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Tips for Designing Award Winning Book Covers

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

April 2009 Issue

A note to my Graphics Image Builder ezine readers: Below my exciting news is some valuable information on how to create dynamic book covers that will attract book buyers.

The MacGraphics Team Produces a Lucky 7 CIPA EVVY Book Awards for Our Clients!


Happy faces from left to right are editor Joyce Miller, editor Melanie Mulhall, author Eric Jensen, myself, graphic designer Kerrie Lian and publisher Mary Anne Harvey.

The MacGraphics book design team produced 7 EVVY awards and one Tech award at the 15th annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) EVVY Book Awards Banquet held Saturday March 28th. The star of the night was my good friend and gifted graphic designer Kerrie Lian. She won a 2nd place Tech award for her compelling book cover design for Tears of a Warrior written by my clients Tony and Janet Seahorn. She also designed the interior of the book. Shown below are myself and Kerrie.


Tears of a Warrior also won a 1st place EVVY Award (overall book design, writing, editing and production) in the Non-Fiction/Experiences category. Tony and Janet had a previously scheduled engagement and were not able to attend the event but they were both very honored to receive the award. My friend and colleague, Karen Reddick did a fantastic job editing the book and Mary Walewski is helping the Seahorn’s market their book.


My client Eric Jensen took home two EVVY awards for his book, Forever and a Day. He won 1st place in the History category and 2nd place in Memoirs. Kerrie’s fabulous cover and interior design was very much a part of those wins. Joyce Miller did a great job editing the book.


Shown above are myself, Eric and Kerrie. Shown below is Eric’s book cover.


Kerrie also designed the cover and interior of But I Don’t Want Eldercare! written by Terry Lynch and published by my client The Legal Center. Mary Anne Harvey of The Legal Center graciously accepted two EVVYs for the book: 2nd place in the Diet/Health/Fitness category and 3rd place in the Parenting/Family category.


Shown above are myself, Mary Anne and Kerrie. Shown below is Terry’s cover.


My client Jim Keelan won a 3rd place EVVY for his book, How to Maintain Your Sanity in an Upside-Down World. My good friend and colleague Melanie Mulhall did an excellent job editing his book and accepted the award on behalf of Jim who wasn’t able to attend the banquet. Kerrie Lian had a hand in this book too. She designed the cover using Fred Eyer’s clever and whimsical illustration. Ronnie Moore designed the book interior. Shown below is Jim’s book cover.


My client Dom Testa won his third EVVY. He took home a 1st place in the Juvenile category for Galahad III: The Cassini Code. This is the third book in his Galahad series to win an EVVY. It was a pleasure to design all three of his covers using David Hardy’s fabulous paintings. Dom mentioned that his Galahad series may be optioned for a movie pilot. How very exciting!


I thoroughly enjoyed working with such a talented group of professionals this year, and I’m excited to create much more collaboration in 2009. Way to go team! Congratulations to all of you.

Tips for Designing Award Winning
Book Covers

Keep in mind these elements when designing covers and interiors for your books, big and small.

Front Cover
The front cover presents your book title, subtitle, and your name. Golden opportunities often overlooked are including endorsements and short testimonials from VIPs.

I recommend using bold, contrasting lettering on the front cover. When choosing colors, consider how these colors will look when converted to black and white so your cover will reproduce well in black and white ads, catalogs, and flyers. Also make sure the font you use for the title is legible from a distance and appropriate for the book’s subject.

Covers that scream “amateur” and have a “made-at-home look” make it difficult to sell your book at all. That’s why it is best to seek the services of an experienced book cover designer. A designer has the creativity, skills, software, access to stock photography, and printing knowledge that will make your cover stand out above others in the marketplace.

Spine
Your name, book title, and publishing company logo show up on the spine. Make sure the information on the spine is clean, uncluttered, and legible. I recommend using bold, contrasting lettering on the spine as well.

Back Cover
Place the category name in the upper left-hand corner to help bookstores shelve your book properly. Write a headline that clearly addresses who should buy the book. It should be followed by sales copy explaining what the book is about and bulleted items listing the benefits to readers.

