Business Owners: The Wrong Way

Today, like never before, it’s possible for entrepreneurs to promote themselves and their companies with a self-published book, and many are taking full advantage of the opportunity. The trouble is, what they’re doing is not truly SELF-publishing. The industry has been hijacked, and the unhappy result is that many well-meaning, smart and ambitious business owners are walking around with books that don’t begin to meet professional standards.

It’s understandable that people would be misled. A Google search for “self-publishing” returns page after page of companies, some small and some very large, who offer “do-it-yourself” publishing solutions.

Major newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal in this recent article, correctly emphasize the benefits of self-publishing, but instead of writing a balanced article that includes the tried-and-true way to turn a manuscript into a quality book, they focus only on the cheesy companies who encourage people to do exactly the opposite.

It should not be a surprise that professional book publishing takes a team of experts. Book editors, book cover designers, book interior designers and others combine their talents to produce a product that makes a terrific first impression, and then keeps that promise with quality information and easy-to-read text inside. What business owner would want any less than that, when a book is being used as a business card or as an introduction to sell consulting services?

Unfortunately, the self-publishing companies encourage clients to design their own book covers, and upload a Word file for the book’s interior. This may seem like perfectly sensible advice to anyone with a computer, until you compare the results to a “real” book.

Here’s an example of a typical self-published book that came to my attention last week. I never met the author of this […]

By Michele|January 19th, 2011|Book Interior Design|Comments Off

You Can Relax About Your Book Cover Design

I’m starting to get the hang of this social media thing…really.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about cover design.

This morning, my WordPress dashboard revealed that “Ellie”, an author I never met, found the post useful, and she went on to express her own worries about her upcoming book cover. http://theliteraturediary.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/a-designer-for-my-book-cover/ Here’s an excerpt (emphasis added in red):

I know what I want, well I think I do. I know from experience that when I have set an idea in my mind in terms of design it has turned out to be awful. I think for me I never see the complete picture, it is always a little blurry around the edges.
I have looked at past book covers listed within an archive. I have considered the ones that work for me, the ones that jump off the page. For me personally, it is the most simple designs, with plain texts, and bold colour.
So how do I translate that to a designer? I have been in touch with one, we are very much at the preliminary stage. As in, we are arranging to talk soon.
Tell me also, what covers appeal to you? The more feedback I get, the more I can work out in my mind what I want.

These worries, expressed in one form or another, are very familiar to cover designers. Most authors who sign up for our services understand that a book cover is very important. Since book cover design is usually new to them, they often feel stress about the subject, just like Ellie. They want to do what’s right, and they’re not sure what “right” is. From there, their thoughts naturally turn to what they want.

In this post, I’d like to tell Ellie, and […]

By Michele|January 17th, 2011|Uncategorized|Comments Off

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