How to Write a Good Cover Design Brief
The benefit of a good cover design is that it has the potential to turn a curious or potential buyer into a purchaser. For the author, a striking book cover is the most powerful marketing tool which can mean the difference between the success or failure of a book.
Approaching a designer
When considering having a cover design created by a professional graphic artist the author must have a clear idea of what would be the ideal finished product. However, that is not to say that the designer's flair should be constrained. By paying for expertise in graphic design, a certain amount of freedom is granted to the artist to be 'creative'. Constant communication throughout the design process will mean that feedback can be exchanged which should allow for the author to receive a finished cover design that will be fit for purpose and not merely what the designer wanted to produce.
It should be remembered that the role of a 'brief' should be to provide succinct instructions while allowing the designer the freedom to be creative. A creative brief will provide a useful framework in which the designer can work within margins without having creativity compromised. The author should provide guidance only, regular and honest feedback will be the secret to developing a successful cover design. The author must make clear to the designer any information regarding items which 'must' appear in the design.
For the designer to be able to use his creative skills to the full it will be necessary for the author to provide a precis or synopsis of the contents of the book to allow the designer to 'get a feel' for the content and style of the work. The genre and target audience should be discussed to enable the designer to select the correct styles and fonts for the cover. The demographic, gender and age of the target audience should be made clear. If the book is part of a series, the author should provide details of fonts, colour schemes and any famous logos as part of branding already in use. Precise details of sizes, resolutions and file formats should be provided to the designer to allow for continuity in the finished product.
Dealing with technical issues
Throughout the process of designing the cover, it will be important for the author to remain in contact with the designer. At this stage it will be necessary for the size of the cover to be discussed along with its utilization; will it be used as an e-book cover, for a traditional printed book or both. This information will be necessary as the designer will need to know the dimensions and the amount of space there is to work with.
The wise writer will utilize the designer’s expertise, creativity and experience to produce the most appropriate artwork for the book cover. Try not to be too rigid in requirements and give the designer freedom to work without the author indulging in micro-management of the project. There are various colors and fonts which will appeal to the different reader groups and genres. Give any information concerning specifying colors or any preferred fonts. These elements will set the tone of the cover and should reflect the content of the work as close as possible. Constant communication between author and designer can build trust and bring about high-quality results.
By looking at other, similar books already published it will be possible to understand what colour schemes, images and fonts are used on the most successful titles. As previously mentioned, a carefully crafted cover can turn potential purchasers into buyers, particularly in the case of e-books, where the cover is the thing that will, hopefully, attract the interest of potential buyers.
Conclusion
When consulting a graphic designer to provide a cover for a book the designer must be given a complete oversight of what the subject matter and content of the book concerns. This would be achieved in an ideal world by the designer reading the complete text, unfortunately, it is generally impractical. The author should therefore provide a synopsis of the text contained in the book to allow the designer to get 'a feel' for the project.
The author and designer must agree on terms regarding consultation during the development of the cover so that any modifications can be made before the project has advanced too far. There must be a very high level of trust between the two parties if the project is to be a total success. When evaluating the progress of the project, the author should be 'firm but fair' in any criticism of the work provided by the designer. Conversely, when the work is considered to be of a high standard and entirely acceptable to the author, praise should be forthcoming and positive feedback given regarding working with the designer.
Providing the designer with an accurate precis of the subject matter, offering support and assistance during the process and allowing the designer to 'do his job' will result in a final cover which will be a huge asset. The promotion and ultimate sales of the book will benefit and it will be a useful addition to the portfolio of the designer. This will be a win-win situation for all concerned.
Author Bio: Kieran Fallon is the owner of a Dublin Graphic Design Agency Éire Graphic Design. We are here to help your organisation become more memorable through designing striking logos, eye-grabbing flyers, posters that pop, exciting animated emails and dynamic lightweight digital advertising campaigns – always backed by flexible and insightful support.
Thoughts on a Year as a Self-Published Author
Independent author Gail Meath writes well-researched historical romances. She has summarised her first year as a self-published author in some detail, with plenty of practical tips and advice, and has kindly allowed us to post her thoughts below.