I recommend including no more than three testimonials and endorsements, as well as your bio and photograph. Close to the bottom, put “sales-closer” copy in bold print. Position the price in the lower left corner of the back cover. Also include the 13-digit ISBN number for cataloging and the bar code in the lower right corner (below ISBN number), which stores use for scanning information and price.

Don’t forget to include credits for your book cover’s illustrator, photographer, and/or designer.

Paper Stock for Book Covers
The standard perfect bound book cover (soft cover) is 10 pt C1S (coated one side). Curl-free film laminate that comes in gloss or matte finish will protect the ink on the cover. UV (ultra violet), aqueous, and varnish can also be used to protect the cover but are not as durable as lamination. Dust jackets are usually printed on an 80# or 100# C1S. In a casebound book (hard cover), the boards can be covered with a B grade cloth, leather, or paper and foil stamped. “Litho” (hard cover) books usually have an 80# C1S Litho paper laminated to a .88 pt. board.

Remember, book cover design is a form of packaging—and good packaging attracts buyers to products. That’s why successful organizations spend millions researching and developing the best product packaging possible.

Next month I’ll share my insights on how to design professional book interiors.

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What if YOU could know more secrets from an award-winning graphic designer that would help you create amazing marketing materials in a few hours, would you want to know how? Find out now at www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

Karen Saunders is the author of Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools! Hundreds of business owners have used her simple do-it-yourself design system to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! To learn about this indispensable book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

P.S. See that envelope icon below this posting? If you click on the envelope you can email this posting to a friend.

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Posted in Book Covers, Color, images | No Comments »

How to Select Harmonious Colors

Friday, February 27th, 2009


March 2009 Issue

How to Select Harmonious Colors

You experience harmonious colors in many areas of life: clothing, architecture, interior design, jewelry, gardening, as well as advertising, marketing, and corporate identity.

It becomes easy to select harmonious colors if you follow a proven color theory system. The steps below will show you how to create well-planned color schemes based on the “Bourges color circle” system. Albert Bourges based his color theory on a circle of 20 hues.

Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are exact opposites that enhance one another. When you blend the two together, you get neutral black. When used together, they both appear brighter and more exciting. To find complementary colors, just draw a line through the circle from a hue on one side to the hue on the exact opposite side of the circle. (Refer to the diagram below.)

M. E. Chevreul discovered that complementary colors create an unusual optical illusion. Stare at a color for several seconds, then shut your eyes. Open them, and look at a white sheet of paper. Immediately an image of the color’s complement will appear!

Split Complements
If you would like a palette of three colors, first find the true complement of your chosen color; then move one, two or three more spaces away on either side. A split complementary color scheme is usually more pleasing than a true complementary scheme. (Refer to the diagram below.)

Four Color Harmony
To create a color scheme consisting of four colors, first select a color and its complement, then draw a perpendicular line across the circle so that your lines resemble a cross. (Refer to the diagram below.)

This will create a balanced palette of two sets of complements and two related pairs of colors.

Select one of these four hues as your main theme color, then use a small amount of the other three hues to enhance it. You may include darker or lighter shades of these four colors for more variety.

For more information about the Bourges color circle and the science of color, see Color Bytes by Jean Bourges.

What if YOU could know more secrets from an award-winning graphic designer that would help you create amazing marketing materials in a few hours, would you want to know how? Find out now at www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

Karen Saunders is the author of Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools! Hundreds of business owners have used her simple do-it-yourself design system to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! To learn about this indispensable book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

P.S. See that envelope icon below this posting? If you click on the envelope you can email this posting to a friend.

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Posted in Color, Marketing Materials | No Comments »

10 Easy Ways to Make your Flyer Stand Out in the Crowd

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009


February 2009 Issue

10 Easy Ways to Make your Flyer Stand Out in the Crowd

A flyer is an inexpensive and highly effective way to grab attention in a very busy marketplace. How do you make your flyer stand out in the crowd? Here are some techniques that professional designers use to make flyers “pop.”

