No Book Is Spineless
Thursday, July 10th, 2008Book cover design comes in three parts. Naturally, the most important is the front cover because that is the face of your child. That carries the whole identity. The back cover provides the intrigued reader with a reason to open the book and dip into your tasty offerings, much like the back of a movie DVD does these days. If it doesn’t carry a very compelling reason for you to spend your precious time and money on it, then back on the shelf it goes.
That’s why my last post sounded a wee bit alarmed. It was my advertising copy being messed with. Well, I think it’s getting straightened out now and they have sent two different versions according to my detailed instructions. I’m now going through the survey stage again and consulting with family and friends about which one to choose. So, I have confidence that soon the back cover will look as good as the front now does.
The third necessary element to any book is its spine. With POD publishing, especially when you plan to bypass the regular book store distribution and simply sell on Amazon and a personal blogsite, the spine and the back cover are, technically, not as vital. On a bookstore shelf they are just as important as the front cover, because shoppers will often only see the spine at first, and then they will always read the back before making their buying decision.
However, a book is a book is a book. And all three of its elements must be the best that you can make them, regardless of their marketing. I have a current, probably minor, spine dilemma.
The cover will be completed before the manuscript is. Right now, I’m still doing the rewrite. And after that, it goes back to my editor. Therefore, I don’t have an exact count on the final number of pages. That number, plus the width and weight of the paper that I will chose from the printer, all determine the width that the spine must be. POD printing requires that the file with the cover art on it be ready to go….ready to slap right on that digital press the minute it arrives. There is no chance to fiddle with expanding or shrinking the size allowed once we find out the exact width that the spine must be.
And yet, it’s not fair to delay finalizing the account with the cover designers once their work is finished. The money is now held in escrow by elance and requires a clearance from me to release. Then, I will receive the camera-ready art work and we are done. How do I try to figure out my book’s future measurements? Good question and today I will call the printer’s representative in the hope that she can provide the magic answer.
I guess it’s like building anything. You have to orchestrate some very delicate professional arrangements. A roof can’t go on until the lower part is done. So, the quiet little…modest little… spine is, quite literally, central to the whole book and will have its fifteen minutes of fame before all is said and done.
lindajbrown