Your book is nearing the finish line! Months and years of sweat and tears have been poured into your manuscript—it’s time to start searching for some book cover designers. Allow us to give you some seasoned advice:

Beware of inexperience. (This is far too important of a step to trust your book to someone who has just bought “Photoshop” and calls themself a designer.)

Beware of sites that advertise set prices. (Standard prices mean standard efforts. When shopping for creativity never accept “standard”—look for a designer that will exceed your expectations!)

Beware of the low ball price. (Not all designers are created equal. A low ball price is usually a sign of inexperience. Sites that advertise things like “3 Cover Designs for $149″ will give you what you pay for—cheap design.)

In all your research be sure to check out AuthorSupport.com, view our portfolio and read the testimonies from our clients. We offer custom book cover design for self-publishing authors and small publishers at reasonable rates.

The network is being developed to help connect you with clients that are looking for your specific talents. Best of all, membership is free!

Did you know that all major publishers commission the book cover’s design before the manuscript is complete? Some even do it before a word is written! Among many reasons, they need the cover concept early in the process for marketing purposes. You may not be a large publisher, but you can still take a cue from the big guys and get your marketing started long before you have finished writing. Here are the top ten reasons you should have AuthorSupport.com get started on your book cover design today.

Starting on your book cover now…

Traditional Printers:

Friesens

Jostens

Thomson-Shore

Worzalla

Print on Demand Printers:

Lightning Source

BookSurge.com | BookSurge.com competes with us for design and layout services.We are confident that our personal service and superior effort will win your business however. We often have clients that partner with us for design and layout and then print with BookSurge for its marketing connection to Amazon.com

Quick Turn or Short Run Printers:

48 Hour Books

The solution was to pull our images back and leave enough margin so that the limitation looks intentional. Mission accomplished!

99% of the time this is a non-issue as most interior designs do not need to bleed. Just be aware that your print on demand printer of choice may have some limitations to consider before your hire a typesetting company like AuthorSupport.com.

Our interior designers and typesetters hit the mark by incorporating hand drawn sketches of various items with a consistant, more sophisticated design. The result is a book that demonstrates new ways of journaling to the audience.

For all your promotional material needs AuthorSupport.com is the right company. We can create bookmarks, postcards and other creative giveaways to help create reader loyalty and buzz!

Now, normally we would not want to steer our readers to a company that also competes with us in our main service offerings of Book Cover Design and Interior Layout/Typesetting. Our confidence is in our designers. We are regularly getting calls from their clients asking for help… they love the print on demand services of BookSurge but hate the weak effort they get from their book cover designers and interior layout people.

If you are looking to see a real sample of BookSurge’s printing capabilities we highly recommend that you purchase Sue Brenner’s The Naked Desk. The print quality is excellent and Sue’s advice for staying organized and on top of your workload are great information for every self-publishing author! While you’re over at Amazon, check out our book cover design and interior layout in the “Search Inside” section.

Our primary opportunities for creativity in the interior are section breaks, running heads and chapter heads. Of course fonts, leading, intial caps are all important too!

Interested in what we can do for your book? Check out our Interior Design and Typesetting Services section.

If you require these file types please discuss this with us up front. Possession of these types of files means a potential loss of revenue should there be future revisions or iterations of the work.

Here are the types of files you will own upon completion of project:

• Adobe Acrobat PDF at Print Resolution.
• JPG files of the final effort (Both High and Low)
• EPS files for vector work (Logos and other spot graphics)

50% also represents our “kill fee“. A kill fee is the monies paid to cover the work completed when either party needs to stop production. As stated above 50% protects our investment of time. We will refund the monies paid at a proportional amount to the work completed.

Possible reasons to abandon a project and incur the kill fee…

• After multiple mock-ups you do not like our work.
• After multiple mock-ups we do not feel we can capture your vision.
• Your financial stresses dictate you putting the project on hold.
• The market has changed and you do not feel your project is relevant any longer.

CASE STUDY ONE:

John Doe tells us that his book, “Desert Dawn” is about finding love and acceptance in a small town full of intrigue. We accept the project and bill Mr. Doe for half of the estimated cost. A week later one of our typesetters flags that this is an “adult” book about erotic encounters! Unfortunately, we were a third of the way through before discovering Mr. Doe’s omission. We will refund a portion of the monies and stop production immediately.

CASE STUDY TWO:

Amy Johnson tells us that her book, “Overcoming the Odds” is a collection of helpful suggestions for getting past difficult situations. We accept the project and bill Ms. Johnson for half of the estimated cost. A week and a half later one of our typesetters flags that this book is really ten ways to make contact with your spirit guide. We were half of the way through before discovering Ms. Johnson’s omission. Because we were half way done and had billed for half upfront we will not refund any of the monies and stop production immediately.