1. Write a snappy headline or title.

Make it memorable, unusual or provocative using a few carefully chosen powerful words. Popular titles contain one or more of these words: Easy, The Secrets to, Unlock, Finally, Insider, Time Sensitive, How to, Free Bonuses, Now You Can, Discover, Proven.

2. Use colorful or striking graphics.

One large image will have more impact than many smaller images. This image will be your “focal point.” A stunning photo or illustration grabs attention, creates a mood, and supports your story. It will draw your readers in. You can purchase inexpensive but quality stock photos on the Internet. Download individual photos or purchase a CD with hundreds of images.


3. Focus on the benefits of your product or service.

Your prospects will ask the question, “What’s in it for me?” Write from the their perspective using the words “you” and “your.” Avoid using the following words: we, us, I and our. Be sure to keep your text short and to the point. Some of the most powerful words to use are: free, save, love, new, results, and guarantee. Break up long paragraphs with bullet points and place them in a separate box.

4. Use compelling testimonials and case studies.

Be sure to include the first and last name, company name and location of the person providing the endorsement.

5. Organize your page with boxes, borders and areas of contrasting colors.

You don’t need to fill your flyer with wall-to-wall text and graphics. Incorporate some white space to make certain elements stand out and to make the flyer easy to read.

6. Make your points easily identifiable.

Highlight titles and subtitles in bold, but avoid using ALL CAPS as they are more difficult to read.

7. Don’t get too complicated.

Make it simple with two typefaces, and align items to a grid. Your page layout program will provide non-printing guidelines. Use the “snap to guidelines” function to align items easily to the grid. Be aware of printing margins. I suggest you create your layout with 1/2″ margins on all sides, or add 1/8″ for bleeds on items that print off the edge of the page.

8. Don’t forget to proofread.

Have someone else proofread your work. Check your contact information. Dial the phone numbers on the flyer to make sure they are correct, and type in the URL of your website to make sure it is correct, too.

9. If you are on a tight budget, try this.

Select bright-colored or unique paper, and print with black ink. Use shades of grey to provide tones and contrasting background areas.

10. Offer a discount or special limited-time price.

Design a coupon on the bottom quarter of the flyer. Be sure to clearly state the deadlines and limitations of the offer. If it is a mail-in coupon, be sure to include the payment specifications with areas for filling out credit card information, mailing address, etc.

You don’t need to re-invent the wheel when creating your flyer. Use these proven techniques and you will see big results in your marketing efforts. What if YOU could know the secrets of a 1st class graphic designer that would help you create amazing marketing materials in a few hours, would you want to know how? Find out now at www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

Karen Saunders is the author of Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools! Hundreds of business owners have used her simple do-it-yourself design system to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! To learn about this indispensable book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

P.S. See that envelope icon below this posting? If you click on the envelope you can email this posting to a friend.

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Posted in Color, Endorsements, Graphic Design, flyer, headlines, images | No Comments »

5-Step Workflow for Designing and Producing Your Printed Piece

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007


January 2008 Issue
5-Step Workflow for Designing and Producing Your Printed Piece

You’re ready to begin—or think you are. You can make the design process go smoothly by following these five steps. Whether you do it all yourself or hire professional help, your project will go through these five stages.

Step 1 — Organize, Plan, Budget
First, set the budget and deadline for your project. Your budget includes all or some of the following: writing, designing, editing, proofreading, illustrations, photography or stock imagery, choosing the right paper, printing, folding, binding, labeling, and distributing.

Everything that goes into making the printed piece comes under the term “production.” To determine various production deadlines, start with the date you want customers to receive your piece and work backward. Leave enough time for the elements noted above. Set deadlines for completing each of these functions.

Step 2 — Concept, Design, Text and Images
Clearly identify your target audience and determine what you want to achieve with your printed piece (e.g., increase your marketing exposure, establish your corporate identity, launch an advertising campaign, etc.).

Outline a “design brief” that clarifies your concepts, goals, and budget for the project. This will help you (or your designer) tailor the design, typography, graphics, and color to your targeted audience. Thinking through these elements of the concept early will also help you stay within your budget. Do black and white “thumbnail” sketches by hand (which are small—about 2” x 2” drawings) of your ideas on paper.