My First Year Self-Publishing:
All or most of these sites are probably familiar to authors, but my purpose is to share my experiences and, in part, to give great credit to some sites that have either been good promotional sites or simply because their customer service was so outstanding, I wanted to pay tribute to them for helping me in my self-publishing endeavor this past year.
(I compiled the following list from my own experiences during my first year of self-publishing. Everything listed should not in any way be misconstrued as advice, suggestions or any type of guidance to other authors. I am a new author, not a best-seller or veteran, and these are my opinions only.)
Goodreads:
A great place for both readers and authors. Actually, it is an excellent place for authors!!! My definition of this site, “The best place ever where Indy authors come together to help one another.”...through endless groups and discussions. There are also some great author blogs that help you promote your books even more. And, of course, a lot of fantastic readers!!
Thank goodness I found Goodreads even before I started publishing. I won’t go on as most/all authors know about the site, but I can’t believe how everyone has been so wonderfully helpful and I’m so grateful to all!
A couple things to remember:
Groups have Rules! Yes, I shamefully admit that I’m guilty of posting a link where I wasn’t supposed to (oops).
Don’t contact readers directly to promote your book.
Try not to change your book covers too much....you cannot get rid of the old ones!!
Sometimes, scammers infiltrate Goodreads, so beware. There is a ‘flag’ option for inappropriate posts (needed that once the past year).
I’m sure their giveaway promotions are great. The cost has been out of my reach.
AllAuthor.com: Free to upload books
I cannot say enough nice things about AllAuthor.com. First, it is an extremely professional promotional website for authors that includes creating your own marketing mockups of your books: even GIFs, if you’re premium, which is about $40, I think, for four months. Uploading and updating a book is a breeze, the author page is great with tabs for awards, reviews, etc. And free. They have several different promotional packages that are very reasonably priced and worth the cost.
While the site is run by a ‘Team AllAuthor’, I have only had contact with Mady Joshi, Business Development Head. He is fantastic to work with, answers all your questions, sends unique book mockups every week for premium and they have instagram and Facebook accounts that you can join for additional promotion opportunities. He is exceptional. If I were rating these sites, AllAuthor would by far surpass all others.
VoraciousReadersOnly.com: Free Intro/$20 Evergreen Program
This is a great site if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to reach new readers and gather some reviews...if you’re willing to give away books. For me, I limited my book giveaways and received more reviews from their FREE intro offer rather than their $20/month Evergreen program. They send review reminders to readers who receive your book, but during the six-week program, I received very few. Much more during their intro.
But Larry is wonderful to work with. He’s the man behind-the-scenes and he will answer all your questions quickly and personally. I was involved in this when I first started publishing and I was able to compile a nice start-up mailing list. I grew tired of giving books away, but it was a nice place to start
ReaderFavorite.com: Free to upload books and request reviews
I do love this site, too, although I believe that their ‘free’ reviews come few and far between. For $59 you can receive a professional editorial review, which is what I believe they hold out for. They do offer paid promos and contests...one of my books won their 2020 western, so that may explain why I’m partial to them.
But, despite that, I had a book that I worried wasn’t as good as my others and contacted them to see if I could pay for a review and write a message to the reviewer beforehand asking them for a brutally honest review so I could determine whether to publish the book or not. One of their reps instantly contacted me. He understood my dilemma and was willing to ask their top reviewer to look at it, knowing the person would be, well, brutally honest.
To me, he went above and beyond my expectations, so I highly recommend this site to anyone interested in what they have to offer. I don’t believe there is anything better than having internal people/reps who are willing to help authors in any way they can.
Bookbub.com: Free to upload books
Another very professional site and very easy to upload books with a nice author page. They also offer different promotion opportunities, from reasonable to costly. I have two complaints.
To change a book cover, description, etc., you need to send them a note then wait until the change takes place. At least a few days – AllAuthor, it is instant.
Also, I set up a five-day-promotion for one of my books and used their ad template, rather than uploading my own. My promotion began and within less than 6 hours, I received an email from them saying that I should halt my ad and change it as there hadn’t been any ‘clicks’ to it. Huh. I tried uploading my own ad template, but it kept getting rejected. I gave up.