We have had many, many compliments on this cover, from the Barnes and Noble Humor Buyer and the distributor, Independent Publishers Group. Apparently at the sales conference it was THE hit. They love it and said it “looks like a big house book.”

Thats the idea! This was a hardback edition with a dust jacket. (Click the image to the right for a description an close up look.) Notice the detailed effort to work the title into the scale. Enjoy!

The South is Round by Dave Magee (Jefferson Press)

Alignment

The positioning of text within the page margins. Alignment can be flush left, flush right, justified or centred. Flush left and flush right are sometimes referred to as left justified and right justified.

Align Left

(ragged right) Pertaining to copy which is aligned on the left margin. 2. (quad left) A code which directs preceding copy to be set flush against the left margin.

Align Right

(ragged left) Pertaining to copy which is aligned on right margin. 2. (quad right) A code which directs preceding copy to be set flush against the right margin.

Body

The main section of a book, brochure, article, or other text material.

Body Text

The type style used in the main text of a book, article, or other printed piece. Body type comes in sizes of 14-pts and smaller. Also referred to as Body Type.

Book Block

All of the pages of the book… Front Matter, Chapters, Back Matter. The book block is everything but the cover.

Composition

The process of assembling characters, words, lines, and paragraphs, or of formatting typeset text, graphics, or other images into blocks or pages for reproduction by printing.

Copyfitting

The process of adjusting the size and spacing of type to make it fit within a defined area of the page.

Drop Cap

A single capital letter, larger than the standard text size, set into a block of text, with one or more lines indented to accommodate the capital.

Em

A unit of measurement exactly as wide and as high as the body size of type being set. It is commonly used to measure spaces, indentions, column sizes, and pages, and can be used for copyfitting and costing. A measurement of area, it is often confused with the `Pica’. In 18-pt type the em is 18 points wide and 18 points high; in 12-pt type it is 12 points square.

Em Dash (—)

Also known as Em Rule. A dash centred on the x-height of characters, one em long, used to indicate a pause in the sentence.

Em Space

A fixed amount of white space exactly one em wide, which will not be `stretched’ for justification purposes as will a space band.

En

A unit of measurement exactly one-half as wide as the body size of type being set. In 18-pt type the en is 9 points wide and 18 points high; in 12-pt type it is 6 points wide and 12 points high.

En Dash(–)

Also known as En rule. A dash centred on the x-height of characters, one en long, used to indicate a range of values.

En Space

A fixed amount of white space exactly one en wide, which will not be `stretched’ for justification purposes as will a space band.

Gutter

The white space which is between columns on a page.

Hanging Indent

A document style in which the first line of a paragraph is aligned with the left margin, and the remaining lines are all indented an equal amount.

Kern

The process of subtracting space between two characters so that they appear closer together. This is usually done to improve the aesthetic appearance of most words that are set in all capitals especially in large display and headline text lines. 2.The part of a letter which actually overhangs the body of the letter itself, such as the curl at the top of the lower case f in a serif face.

Leading

Pronounced ledding. The distance of the base line of a line of type from the base line of the line below it, measured in points.

Letterspacing

The addition of thin spaces between the letters in order to achieve the desired appearance of text, and increase legibility.

Manuscript

The original material from which type will be set. May be handwritten, typewritten or on a floppy disk.

Orphan

An element of type (such as a word or a line) which leads into a larger block of type, but which has been left by itself at the end of a page or column. For instance, the first line of a paragraph, or a section head. Sometimes erroneously called a widow.

Pagination

The process of performing page makeup automatically through a computer program according to page parameters designated by the operator or by a database (where multiple pages fit on to one Printing-Press sheet of paper). 2.The numbering of the pages of a book.

PDF

Portable Document Format. Developed by Adobe Systems for `paperless publishing’ with Adobe Acrobat software. PDF compresses PostScript type page files for fast display and printing of electronic documents on computer systems running Acrobat software. (Recent innovations allow the accurate output of complex CMYK objects.)

Point Size

The measurement of type, generally from the top of the highest ascender to the bottom of the lowest descender. Due to variances in type design, the designated point size of a particular font might be somewhat different from the actual measurement

Running Head and Foot

A headline or chapter title or other identifying caption at the top of a page. Generally running heads and feet appear on a series of pages and may include folios.

Sans Serif

Describing a type face whose characters do not have serifs.

Serif

The tiny strokes at the end of a larger character stroke, used to provide visual balance to the character shape. 2.Describing a type face whose characters have serifs.

Typography

The art and practice of arranging type and other elements in pleasing ways by using combinations of fonts and layout, and adjusting the type in such a way as to produce the most aesthetic result.

