They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I’m sure I could show a bunch of covers that I think are terrific (see a few below). They would each have just the right “something” that makes them accomplish their goals in sensibility, reach and sales.

What it really takes to create an award winning, high selling, pull it from the shelf, (or web page) cover.

This can only be achieved by a professionally-trained graphic designer who has a complete understanding of this particular art.  Conceptualizing a way to convey just a hint of what the reader will discover once they read the entire text. The cover cannot give away the answer or conclusion, only entice someone to pick it up, look it over, feel the paper, admire the images, and be convinced they want it.

These are just some of the questions to be answered before beginning.

• Has the designer read the manuscript? The cover and interior must have the look and feel necessary to be synergistic with the actual content. Every author has their own style and flair, so portraying that graphically or in artwork can only be done through insight.
• Does the author have an established brand and previously published books? Are there any graphics, logos or color palette issues that need to be addressed or included? Does the author have certain preferences already established? For example, maybe he/she only likes full bleed imagery.
• Is this the first in a series or is it a stand alone book?
• What other books have been done on this topic and were they done well or badly. They must be looked at and evaluated.
• Is there a following for the topic and who is the target market trying to be reached?

There are all types of designers and illustrators with different styles and it’s always best to match the artist with the right content. If a book was a lighthearted comedy you wouldn’t get a cover artist who was dark and serious. That wouldn’t fit. If the book was a war history non fiction you wouldn’t put a cartoon on the cover. (I hope.) For many years I was an art director in publishing and it was a joy creating the lists of books I was given. The non fiction and novel manuscripts had to be read and then assigned to the particular artists who I visualized as the perfect match to create that perfectly aligned, award winning piece.

Great book cover design comes from combining learned skills, marketing techniques and putting oneself in the shoes of the customer. At the same time, pleasing the publisher, editor-in-chief, book editor, marketing director, sales director, and most especially, the author.

Today, we have even more factors to consider due to e-books, audio books and selling both in-store and online. Selling from a self-publishing author’s website, the publishers website and online book stores like amazon.

In addition to the cover and interior needing to be visible even if reduced to a postage stamp size, there are so many more online factors. The book and author need a strong identity and web presence to build awareness and visibility for that book and the authors brand. Having a social media presence as well as booking appearances in book stores, on the radio and tv. Creating videos introducing the content or short clips of readings which can be searched on YouTube as well be shared throughout the web.

A book can be a brand on its own or the author can choose to build their own brand and the book is just one part of that. Here’s an author checklist to review for your branding, book and brand visibility.

________________________________________________________

I asked a few colleagues with extensive book design experience what they thought made a great book and here are their responses:

Todd Radom: “…I’ve always considered the best covers as miniature posters, with the proper balance of visuals, depending upon the title—competitive and commercial if need be, quiet and literate if that’s what’s needed. Crafted and visually appealing.”

Jackie Meyer: “A great cover is one that does the manuscript justice and then some. I always felt the obligation to the author and the text, to illuminate the audience and to excite the readers mind. To adorn someone’s library is wonderful but I think the jacket is as much a vehicle for selling. That was the original purpose. And with digital books it seems that will again be the focus. I also believe in branding as part of the equation. Readers buy authors and relate to the brand.”

Peter Thorpe: “…some art director said a cover should work tiny… meaning as a small thumb in a book of the month club print ad, or across the room in a book store. If you are in a book store, and you see a cover from 20 feet away, and it makes you want to walk over to it, well, that’s a great book cover.”

Andy Levine: “Nice paper stock. Elegant type. Quick read, glorious photo, graphic or art. An image that doesn’t tell too much of the story. A book that says, Touch me. Pick me up.”

________________________________________________________

Here are a few book covers that I believe qualify as “great.”

(see this list for some more)

Here are a few of the comments from my LinkedIn Discussion: What Makes a Great Book? (Read the rest and add your own!)

Jennifer Toombs:  “I would say that it entirely depends on the subject of the book, and the audience in which it is intended. A grid structure is important, as well as typography that matches the voice of the content…”

Neda Ehsani:  “I am one of those people who does judge the book by the cover in someways… I look for something catchy and unusual, something that I shouldn’t understand unless I read the book. As an advertising major, I say, it needs something bad, evil or ugly against all the goods, (depends on the story of course) or it won’t stand out on the shelf and becomes just another boring book. Sometimes I buy a book and there is this greedy looking person watching at the good things around but when I read the book, I realize that was not a key character at all but made the book to stand out.”