Prepare your text in a word processing program or hire a writer to compose text and headlines to fit the space you need. It’s best to collaborate closely with the writer at this “brainstorming” stage to develop a theme and determine the right amount of text and graphics needed. If you write the copy yourself, I highly recommend
hiring an editor to perfect the language and ensure it’s easy to understand.

Use professional drawing programs such as Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand to do your graphics. Then, use photo-editing software such as Adobe Elements or Adobe Photoshop to touch up and crop your scans and photos. Determine what file formats and resolution your graphics and scans should be to produce this project. Don’t hesitate to consult with a designer or printer to get this right!

Step 3 — Page Layout
Once you select a general direction for your project, use a professional page layout program such as Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress to design your color “comps.” This means compiling the text and graphics into one document.

I recommend you use “grids” to help with the positioning and alignment of text and graphics. These are nonprinting guidelines that make it easy to lay out your document in an organized fashion. Then print your comps as laser prints or low-resolution color PDFs. If you have a multiple page project such as a newsletter, you should design style sheets for reoccurring type treatments. (Setting up style sheets lets you automatically format your text, subheads, headlines, etc.) Using style sheets saves a lot of time throughout the production process. You can have a professional designer set them up for you.

Step 4 — Editing and Proofing
Proofread, proofread, proofread! Hire an editor and/or proofreader for assurance that written mistakes on the piece get noticed and fixed. Be sure to dial all the phone and fax numbers printed on your layout and go to all the websites to confirm that the stated website locations are correct. At the same time, make sure your design aligns well with the words, that the correct captions appear under the illustrations and photographs, and so on.

At this stage, it is best to output high-resolution digital color proofs so you can see a close color reproduction of your piece. Alternatively, you could proofread the pages from a set of black and white or color laser prints. Be sure to review the entire layout before you prepare the files for the printer.

Step 5 — Pre-Press, Approvals, and Printing
Perform a pre-flight checklist (this is a list of specifications you must follow so that your document will print properly), or convert your file to the PDF format to ensure that all graphics and fonts are included in the files sent to the printer. Beware: Skipping this step can lead to delays at the printing stage.

Some printers require a completed “file prep form” to ensure files are submitted properly. For traditionally printed color pieces, the printer may prepare a “matchprint” color proof. Alternatively, your printer may give you digital color proof or black and white proof prints. It’s important to carefully review these proofs for accuracy in matching the colors before printing.

For traditionally printed one or two color jobs, you’ll review blueline proofs, which are contact prints of the film negatives. Made of light-sensitive, off-white material, bluelines show your layout printed in light-blue and medium-blue colors. From these bluelines, you can read the type and distinguish the color breaks (division of colors). Pay careful attention to these bluelines. This is your last opportunity to review your piece before it gets printed. Remember, any changes made at this point are very costly. Please note, most printers are discontinuing matchprints and bluelines, and are now exclusively using digital proofs or “soft” proofs (a pdf file sent to your computer).

Once you sign off on these proofs, you may want to do a press check, which takes place at your printer’s facility while your project runs on the press. At this stage, you verify that the colors and other details are correct before the entire quantity is printed. During the press check process, you get a preview of your finished piece and come away with a sample hot off the press!

Karen Saunders is the owner of MacGraphics Services, a unique design firm for today’s entrepreneur. Whether you outsource your promotional pieces or are a do-it-yourselfer, Karen takes the mystery out of marketing. Learn the Top 5 Mistakes that can cost you money by signing up for her FREE e-course, available for a limited time. To take advantage of this e-course and find out how easy it can be to attract more clients, click here: www.macgraphics.net/FreeStuff.php. You can also contact her at 888-796-7300, or karen@macgraphics.net

————————

Visit my website to see portfolio samples of book covers, brochures, logos, ads and speaker one-sheet designs: www.MacGraphics.net

If you enjoyed reading my ezine and posts, you will LOVE my ebook, Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools! This organized guidebook has short chapters, over 200 hyperlinks and full-color graphic examples. Hundreds of business owners have used my simple do-it-yourself reference guide to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! To learn how you can get this indispensable book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

But wait, there’s more . . .