Vector Graphics

A method of creating graphics using points and lines, as opposed to bitmapped (raster) images. Synonymous with object-oriented graphics. (Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw etc.)

White space

The blank area on a page where text and illustrations are not printed. 2.In bookwork, the gap between the body text and the running head and folio.

Widow

A single short line at the top of the page or column which is the end of a sentence or a paragraph. 2.A single word or syllable standing as the last line of a paragraph. Widows of either definition are typographically undesirable.

Word Space

The space between words, which may be expanded for purposes of justification. 2.To adjust the spaces between words, making them larger than the minimum allowable size.

A few months ago our cover designers were approached with the challenge of completely revamping a book that had been out for a few years. Journal Buddies is a great book that helps young girls develop a healthy self image as well as teach them to see the best qualities in others.

We pulled out all the stops to insure this project was a success… custom photography, custom fonts, handmade papers and more to create a look that is sure to grab attention.

Take a look and judge for yourself…

FedEx Kinko’s, an operating company of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), and Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) today announced their collaboration to extend the reach of FedEx Kinko’s Print Online application to users of Adobe® Reader® and Adobe Acrobat® software.

Both of the popular Adobe software applications will feature a connection to FedEx Kinko’s Print Online functionality, which provides a fast, convenient way for sending documents for print production to any FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Center in the United States.

“As people increasingly communicate and collaborate across the Internet, Adobe Reader and Acrobat enable more trusted communication and collaboration with PDF, reliably reaching people around the world,” said John Brennan, senior vice president of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “By enabling FedEx Kinko’s Print Online functionality with Adobe Reader and Acrobat, people can simply and conveniently access FedEx Kinko’s printing services, which provides more options for working with PDF files — including professional printing and shipping via FedEx, right from the desktop.”

Available for immediate download, the free Adobe Reader 8.1 has a “Send to FedEx Kinko’s” option within the File Menu as well as a button on the main toolbar, which is represented by the FedEx Kinko’s beacon icon. Available this month, Acrobat 8.1 will also feature the FedEx Kinko’s functionality as an option within the File Menu.

“FedEx Kinko’s is committed to delivering outstanding customer service and technology innovation to our customers,” said Richard Maranville, senior vice president and chief information officer of FedEx Kinko’s. “The integration of FedEx Kinko’s Print Online with Adobe Reader and Acrobat provides a seamless connection to our network of digitally-connected locations as well as to the FedEx transportation systems, and is part of our strategy to provide customers with more points of access to FedEx Kinko’s products and services. With the integrated functionality, users of these Adobe applications are also able to have their printed material delivered to addresses worldwide.”

Virtual Print Connection
FedEx Kinko’s Print Online delivers the next generation of print-on-demand and e-commerce, connecting customers via the Web to FedEx Kinko’s network of office and print centers in the U.S. as well as select international locations. With the application, customers may conveniently upload and combine multiple files, customize jobs with tabs and inserts, preview orders, track job status, choose to ship their orders or pick up at a local center, and pay online.

A variety of delivery options are available, including FedEx Express and FedEx Ground services. Registered users are able to store contact and billing information, reprint previous orders, review order history, receive discounts and special offers, and set up preferences for a favorite center location and default recipient information.

Since the launch of FedEx Kinko’s Print Online in October 2006, more than 133,000 customers have become registered users of the tool.

Digital Document Solutions
Adobe Reader enables trusted information exchange between enterprises, government agencies, constituents and consumers who view, print, search, digitally sign and collaborate with PDF files. More than half a billion copies of Adobe Reader have been distributed worldwide on 23 software platforms and in 26 languages. Adobe Reader 8.1 is available immediately as a free download at www.adobe.com/go/getreader/.

Acrobat provides knowledge workers with innovative tools for communicating and collaborating with confidence across the boundaries of operating systems, applications and firewalls. With Acrobat, business professionals can more effectively engage with the rich, high-value information in PDF documents and forms, and more reliably and securely drive their work to completion leveraging the ubiquitous, free Adobe Reader software. For more information on Acrobat, please visit www.adobe.com/acrobat/.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

About FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Services
FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Services is the world’s leading provider of document solutions and business services. The Dallas-based company has a global network of more than 1,600 digitally-connected locations in 11 countries. FedEx Kinko’s offers access to copying and digital printing, professional finishing, document creation, Internet access, computer rentals, videoconferencing, signs and graphics, notary, direct mail, office products, Web-based printing, and the full range of FedEx day-definite ground shipping and time-definite global express shipping services. For more information, please visit www.fedexkinkos.com. Products, services and hours vary by location.

About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $35 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 275,000 employees and contractors to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit fedex.com.

From Henry Oehmig, over at Jefferson Press:

“Looks fantastic! David and I think it’s one of the better covers we’ve done.”

Take a peek…