Tip Tuesday

A Primer on Covers – Part II

This is the second part in a three part series about book cover design. The intended audience is the self-publishing writer with little design experience. The guidelines I set forth are from my experience working with my own self-published titles, with graphic designers, and about twelve years of web design experience (which is no substitute for experience in print design).

In the first part of this series, I talked about the importance of typography in setting both your title and author line apart from the fonts of workaday web pages, white papers, and emails that have desensitized many readers to the impact and beauty of the most popular fonts.

In this stage, I’ll get away from typography for a second and talk about what I consider the second important attribute of a winning cover: a single, stunning professional picture.

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Tip Tuesday: Print Covers

Tip Tuesday has gone a bit high and right, since I wrote just one and then promptly started releasing new titles instead of writing helpful content. But I’d like to make this humble offering as the second installment in the nascent Tip Tuesday series: print book covers.

I’m certainly no expert in the business of print mechanics, but I thought I’d leave you with some hints from my own experience, a little bit of feedback I’ve received, and point you to a couple of guys who are experts.
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Tip Tuesday: Professional Writers’ Organizations

I’m starting a new weekly feature on the blog, Tip Tuesday, where I pass on a few things I’ve learned about writing craft, self-publishing, editing, and the culture and community of authors.

If you like what you’ve read, please throw a LIKE at the bottom of the post and share with friends you think could benefit.


It’s often said writing can be a lonely profession, and that applies whether you’re a novice or have been cranking out novels for years.

For someone just starting out, however, there’s the added burden of not being sure where to start; it can often be a case of “you don’t know what you don’t know.” But for those lost in the metaphorical woods of writing, professional writing organizations can be a good place to find your way and for a reasonable (usually less than $100/year) price.

While many organizations exist to help represent established (i.e., traditionally published) writers, most of them understand that established authors were all amateurs at some stage and offer some guidance and support for newbies, as well as recognizing the growing contingent of self-published writers out there. Genre writing, especially, has many helpful organizations.

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