To sign up for FREE audio classes, articles or an eCourse on design and marketing tips click here:www.macgraphics.net

P.S. See that envelope icon below this posting? If you click on the envelope you can email this posting to a friend.

Tags:
Posted in Color, Graphic Design, editing, page layout, proofreading skills | No Comments »

Design a Book Cover that Flies Off the Shelf!

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007


November 2007 Issue
Design a Book Cover that Flies Off the Shelf!

Last month I revealed layout secrets from typesetters of best selling books. A professional book interior layout is just one ingredient in a recipe for designing a book that grabs attention and sells. Another ingredient is an eye-catching cover. Here are some things to consider before designing your next cover.

A book cover is like your bait. You have four ways to get consumers to bite, which are the front cover, back cover, spine, and possibly inside flaps. E-books are changing the face of book sales a bit, which makes it even more important to have a powerful book cover. If it looks good in the thumbnail on a web page, it will look great enlarged.

Front Cover
On the front cover you have your title, subtitle, and your name. Pretty basic, right? OK, so what if you add an endorsement or a short testimonial from a VIP? Now your cover is working for you. The whole design should give people, at a glance, a sign of what’s inside.

All of your graphics should be bold and colorful, but uncluttered. Simple is better. You also want to make sure the colors you choose are going to convert well to black and white. That way you know your cover will still look good in black and white ads, catalogs, and flyers. Here are a few recent covers I’ve designed:

Spine
This one’s for the library, folks. Put your name, title and publishing company logo. Again, bold, contrasting colors will show up well. Use a clean font that is uncluttered and legible.

Back Cover
Help the bookstore out by putting a category name in the upper left corner of your book so they know where to shelve it. Now you do a little sales. You need a great headline, addressing who should buy the book. Then some sales copy, telling readers what the book is about. Finally, a bullet list of benefits.

Testimonials are great, and can sell the book for you. Keep it to no more than three, though. And don’t forget your picture! Readers love to see who’s talking to them. Credit for your book cover’s illustrator, photographer and/or designer should also be included here.

Then you give them the “bottom line,” a line of sales copy close to the bottom that closes the sale, so to speak. Position the price in the lower left corner and the 13-digit ISBN number in the lower right hand corner, and your back cover is complete!

Inside Flaps
If your book has inside flaps to work with, you have even more room for sales copy. You can also do a short “teaser,” giving readers a small taste of what they’ll find inside – just enough to whet the appetite. Now you put your photo and bio in, and give people the chance to get to know the author.

It’s all about presentation, and your book needs more than just a pretty package. Make your book cover design as powerful as what’s inside, and you have a winning combination!

Karen Saunders is the owner of MacGraphics Services, a unique design firm for today’s entrepreneur. Whether you outsource your promotional pieces or are a do-it-yourselfer, Karen takes the mystery out of marketing. Learn the Top 5 Mistakes that can cost you money by signing up for her FREE e-course, available for a limited time. To take advantage of this e-course and find out how easy it can be to attract more clients, click here: www./macgraphics.net/FreeStuff.php. You can also contact her at 888-796-7300, or karen@macgraphics.net

————————

Visit my website to see portfolio samples of book covers, brochures, logos, ads and speaker one-sheet designs: www.MacGraphics.net

If you enjoyed reading my ezine and posts, you will LOVE my ebook, Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools! This organized guidebook has short chapters, over 200 hyperlinks and full-color graphic examples. Hundreds of business owners have used my simple do-it-yourself reference guide to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! To learn how you can get this indispensable book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com

But wait, there’s more . . .

To sign up for FREE audio classes, articles or an eCourse on design and marketing tips click here:www.macgraphics.net

P.S. See that envelope icon below this posting? If you click on the envelope you can email this posting to a friend.

Tags:
Posted in Book Covers, Color, Graphic Design, testimonials | No Comments »

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