A Book’s First Impression: Finding Quality Book Designers
When it comes to writing a book, the hard work and potential challenges don’t end with that final page. Many authors who are new to self-publishing believe that writing the book is the hard part, and the rest of the process is fairly simple. But this isn’t always the case. The success of your book is certainly dependent on your work, but it’s also dependent on your book design. And book design isn’t just limited to a gorgeous graphic design for your cover. It also entails your layout, your typography, your book layout design, and a number of other elements that may not be immediately obvious. And these are the secrets that quality book designers can help with.
So before you do your final edits, consider what you need to know about creating an exceptional book design that will grab your reader’s attention.
A great book cover design is just the start of the design process. The conventions for book design from the first page to the last have been in place for hundreds of years. And as such, readers expect a book to look a certain way inside and out.
Essentially, there are two components to great book design – the cover and the interior. You want your cover design to attract attention and curiosity in just a couple of seconds as your potential readers likely scan multiple books at once. Plus you want your interior design to be more invisible, and to fall in line with what readers expect when they take a peek inside.
Have you ever put down or passed by a book because you took a look inside and was concerned it may be difficult to read? Maybe the font was much too small, or the typography was off-putting. Maybe the text stretched all the way to the borders of the page. Or perhaps the leading (the distance between each line of text) made it difficult to follow the story from one line to the next.
Whatever the reason, your readers may pass it by.
There are other elements to consider besides the basic typography, too.
For example:
All of these questions and decisions can leave newly published authors reeling, and can make the process harder than it has to be. And this is all in addition to finding the perfect cover that sums up your entire story in one striking graphic design!
So how do you ensure your book design exceeds expectations? Find help from the right book designer
You want to author a book and share your story. However, you may not know the ins and outs of book design layouts and graphic design, and that’s perfectly OK!
You don’t have to be an expert on all aspects of the publishing industry to create an exceptional book design. You just need to know how to find and utilize all the resources at your disposal.
So leave behind the heavy lifting of book design. Make your mark on the literary world by trying any or all of these tips for an exceptional book layout from cover to cover.
The internet is filled with freelance graphic designers who are familiar with how to create a great-looking book. They have an in-depth knowledge of the tools that are required for an exceptional design.
Conduct an online search for “book designer” and chances are that you’ll encounter thousands and thousands of results in all price ranges and experience levels.
By partnering with a freelance graphic designer, you can provide your notes and vision, and let your designer do all the rest. Just make sure that the freelance designer you partner with has experience on all elements of book design, and not just the cover – you want the inside of your book to be just as appealing as the outside.
Traditional publishing houses will handle all of the work for creating the design of your book, without you having to lift a finger.
The only drawback is that it can be hard to break into this literary world without a literary agent or an established connection with a publisher, and you may not have much say on how your final design comes out.
A partner publisher is the perfect medium between going-it-alone and using a traditional publisher, and it’s accessible for all publishing authors – even those who have never authored a book before!
Essentially, a partner publisher will:
The best part is that you have a say in how your book looks and reads from start to finish, and you’ll get to keep the income generated from the ensuing book sales – no royalties required!
With years of experience in the publishing industry, I know firsthand how tough it can be for new authors to wade through all the questions that pop up during the writing process, and that includes those first steps entering into the publishing industry.
Crafting a great book is more than just exceptional writing, and your book design is crucial for grabbing attention. Explore your options and enlist a little expertise help, and you’ll find that creating an exceptional book design may be easier than you think.
Do you prefer in-person training and collaboration to learn how to author, publish and market a book? And in fact, it’s the very reason I created Book Bound! I wanted to help aspiring authors find their voice and their purpose and share their story!
Schedule your visit to meet us in Dallas, TX in June 2020 for the Book Bound Workshop. You’ll learn everything you need to become a published author, plus make a new network of authors for ongoing support!
Join the June Book Bound Workshop here. I look forward to seeing you there!