I do know that Bookbub is supposedly a great place to market books. Unfortunately, I am one of the few where it was not.
Amazon KDP/AuthorCentral:
Like Goodreads and Facebook, all/most authors are already using these sites so there isn’t a whole lot more for me to add. I use Kindle Create to upload books to Amazon Kindle and it’s a breeze, including paperback. I had changed some book covers and a month later, I ordered author paperback copies so I could have a copy of the new cover and I received the old cover copy. I contacted them and their rep was so very helpful. They tossed the leftover old cover paperbacks and assured me that only the new ones would be sent in the future. They were great.
I do like Author Central’s new ‘author page’ setup. They’ve been very helpful to me a couple of times. Lately, I keep trying to bold the first line of my book descriptions and once that’s done, their fine for a while, then bold disappears again. I need to contact them about that, but otherwise, I have enjoyed working with them.
Draft2Digital.com/Books2Read.com: Free marketplace for books
Only recently I discovered these sites. They go hand-in-hand...Draft2Digital to upload books, Books2Read to connect to different retailers. It was extremely easy to upload my books and kind of fun to watch all the retailers accumulating.
I did have a little trouble (surprise!) after customizing my UBL (universal link that gives buyers a snapshot of all retailers/costs for your books), I ended up with 2 UBLs each. Their rep was super helpful, corrected the problem, walked me through each step and sent me a cool easy reference page of instructions. I love great customer service people.
I haven’t been on this long enough to say much else, but I was so very impressed by them.
Smashwords.com: Free marketplace for books
I have a few books on this site. Uploading books is easy, until it comes to being approved for the premium version. This was pretty time-consuming and confusing, at least for me. I struggled a ton with the Table of Contents. You can download a huge file of instructions, but I finally contacted them. One of their reps responded and was very helpful...apparently, there were hidden bookmarks in the Table of Contents and I finally, after a great deal of time, was able to fix that.
They have a nice reporting system. And promotional opportunities at a reasonable cost.
Facebook:
Well, this one is universally known, so I cannot add much about it. They do offer reasonable promotions where you determine the cost and choose targe audience. I also belong to several other FB groups that focus on my genre of books and those are great to meet other authors and promote your books to readers.
Pinterest.com: Free to join and post
I use Pinterest for book specials/promos only. You can set the amount you’re willing to spend and choose your target audience. I usually do a $10-20 ad for a few days. I don’t have a huge following there, but I know I have sold several books every time I advertise there.
Alignable.com: Free to join - Local business contacts
I believe this is available nationally, I’m not sure. It is a sort of local business yellow-pages, although you have your own ‘page’ and can earn other business’ recommendations. I’ve been using to connect with people in my area. I’ve made a lot of friends there and I post my book promotions for free under ‘events’. They also offer a paid promo through their weekly newsletter. It’s an additional site that doesn’t consume a lot of time.
RWA.com: Contests & Membership - For Romance Authors Only
I was first introduced to RWA through entering one of my books into their 2020 contest. I was not a member and the cost for me was $35 to enter. After I won for the historical genre, I joined the group. The cost was $124/year (I hated to spend the money, but...I was so thrilled to have won! I received a really cool plaque and supposedly, I will be invited to an awards ceremony in FL next spring.)
This is a huge group and for a more social romance author, it’s probably worth the cost. They do send out a booklet with a lot of great writing information, but it does seem to me as though they spend way more time deciding upon/voting for new admin people, than anything else. And all their conferences, contests, etc., cost additional money rather than being included in the membership fee. Which I kind of resent.
BookSirens.com:
In this site, you request approval of your book before any cost passes to them. All I can say is, they have quickly rejected all my books without any reason or explanation or even an email informing of the rejection. I needed to go back onto the sight to find out, so I gave up on them. Honestly, I would have thought at least one of my books deserved inclusion. But that’s me and obviously not. I would not rule them out until you try!
There are sites like Netgalley ($$ over my budget) and Bookviral (over $200), and several others, that are too expensive for me to even consider their promotions. They are probably super sites for authors, but I cannot afford the cost.
