Case Study: Designing the Cover for Winging It
How an Alaska bush pilot’s memoir went from a basic spiral-bound cover to a dynamic design featuring an enlarged Cessna, Alaskan landscape, and metallic 3D typography.
Sucker Punch
An episode of the Antiques Roadshow Detours podcast made me think about deceptive pulp magazine covers—and what today's authors can learn from them. A great book cover should do more than attract attention. It should make an honest promise to readers.
Case Study: Better Safe Than Sorry?
How do you know when a book cover concept isn't working? In this case study, I share the design journey behind Better Safe Than Sorry? by Dean Klinkenberg—from an initial bridge photograph to a cover featuring a slow boat in Laos. Along the way, we explored illustration, typography, and thumbnail visibility to create a cover that captured the spirit of the book.
Collaborating with a Book Coach
When book coach Jo Lena Johnson asked me to design a cover for a menopause book, the creative brief included an unusual challenge: incorporate 67 menopause symptoms into the artwork. Through collaboration, exploration, and a change in direction, the project evolved into a cover that was both informative and visually engaging.
Before Your Book Designer Starts: Decisions Every Author Must Make
Before a book designer can create your cover and interior, several important publishing decisions must be made. Learn how trim size, paper stock, formats, page count, and distribution choices affect your book's design, production, and overall project scope.
Choosing the Future and Choosing the Right Category
Designing Choosing the Future raised an unusual publishing question: should a business novel be categorized as fiction or business? This case study explores book positioning, KDP categories, subtitle refinement, and balancing professional credibility with storytelling.
Case study: designing the cover for What’ll We Do with All the Churches?
A behind-the-scenes look at how I designed the book cover for Steve Perron's memoir — from the first conversation to the final layout. Includes comp research, stock image searching, typography choices, and what the author had to say about the process.
Why Your Book Backlist Matters
Backlist titles are often overlooked until something breaks—an account disappears, a platform changes, or books quietly go out of print. The good news is that a backlist can be revived, refreshed, and even re-energized with thoughtful updates to files, metadata, descriptions, categories, and keywords.
Case Study: Redesigning a Photographer’s Book Cover
To gain perspective, I created a PDF showing all four covers and shared it with friends and colleagues. Over lunch with two retired friends, both immediately favored the fourth option—San Pablo Pier—describing it as more distinctive and visually interesting than typical photography book covers.
What Is Metadata for a Book?
Metadata is a must for every author. Because the publishing industry evolves constantly, authors should revisit and update their metadata regularly—especially the book description, keywords, and categories. Even small updates can improve visibility and boost sales.
A New Author with No Marketing Plan
New authors should start developing a marketing plan early—some experts recommend doing so before writing the book. In Tara’s case, she knows her target audience and genre, but now she needs to take consistent action.
A Tribute to My Friend, Bobbi Linkemer
I first met Bobbi Linkemer around 2008 at a St. Louis Publishers Association (SLPA) meeting. Not long after, she invited me to meet with her—one of her author clients needed a book designer. That project had its share of blunders (I was still a newbie in the book design world), but it also marked the beginning of a friendship ...
Designing Singing the Gospel: Finding the Right Image
Designing Singing the Gospel meant capturing the energy and spirit of gospel music in a single image. After striking out on traditional stock photo sites, I turned to Creative Commons and discovered a powerful image of the Howard Gospel Choir that brought the cover to life. With a glowing background, curved typography, and thoughtful layout, the final design truly sings.
Assignment: Children’s Book Design — Mulligan Goes to Mars
Go behind the scenes of designing Mulligan Goes to Mars, a children’s book brought to life through thoughtful cover design, typography, and collaboration between author, illustrator, and designer.
Museum Guidebook Covers in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is famous for their art museums. We had a guided tour of the Rijksmuseum (the national museum). After the tour, we wandered through the rooms and enjoyed viewing Dutch artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, van Gogh and many more paintings.
Clean Up the Manuscript: Whose Job Is It?
Who’s responsible for cleaning up a messy manuscript—the author, editor, or designer? After working on two poorly formatted books, I share what went wrong, what worked, and why using Word styles can save hours in the design process.
Coaching a Friend: Jeanette’s Self-Publishing Journey
What does it really take to help a first-time author self-publish a niche book? From fixing awkward layouts to strengthening cover design and maximizing those final pages, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at coaching a friend through the process.
Opening Accounts and Imprint Names
If you’re self-publishing your book, you’ll need to create accounts with online companies such as IngramSpark, KDP, or others. Additionally, you might choose to buy your own ISBNs from Bowker (MyIdentifiers.com). Properly managing these accounts and ensuring consistent information is crucial to avoid potential headaches down the line.
Case Study: An AI Cover Illustration
A behind-the-scenes look at how an AI-generated book cover moved from concept to print—revealing common pitfalls with resolution, sizing, and production.
Get it in Writing: Avoiding Surprises When Hiring a Book Designer
Before hiring a book designer, get everything in writing. Clear estimates and defined scope prevent costly surprises and keep your publishing project on track.