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Front cover book design remains an art and craft in the rapidly growing—even overflowing—world of publishing today. There are a number of websites growing up around this industry that offer insights and advice to the author setting out on the precarious road to self publishing. CNET, Self Publishing Today, Writers Digest and Publishing Perspectives all provide a regular flow of information and discussion on the topic. And design book covers are one of the topics that appear regularly in these discussions. The subject is often treated very critically, and sometimes very negatively. A worthy exercise might be to enter “self published book covers” in your search criteria, and view images. There will be some that appeal, some that stand out; however there usually appears to be far more design book covers that seem to fall short of the mission of the cover to attract the audience through the tasteful use of color, image and typography. The reasons are seldom obvious, but to a designer’s eye, there is often an overall dynamic lacking in many, if not most, of the front cover book designs that show up in this search. There are limitations, of course, that need to be considered in the world of self publishing and design book covers. The designer is often restricted by stock photography and illustration, some of which may be interesting, or “tweakable” to render it interesting and relevant. But it is still a far cry from the latitude of photography available to the designer creating a front cover book design for a major book publishing company. Time and budget are also factors that can influence the final product. The management of the design for book cover varies from one online company to the next, and usually includes an amount of interaction and discussion between the author and the artist responsible for producing the design for the book cover. This is a great aspect of the self-publishing world, one that was not as readily available to the average author in the previous world of traditional publishing. It affords a large amount of input and influence to the author, and provides the opportunity for the development of a truly informed creative team, between author and artist. What is of equal importance in this environment is that the communication finally reflect the best strengths of each: the literal needs of the author and the visual needs of the designer. Each must be fully prepared to do his/her jobs, to share his/her expertise, but in the end, to be sure that the final design book covers reflect the sum of his/her strengths, not a compromise that may result in a less than dynamic cover. The designer owes it to himself, or herself, to stay constantly abreast of the styles and trends that are currently prevalent in the world of book covers and publishing. The author owes it to himself, or herself to communicate clearly in this partnership, and in the end, to draw forth the best the designer has to offer.
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design book covers, design for book cover, front cover book designs,
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