Exterior Book Design

Design and layout (production) are two separate processes. We refer to the processes as exterior (Design) and Interior (Layout) book design. During the exterior design phase, we consult with you to understand your desires for the appearance and concept of the cover. We then to refine those desires into a mock-up design. After approval and testing, our final step is to create the book cover template.

Many companies will charge a flat fee (usually a large amount) for three or more concepts. However, it is our belief that one concept is enough. Spending more time during the first two steps will ensure that the best idea is the one we use. This saves money and time.
The prices for book cover design prices are listed below

• $500 for a simple concept
• $700 for a complex concept
• $900+ for a difficult concept

The prices include:

• consultation and conceptualization
• type and color selection
• artwork (images, textures, etc.)
• photography (film or digital)
• two reasonable revisions to the concept
• final template on cd rom

What makes a good cover?

Your cover must reflect the central purpose of your book in a compelling and visually appealing manner. It must display your book so that it stands out from others in a bookstore or retail shelf. It must have the look of a quality, professional work.

At Dynemar we start the cover design process by asking you a lot of questions:

• Do you have an illustration or photo you'd like to include on the cover?
• Are there any colors that you especially like or dislike?
• What is the general tone or mood of your book?

We like to hear your suggestions and are especially pleased when you have a photo or basic idea about how you think the cover should look. Sometimes authors will send us a book with a cover they especially like. Of course, we can't copy the design of another book, but we can derive ideas for color combinations, text treatment and other elements from published work.

In a bookstore, study the covers of books written for approximately the same audience as your book. If you see a color combination or just a "look and feel" of a book you really like, buy it and share it with your book cover artist. Don't try to copy another book's design. It just won't fit. However, a design for another book can give you ideas for your own book.

Cover colors and other enhancements
Suggest colors that you think convey the mood you want to depict, but listen to your cover artist, who has special training in choosing just the right combination of colors. In general, reds and yellows are action colors, blues and greens are intellectual colors, browns and burgundies are comforting colors, and so on. The most powerful color is white. The second most powerful color is black. Solid dark colors tend to pick up fingerprints and dust. A solid white cover may also soil easily. Coatings can protect covers with large areas of a single color from being easily marred. Two-color covers can be striking, but a full-color cover will not add more than a few cents per book to your total cost. For the extra impact a full-color cover makes, they are almost always worth every penny. Other enhancements such as embossing, gold foil, and cutouts can add to the cover appeal of your book--and to the production price. Ask for prices before you decide on these features.

Cover Illustration

The visual appeal of your book is greatly enhanced by a carefully chosen illustration for your cover. We ask for one or more drawings, symbols, or photos to start the creative process. You will also see highly successful book covers with no illustrations at all. Look again. The patterns, colors, and shapes of the letters themselves are carefully designed to invite the reader in.

The changing role of the back cover
Not long ago the recipe for the back cover was straightforward: title and illustration repeated from the front cover, testimonials from people who recommend the book, the author's photo with perhaps a brief introduction, and the bar code.

Today the back cover of best-selling quality paperback books may display a single body of book-selling text or a single graphic element. Testimonials are still popular, but benefits offered by the book often take center stage. The author's photo is not always placed on the back cover, and "about the author" information even less often. The fundamental change in back cover design is that today's back covers focus exclusively on selling the book.

Publishing experts tell us that a book spends at least 25 percent of its life on its face, back side up. A person choosing a book from a display rack will spend roughly 40 percent of the evaluation time looking at the back cover. We urge self-publishing authors to use back cover space above all to display the benefits the book offers.

The spine says it all
During your book's lifetime in a bookstore, it will present itself to the prospective buyer by the spine alone. Very few books are given "face out" display. After purchase, your book's life on a bookshelf will show the spine almost exclusively.

Books with fewer than 64 pages are too thin (unless heavier paper is used to "bulk" up the thickness) to support a spine. Instead, small books are saddle-stitched (stapled) or spiral bound. Many bookstore managers do not consider a stapled book to be a "real" book. A library may classify a stapled book as a "pamphlet" or "brochure."

Your cover designer will include the spine in the artwork for your cover. A good designer will sure that the tiny bit of space available on your book's spine is being used to maximum advantage. As a rule of thumb, the main title, author's name, and publishing firm appear on the spine. Even better if art from the cover can be repeated or continued on the spine. Insist on a title that is readable from 5 to 10 feet away. Reverse type (white on a color), italics, and fancy lettering may only end up making the spine harder to read.