Magda S.: “I agree with Jennifer. Novels are meant to be read in a linear fashion so readability is the key when the book is a story. 

However, today’s audiences do not read linearly, especially when reading a book for design sake or one for instructional reference. For the reader, accessing of the information quickly is the key. 

Therefore, creating a clear consistent hierarchy that leads the eye conveying the author’s intent, utilizing a combination of text, images, and (color) white space, in clear systematic codes for the reader to digest and use, enhance the readers’ experience. 

And of course it does not hurt to have extraordinary index and TOC (table of content). I think the cover is your icing and should be as inciting as possible.”

Christian Kunnert: “The visual form of a book should be the result of understanding its content, its purpose (whether it’s a coffee table book, a scientific book, a picture book, a reference book etc) 
The book is also an object of use. It has a physical presence. The combination of considered choices regarding the macro – (format, typographic grid, size of text columns, paper stock, binding, finishes, organisation of headings, captions etc) and micro-typographical aspects of a book ( typeface selection, letterforms, letterspace,, type size, type treatment for various type of content, etc) will impact on the end result, the ‘look and feel’, its appropriateness and ultimately its success with the viewer.”

Eduardo Rosado: “I wanted to add that pagination, rhythm and pace of pages is very important. A great book design takes the reader by the hand and takes them into a journey, a ride. Whether text or images, or the combination of the two, a great book design should keep a pace page by page and knows when to surprise you, when to build up a story, when to have you go back a few pages to re-read or when you need to pick that book again tand read it over.”

Begoña Lafuente Lopez: “Nowadays almost everybook is in digital format or so , then if you are planning to make a cover for a printed book you are targeting to someone who likes books as an object,not just pleasure for reading but the sentimental aproach to an object to manage in your hands and you may want to keep later as a collector, other wise you just read it in your e-book, cheaper with no space in your house needed … I agree it has to be something eye-catching, but it can have some texture too. It could be great if you can choose the cover from several options as you make an orther in internet with just a few available of some of the options to make it very desirable.”

Samantha Hollister: “In general, something enticing & memorable… but that is true to the style, tone & genre of the book. (We’ve all seen “dishonest” movie trailers.) Richness & depth – whether texturally, typographically, photographically, or with color. Legibility & ease of access to information. Space to breathe. It’s unsettling when designers overrun every square centimeter with information. Which leads to – focus. Not all things are equal. Leave them with one dynamic, lasting impression.”

What do you think makes a great book? Please leave your comment below.

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
I have been in business since 2004.  When my son was diagnosed in 2004 with ADHD, Executive Dysfunction and other learning issues, I immersed myself in research to find ways to untangle his world.  I wanted to learn all I could to help him manage and organize his tangled-up world. I soon realized that I could use my newfound expertise as the basis to launch the next chapter in my professional life.  Parents were coming to me in droves for special needs education as well as ways to organize their and their children’s environment.  Out of that realization, I launched Order Out of Chaos with a mission to provide organizing services to the chronically disorganized as well as individuals and small businesses with organizing and time challenges as well as individuals with hoarding behaviors.

As the years have passed, I have worked with hundreds of families, students, and individuals with a variety of organizational challenges ranging from the merely clutter-filled and overwhelmed to the chronically disorganized and individuals with severe hoarding behaviors. I have also expanded my business by developing a new Academic Planner – that teaches teens time management.  I also conduct workshops and seminars for parents, teachers and students nationally on all aspects of disorganization for students.  In addition, I have my first book coming out in the fall – The Complete Diabetes Organizer.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
We don’t specifically donate to charities. But we support public schools with our products and services.

Tell us about your brand.

It all started with the name! I didn’t want my company to be named after me (Josel organizing…) as I knew that I had plans to do much more than just “organize.” Somewhere I knew there were products in my future! I also wanted a name that would tell potential clients EXACTLY what I did without having to explain it. AND, I wanted a name that was vague enough that it covered anything we expanded in to. Whether it was hoarding, books, planners or students, it had to fit it all.  So “order out of chaos” just made sense.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
The only vision I really had was that the logo had to be clean and uncluttered. Right? I love the color green and for disorganized minds it has been proven that the color green helps. I also loved that the word order and chaos each had 5 letters so I knew I had some symmetry there to play with. And that I had two “Os” helped to. Everything just lent itself to an organized feel. What really pulled it all together for me is having the words “out of” actually come out of the letter O. I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried. It just tied it all together. I absolutely love my logo.

