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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You Write,
Publish & Promote Your Work
THE BOOK COVER: A READER’S
FIRST IMPRESSION OF YOUR BOOK
The old saw, “You can’t tell a book by its cover” just isn’t applicable to our industry. Far too many potential buyers have been turned off by a second-rate cover that didn’t reflect the quality of the content on the inside pages. A book’s title and the graphics on its cover must combine to give the customer a true sense of what he/she will find inside.
Covers have come a long way since their initial function. For many centuries, they served essentially as protectors for the prized words and pages they covered. These hand-bound volumes were wrapped in strong materials like wood and leather. Many times they would be decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.
It wasn’t until the early 18th Century that mechanical book binding techniques came into vogue. And as that technology moved from cloth to paper, graphic representations became essential for book covers. Today in the digital age, the book cover remains equally important in its latest incarnation when wrapped around an e-book.
With or Without Professional Help
Technology has moved swiftly and effectively to meet the demands of publishers and authors. A complete industry has developed that inludes literally thousands of skilled cover designers available for a fee, as well as a number of programs that allow a budget-conscious author to design a cover using ready-made templates.
Many of us in the publishing world are strong advocates of hiring professionals to complete this job because the cover is so vital a tool in the sales of your book. However, there are now hundreds of books self-published in which the author has chosen to use a self-help program like www.bookcoverpro.com. If you click on “self help book cover design templates” in your favorite search engine, you will find many others. I also list several at the end of this column.
Selecting a pro to design your cover requires a good deal of care. Your choice will be a very personal one, and for that reason I hesitate to recommend specific designers. I suggest you start your search by heading to the Internet and search under “book cover designers.” Many names will pop up. Check out that designer’s gallery to view a variety of covers he/she designed, and narrow down your choices. (Two excellent lists of qualified designers appears at the end of this column.)
As your next step, contact the designer and determine whether you feel you two would be compatible. Explain what your book is about, and ask whether he/she has designed covers for similar books. If they are not displayed in the gallery, ask the designer e-mail them to you. In addition, ask for a price on a four-color (I assume you want color) cover for the size you require.
It is difficult to guide you on prices, for they vary greatly among designers. I would suggest that the very lowest price a designer will charge is $200. However, a more realistic range would be from $400 to $600. You will also find designers that charge $1,000 and up, but I feel you can receive a very competent design at the middle range. A good source for budget design is a design school located near you.
The Total Cover
Never overlook the fact that a cover has three very essential segments, each with a specific assignment: front, back and spine. The first portion of the cover to attract the reader is in most cases the spine, unless the shop has decided to display it with its front facing out. It should contain the name of the book, the author and the publisher.
The front, of course, is designed to give the reader an overview of the book’s quality and content, as we discussed earlier. Whenever possible include either a short testimonial from an impressive person or if you have won any competition, reproduce the medal on the cover. Experiments have proved that the reader looks at the front for approximately eight to ten seconds. If pleased or curious, he/she then turns to the back cover for more information.
The back is essentially a selling page. It can include a brief bio of the author and even a photo. It will have a brief précis of the book and several endorsements from respected sources. Of course, the price will also be printed on the back. If the reader is pleased with what he/she finds after spending anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds studying the back, the next step will be to open the book, probably peruse the table of contents and skim through several pages or chapters before deciding whether to purchase or not.
Designing the Cover Yourself
While this subject merits a lengthy discussion, probably a book, I am only going to touch on some of the highlights to be aware of.
Once you have the dimensions from your printer, lay out the entire cover as a single rectangle, and then section it into the components, front, back and spine. Of course, as I pointed out earlier, don’t forget to include the requirements for bleed, usually about 1/8 of an inch. . (That means the additional print surface beyond the actual dimensions of the cover that the printer needs to allow for clean printing of the colors right to the edges of the cover. Your printer will then trim the cover to its exact size.)
Your printer can tell you the size of the spine, which is based on the number of pages and the thickness of the paper stock you use.
Think in terms of the places your book will be sold. A traditional bookstore will probably shelve it spine out. Make certain the colors and typography are highly attractive. However, if your primary outlets will be discount stores, chain pharmacies and possibly airport stores, think in terms of strengthening the front cover, and moving the title up higher because these outlets usually display the book facing out.
It is wise to insist upon a proof of the cover on paper stock. For some reason the color hues and definition that come up on the computer screen are not always the same as on paper. They can be misleading. To achieve the color you want, use at least 300 dpi in all the images you use to achieve the high resolution that will make your cover stand out.
As promised, here are several sources for design templates when you do the work yourself: www.templatescollective.com, www.morrispublishing.com/dsn/cover/custom.asp.
and www.bookcoverpro.com.
While I hesitate, as said, to suggest specific professional cover designers, I can recommend you view www.brennerbooks.com/coverdesigners.html and/or reach out for John Kremer.’s www.bookmarket.com/101des.htm. These lists contain quality designers.
Next week, we’ll delve into the related issue of interior design. Just as the cover design has its functions, so the design of the interior of the book has a job to do, as we’ll learn. Until I see you then,
Keep Writing!
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