Several ‘smaller’ sites that offer Twitter-only to promote:
I have not had any luck with these, but perhaps other authors have. I didn’t want to post specific sites here, but I have been, shall I say, suckered into paying $20-50 for a few of these in the past with zero return. Again, other authors may have had better luck.
How to Promote Your Book—5 Strategies for Authors
Guest article from Chloe Harris
Books with compelling content are often passed over due to ineffective promotion. Convincing people to read a book is quite different from convincing them to buy clothes, cars, and houses.
We’ve gathered a few useful strategies to promote your book:
Choose a Professional Book Cover
The old saw runs “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But people do judge a book by its cover. A 2017 study revealed that a whopping 52% base their decision on the jacket artwork.
Work with professional book cover designer in conveying the right message, attracting the right audience. Your ideas will be the basis of the design, while the artist manipulates the elements to arrive at a professional, attention-getting result.
Author-designed covers run the risk of potential readers identifying the work as self-published, and therefore passing over it.
Use Social Media Effectively
“As of January 2020, over 3.8 billion people are using social media. This means that by simply introducing your book through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you could stir the interest of many. However, you will have to optimise social media use for this happen.”, said Alistaire Clare, Credit Capital’s business consultant.
Social proof is vital in earning recognition. With an official page, it will be easier for potential readers to find your book. Make sure to include the following:
A high-resolution photo of the book
A photo of yourself with a short biography
A snippet about the book
Some testimonials from those who’ve read your book already
Facebook ads are also useful in reaching specific targets in terms of location, gender, age, and preferences.
Organise an Event in Local Bookstores
Avid book buyers visit local bookstores to hunt for old and new masterpieces. So, make sure not to miss this fanbase. Here are 21 charming bookshops in Australia.
Many local bookstores regularly feature new authors. Often, they also have a relationship with local book clubs that could review your book.
Prepare a good pitch, explaining how the bookstore can benefit from your book.
Ask if you could display promotional banners and posters.
Plan an entertaining presentation
Hold a live Q&A
Sign books for free or hold small contests
If things go well with local bookstores, you might contemplate further events in larger venues.
Reach out to Book Reviewers
It’s essential to gather as many reviews possible, mainly if you’re selling online. Books with more reviews get more visibility. They also create an impression that the content is promising.
Search for book reviewers who are interested in your genre. Ask them to leave an honest review. You might have to send a free copy, but that’s totally worth it, especially if the reviewer has a large following. Here are some great choices:
Aussie Reviews
Booktopia
Ragamuffin Books
Readability Australia
Lost in a Good Book
Goodreads
Also. try sending a letter to Australian Book Review. ABR is an independent, non-profit magazine that publishes book reviews.
Are you an independent author who wants to have a professionally-designed book? Working Type offers design, layout, and print solutions that can transform your manuscript into a best-seller. We also assist in e-book publishing and digital and print promotions. Contact us now for more information!
From the Far East to Fantasy — new cover designs
A few recent cover drafts from Working Type Design, covering the usual range of genres and subject matter.
An Independent Author Talks About Getting Her Book Right and the Process of Designing the Cover
Jacqueline Hodder, author of the fine historical drama “The Sentinel” has some kind words about the cover design process at WorkingType Design, and also some very interesting thoughts overall on the process of bringing out a work of fiction and getting all of the elements right.
Five New Cover Artworks
The usual range of topics, with typefaces ranging from Alternate Gothic to Molde to Bourton Layered and ITC Avant Garde.
David Gaughran is the Bomb
In a world of hucksters and over-promising, David Gaughran stands out for producing material with some integrity and a lot of detail. He produces a great deal of free material (alongside paid information) relating to the effective digital marketing of books — an essential part of book promotion these days, accelerated still further by the covid debacle. His free Starting from Zero course should be an essential starting point for any digital marketing neophyte. He approaches the Amazon borg with curiosity and humour, and demystifies the algorithms that increasingly rule our online lives.
From Lakes Entrance to the Isle of Man
The indefatigable Pat Kelly, author of several engaging historical novels has released Beyond the Seas, available on Amazon and other online booksellers. As usual, she has been promoting her latest book effectively around her hometown (Lakes Entrance) and also much further afield. As a former resident on the Isle of Man, she has used her connections there to organise an article in a Manxian publication. The reference to South Africa is a little astray geographically, but otherwise, a great summary of Pat and her work.