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
Again, green is calming and helps to organize a disorganized mind.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
My dear friend is a graphic designer and I have seen her work many times. She developed the logo and then my website designer took it and used it all over my site.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
The website came first.  So in that regard the logo came first. Then the blog, social media and then product, newsletter and marketing.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
Social media wasn’t around in 2004.  Probably not until 2010 did I really take it seriously.  But the last two years have been the biggest social media years for me.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
I have a pr/marketing background and that has been hugely helpful.  My trade association – NAPO – offers tons of teleclasses, webinars, conferences, etc. on how to market your business, sell on line, use social media, etc. What makes it wonderful is that it is geared specifically to our industry.

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
I do not do any advertising, just lots of public relations.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
Google ads were HUGELY helpful in creating awareness for my academic planner. It was a real game changer for me.

Which social media site to spend the most time on and how does it help marketing your business?
Twitter hands down. It has really helped grow my business in the sense that I have gotten guest blog opportunities, collaborations, speaking engagements, increased my sales for the planner, etc. I also use Facebook quite a bit but Twitter has been hugely helpful.

Do you belong to community sharing websites? Which ones and how effective are they in building your audience? What are the best features that help your business?
No I do not. I honestly do not know that much about them.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
Local vendor for cards and other small projects. I use a major off shore printer for the planner.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
Absolutely not!

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
I do not and at this point I am going to use the paper that my printer prints on.

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
My planner is printed abroad. But CDs and DVDs are produced locally.

Do you speak at events? If so tell us about that.
A HUGE part of my business is speaking engagements. I speak about twice a week. I either speak where I am delivering specific content – ADHD in students, time management, organizing for middle schoolers, etc. Those are geared towards students, parents and teachers. I also speak to women entrepreneurs on broad topics such as networking, running a business, balance, etc.

What is coming up in the year or two we should watch for?
I am working with a distributor to expand my planner line (develop more products) and to place it in retail stores. I have a book coming out in September. I will continue to speak all over and am also creating more programs that will expand my reach.

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
We have talked about franchising the student organizing part of my business so you never know. And I would like to write a student organizing book.

To learn more about Leslie Josel and Order Out of Chaos visit the links below:

Website: www.orderoochaos.com
Blog: www.orderoochaos.com/blog
Twitter: @orderoochaos
Facebook: www.facebook.com/orderoutofchaos
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=37177415&trk=hb_tab_pro_top
YouTube: Leslie Josel

Your branding across the web.

If you haven’t given this much thought yet, below is a check list to be sure you are ready to broadcast yourself and the book everywhere.

• Do you have a website ready with your own personal branding? If not, it’s time you had yourself branded by a professional. Consider creating another website devoted entirely to the book. Both of these need to be reviewed or created so you are ready to promote once that fabulous book is ready.
• Be sure to create a new Facebook page with the title of your book. This can either be its own separate page, or it can be a custom page under your current author page.
• Start creating advance Facebook, Google+ posts and Tweets using hashtags you will be using regarding the new book. (such as: #harrypotter)
• Create a Pinterest board for the new book, so you can post graphics, photos, and video once on tour.
• Make sure to post video of signings, talks, and events to your YouTube channel, and if the YouTube channel isn’t branded, do it.
• Have you created a Kindle version? An audio version?
• Perhaps a great time to add audio and create your podcast station? (Talkshoe, Blog Talk Radio)
• Make sure your Twitter and Google Plus accounts are branded also with the correctly sized graphics.
• Create other print marketing that you can give to others at events or to help in promotion, such as: bookmarks, flyers, postcards, magnets, business type cards but for the book, perhaps with a special discount code?
• Figure out which pages of the interior you will use to showcase the book in the pop-up section on Amazon.
• Be sure the cover looks good when reduced down to a postage stamp, as well as blown up really large. Have an assortment of cover graphics sized properly for every type of usage.
• Send out a press release about the new book with links to all the web presence pages.
• Send advance copies to a group of influential people who will write reviews for the book on amazon and social media as well as for your website. Share those on social media too.
• Review your LinkedIn profile and all other profiles and make sure all content is up to date and all new links are added in.

Here are a few examples I found of celebrated authors and their branded websites.

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
The Biztruth was founded in March 2010 to work with service-based entrepreneurs who want to make the most of their time, maximize their earnings, and support their lifestyle goals – while doing what they love.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
Yes – a variety of charities and causes. Since moving to NYC, my favorite is the Central Park Conservancy. I use the park multiple times a week for exercise, de-stressing, walking tours, biking etc. and am so impressed with how well they keep it up. I also donate my time for various landscape projects there. It’s important to me to keep the park welcoming to residents and tourists alike.

Tell us about your brand.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
I knew I wanted very clean lines and my designer chose Century Gothic which is very readable and simple. I actually went through a brand process with my umbrella company about 4 years ago (Stratica, Inc) so you can tell I like to keep things simple!

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
I learned many years ago that black and gold/yellow have a big impact and felt like it reflected The Biztruth name & brand.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
I have a very strong sense of what I like and want, so will often mock up my idea and then send it off to a professional to fine tune. I did this for both my Biztruth logo and website. Although I get a lot of compliments on my site, I’m actually in the process of making some changes to improve conversion rates and better reflect how I help entrepreneurs.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
It all happened at once, although I wasn’t very active on social three years ago so did less of that.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
About 6-12 months.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
No. Just looked at a LOT of websites!

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
No.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
I’ve used Facebook ads and have had mixed results.

Which social media site to spend the most time on and how does it help marketing your business?
I’m more of a Facebook gal, although I can go days & days without posting. It’s more about relationship building… and find that my personal questions (ie. “what do you do with canned salmon?”) get more attention than anything directly biz related.

Do you belong to community sharing websites? Which ones and how effective are they in building your audience? What are the best features that help your business?
I’m more of a face to face gal, so I’m actively involved in Savor the Success which offers a nice mix of online and offline engagement opportunities with women across the country.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
Local vendor – but we’ve never met.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
Yes. I used to work with printing so know what I like. Although I screwed up my last biz card order because I accidentally clicked UV coating (which I didn’t want).

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Not yet.

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
Mostly all digital products – although I do have one product printed in Colorado and another product I order from moo.com

Do you speak at events? If so tell us about that.
Yes. I speak about the ways entrepreneurs sabotage their sales, how to improve selling skills, and aligning your business with the life you want to live. I speak for entrepreneur groups like Savor the Success and NAWBO to audiences of hundreds at conferences and associations. I also create my own events – some private & some public.

What is coming up in the year or two we should watch for?
Truth & Dare Retreats (private, invite only at this point)
Licensing my core program – Art of the Ask – to other coaches

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
How long can this list be?! There’s always a loooooong list of things I want to tackle.

Listen to Carolyn as she talks about P.I.M.P.S – Selling Culprit #4

To learn more about Carolyn Herfurth, The Biztruth and Art of the Ask, follow the links below:
http://thebiztruth.com
http://thebiztruth.com/blog
http://facebook.com/carolynherfurth
http://twitter.com/carolynherfurth
http://linkedin.com/in/carolynherfurth
http://pinterest.com/carolynherfurth
http://youtube.com/carolynherfurth
http://vizify.com/carolynherfurth

In the last few weeks I have seen an amazing book called, Safari by Dan Kainen (Author), Carol Kaufmann (Author) which is a Photicular Book. You have to see it to believe it. Yes we’ve seen pop-up books before and they are always fabulously constructed, but this uses a new technique of strips of film and when you turn a page the image animates like film. Quite astounding!

Then the conversation a week ago was 3D printing and in a meeting with clients this week we discussed how we could use this in producing samples (which would otherwise be perishable in the sun) as well as ideas for window displays.

We also discussed creating an outdoor sign for brand visibility using LED lighting and this is the focus of the convention, Lightfair, in Philadelphia.

So, investigate all these new breakthrough ideas and think about how you can implement them into your own business.

Wikipedia.org / Photo by Floris van Breugel

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
Go! Girl Guides has been around for two years now and we publish the world’s first series of travel guidebooks made just for women. Our guidebooks help women to travel around the world safely and affordably, and we differentiate by focusing specifically on women’s health and safety in different countries.

Oddly enough, Go! Girl Guides started after it came to me in a dream one night. In the dream, I was looking at a guidebook made for women, kicking myself thinking ‘why didn’t you do this?’ and then I woke up… and did it!

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
We will soon!

Tell us about your brand.

Go! Girl Guides aims to help empower women to travel the world, and give them the tools they need to stay safe. So far we have released three guidebooks, on Thailand, Argentina, and Mexico, with an e-book on London. We want women to feel confident while traveling so we hunted out the safest, most affordable hotels and hostels we could find, and included information on women’s health: where to buy feminine hygiene products, how to navigate a foreign pharmacy, where to go for bilingual women’s clinics should you need to—we do the hard work so that you can have fun!