PDF to Word Document conversions
Authors often download Acrobat/PDF files when researching a particular topic, then experience issues in bringing that text into their word processor. Copy and paste is of limited utility, and loses local text formatting such as underlines, bolding, italics and superscripting. Fortunately Adobe (the creators of Acrobat) maintain a free online conversion utility: https://www.adobe.com/au/acrobat/online/pdf-to-word.html
A list of other conversion utilities is maintained at the base of that page.
Tools for Authors to Build Their Own Websites
While a website will not, on its own, drive much traffic for an author, most established authors have a site dedicated to their published books, and establishing the basics of their story. If a potential reader is searching for information about a particular author, it is good for them to have somewhere to go. Independent authors will typically only have a small (or no) budget) for such an undertaking, Fortunately, there are some excellent website building services that do not require their users to code or even know much about the technical side of things. So keep it simple to begin with, maybe even just a single page with links to your Amazon and other listings.
Cover to Cover to Cover
We have been working on the usual variety of book covers, covering everything from world championship athletes to an 18th century convict fleet. We strive for impact, high contrast and uncluttered design.
The Sentinel book cover design
Jacqueline Hodder’s excellent book The Sentinel is out now. She reports satisfaction with the cover design, which was a very interesting task involving lighthouses and persons in period attire. And who doesn’t like working with louring skies and dramatic storm-torn coastlines? Here is the bliurb for Jacqueline’s book:
“Escaping from a disastrous relationship, Kathleen Devine flees to an isolated lighthouse off the Victorian coastline. Taking up the position of Head Teacher to the lighthouse keepers' children, she is ensnared in the lives of those marooned on the lonely outpost and soon realises no-one can escape their past. When the fearsome Head Lightkeeper, Mr Johannsson forms an unlikely friendship with the daughter of one of the keepers, it threatens to destroy their fragile peace. Can Kathleen find the strength to survive and answer the question that haunts them all: what happened to Isabella and why?”
Available here: https://www.amazon.com/Sentinel-Jacqueline-Hodder/dp/0648899403/
What those Weird Little Proofreading Marks Really Mean...
Spotted on the Web…
My personal favourite is “more hypnosis”.
http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2016/10/proofreaders-marks.html
Recent Cover Concepts
A wide range of topics and treatments in our recent cover work, from Vienna to Byron Bay, outback tall tales to environmentally sound tips.
Scripted Response — Three Posters
Noted editor and author Euan Mitchell commissioned three posters for screenplays he entered into American scriptwriting competitions. The above posters are the final drafts. Happily, he has received several awards for his scripts.
Book Cover Designs for August 2020
A variety of recent cover designs carried out during the era of COVID 19. From pirates to Poland, space opera to wheelie bins…
Glenice Whitting shortlisted in Indie Excellence Awards
As the name suggests, the US-based Indie Excellence Awards were instituted to highlight the best examples of independent publishing. Scrolling through their 14th annual shortlist does give one a sense of diverse, high quality work. We are happy to relate that Glenice Whitting’s What Time is it There"? was deservedly shortlisted. We assisted Glenice with the design of her book in 2019. Glenice’s excellent website can be perused here, and includes purchasing information and a thoughtful blog.
Dancing Between the Opposites — Exploring daoist Practices
Craig Mallett’s “Dancing Between the Opposites — A daoist guide to balance and self-cultivation” has just been published and is now available online and directly from Craig. The title is available at Amazon and Book Depository in addition to other outlets. An accompanying page has been set up at the author’s website. WorkingType typeset the title, with excellent illustrations and cover design by Pelin Ko.
“Drawing on his extensive experience across traditions in meditation, Daoism, and other forms of self-cultivation, coupled with his background in Martial Arts and many other forms of physical movement and exercise, Craig Mallett brings his readers a guide that is both practical and spiritual. His approach to the Da Xuan tradition of Daoism will help those interested to engage with its ideas and practice their application. ”
June 2020 new cover designs
A variety of new cover designs dealing with a broad range of subject matter.