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
I work with some of the best and most talented web designers out there and I love them more than anything! They do all the hard stuff when it comes to logos and design.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
I got lucky in that I was looking around for a designer and had just started working with one on my other website when Go Girl came out, so we were ready to roll pretty quickly.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
Website, blog and social media. We started in January of 2011, and by March I was in Thailand writing our first guidebook.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
Instantly.

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
We do not advertise, but we have been lucky to get a lot of press. We just finished a two week cross country book tour that was very successful in generating press.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
We don’t really advertise there much anymore.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
No, I had to learn everything about gloss and font and paper stock when we started printing our books. But now we’ve got it down!

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Not yet!

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
They are produced in the USA.

Do you speak at events? If so tell us about that.
All the time! We just finished a book tour, and I will be speaking at the New York Travel Fest on April 20th at 1 pm

What is coming up in the year or two we should watch for?
We are about to release a Costa Rica guidebook, and we’re going to start working on India as well.

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
So much!

Listen to Kelly Lewis on Suzy Brandtastic’s Radio Interview Show!

To learn more about Kelly Lewis and Go! Girl Guides visit the links below:
http://www.gogirlguides.com
http://www.facebook.com/gogirlguides
http://www.twitter.com/gogirlguides

Instead of just classifying yourself as a coach, salesperson, author, or artist and lumping yourself into the millions of others who say that same thing, let’s begin by fine-tuning and get back in touch with the YOU only you know.

Make a list of all the words that define you. I do not mean your role at your job, I mean you, personally. No one has had your exact life or has learned what you have. No one has all your interests and learned the specialties just the way you have.

Once you have written all those words down, look them over and start putting some of them together to create phases that will be unique to you.

For myself, when I did this exercise it went something like: Singing, branding, techno geek, animal lover, environmentalist, creative, lover of all things Italian, Yankee fan! So now I’ve created a few long-tail keyword phrases from this such as, branding techno geek, creative Yankee fan, or animal lover and environmentalist. Now if I take that a step further to combine some of this with my work, I might get phrases like, singing branding designer, Italian speaking environmentalist helping frogs, or brand visibility gadget loving techno geek.

My passions are what define me and make me different from you, just like my DNA and fingerprints are not like anyone elses.

Now you try this exercise. What are you passionate about and how do you do it differently than someone else? Once you have that created, you can implement those concepts into your posts and add those keywords and then watch what happens!

For more Brand Visibility Tips, watch my video tutorial series on Udemy.

From Mediawiki: “FX’s covets men in the 18-49 age range as their target audience. Their promotional techniques and the subject matter in their shows appeal directly to this demographic. FX features a late-night programming block called Fully Baked. It runs Louie, Archer, and other original comedy series. The vulgar humor intertwines pop culture references, drugs and sexual innuendos that appeal to an immature, hip audience. As the title implies, the humor especially suits those who smoke pot. The Fully Baked programming block seems to say, “Up late? High? Why not watch some FX comedy? It’s just what you need when you’re baked.” FX advertises Coors Light, a popular beer for inexperienced and underage drinkers, as well as Call of Duty, an obsession of male youth culture. FX also found airing blockbuster films attracts their desired target audience.”

Now you may be wondering what it is that I like about the show, if it’s supposed to be for men? Well, it’s a combination of a love for the old westerns, which I watched with my brother and dad years ago and more recently was a huge fan of the HBO series Deadwood which also starred Olyphant as a lawman.

So, since I am not in their target audience, I found it interesting to watch the commercials they broadcast. I wasn’t interested in what they were selling at all. Should they have thought about whether or not there were others outside of their target market that they should be selling to. No,  you should always stay true to exactly who you are trying to reach.

This brings me to a joint venture I’m working on with Catrice M. Jackson, Master Brand Game Plan. This has been an eye opening adventure. We have created an exclusive playbook and our target market to teach our 6 classes to are men who want to sell to women. We are going to give them the data we have uncovered from asking women what they want, as well as give them our best branding and marketing strategies so they can clearly send the exact right signals to get the results they want.

Learning how to advertise what someone else is specifically looking for is the key to success. This is why those commercials didn’t interest me, but did interest 99% of the other viewers, who most likely buy those products and watch those shows.