Deb Simpson's Blog, page 18
January 24, 2012
ISBNs, Ebooks, and Bowker--what you need to know!
Andy, a lot of new self-publishers, coming into this side of the business for the first time, are surprised at the cost of ISBNs for their books. It's been pointed out that the spread between the high price—1 ISBN for $125—and the low price—$1.00 each in quantities of 5,000—is remarkably big. Can you explain for my readers exactly what it is they are buying when they receive that 13-digit number, and why it costs so much?
First, I want to clarify the options and pricing structure for ISBN numbers which changed at the beginning of the year, reflecting up to a 50% price reduction for most units compared to previous years.Single ISBNs costs $125.00
A 10-block of ISBNs costs $250.00 ($25.00 per unit)
A 100-block of ISBNs costs $575.00 ($5.75 per unit)
A 1,000 block of ISBNs costs $1,000.00 ($1.00 per unit)
Larger blocks (10K, 100K) are available as part of a more detailed inventory review.
All of the above options include:Assignment of the numbers to the publisher and instant access to manage them at www.myidentifiers.com
Publisher and ISBN registration in the Publisher Authority Database which supports the International ISBN Agency Publishers International Information Database
Free access to MyIdentifiers.com to create and manage bibliographic meta-data records for each ISBN which are quality checked and incorporated in Bowker's Books in Print database
This database is a collection development and database of record for thousands of major and independent retailers (including Barnes & Noble and Borders), thousands of libraries and several major search engines, social networks and mobile channels.
All ISBNs and core components of meta-data records are now incorporated in Bookwire (www.bookwire.com) as "Title Cards" which are web pages and part of a search-optimized title discovery index.
All of the above services are provided for a one-time fee at purchase. The ISBN ensures that publishers and their titles can be discovered and play a pivotal role in cataloging, discoverability and trading as part of catalogues, point-of-sale systems, etc. and ensure that a title and/or a format of a particular title are unambigously identified no matter where it is found. An appropriate analogy would be domain names which are purchased and renewed annually for additional fees, except ISBNs never need to be "renewed" for any cost. Similarly to domains, ISBNs purchased on volume basis carry discounts as volumes increase.Another issue that's very confusing for self-publishers and small independent publishers is the use of ISBN with ebooks. With as many as 9 or more formats available, people are unsure how to assign ISBN and whether every single format requires it's own ISBN which, for some, is a pretty big expense. What does Bowker recommend?Bowker shares the view of the International ISBN Agency; e-book formats should be assigned separate ISBNs, especially where trading models involve multiple partners. There will, however, be instances of compressed supply chains where an e-book in a particular format is available exclusively through a single channel (e.g. Kindle). In those circumstances there is no requirement for an ISBN, unless the publisher needs it for control purposes. (A simple guiding principle is that a product needs a separate identifier if the supply chain needs to identify it separately). The assignment of separate ISBNs to each format ensures that the e-book ordered is the correct one for the user‟ e-reader device and/or software platform, it facilitates electronic trading of e-books, particularly where multiple formats are sold through the same channel. For example, without unique product identification, a retailer or library wishing to order specific formats would have to add various additional metadata fields that would require extra processing by each link in the supply chain, it enables product level reporting of sales and usage and facilitates management of e-book products by publishers, and provides a well-proven global system that is simple to use and involves no new integration work to fit into existing systems. This position paper might also be helpful as a point of reference: ISBN E-Book Paper, Feburary 2010http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/05/bowkers-andy-weissberg-on-isbns-and-the-future-of-the-book/
First, I want to clarify the options and pricing structure for ISBN numbers which changed at the beginning of the year, reflecting up to a 50% price reduction for most units compared to previous years.Single ISBNs costs $125.00
A 10-block of ISBNs costs $250.00 ($25.00 per unit)
A 100-block of ISBNs costs $575.00 ($5.75 per unit)
A 1,000 block of ISBNs costs $1,000.00 ($1.00 per unit)
Larger blocks (10K, 100K) are available as part of a more detailed inventory review.
All of the above options include:Assignment of the numbers to the publisher and instant access to manage them at www.myidentifiers.com
Publisher and ISBN registration in the Publisher Authority Database which supports the International ISBN Agency Publishers International Information Database
Free access to MyIdentifiers.com to create and manage bibliographic meta-data records for each ISBN which are quality checked and incorporated in Bowker's Books in Print database
This database is a collection development and database of record for thousands of major and independent retailers (including Barnes & Noble and Borders), thousands of libraries and several major search engines, social networks and mobile channels.
All ISBNs and core components of meta-data records are now incorporated in Bookwire (www.bookwire.com) as "Title Cards" which are web pages and part of a search-optimized title discovery index.
All of the above services are provided for a one-time fee at purchase. The ISBN ensures that publishers and their titles can be discovered and play a pivotal role in cataloging, discoverability and trading as part of catalogues, point-of-sale systems, etc. and ensure that a title and/or a format of a particular title are unambigously identified no matter where it is found. An appropriate analogy would be domain names which are purchased and renewed annually for additional fees, except ISBNs never need to be "renewed" for any cost. Similarly to domains, ISBNs purchased on volume basis carry discounts as volumes increase.Another issue that's very confusing for self-publishers and small independent publishers is the use of ISBN with ebooks. With as many as 9 or more formats available, people are unsure how to assign ISBN and whether every single format requires it's own ISBN which, for some, is a pretty big expense. What does Bowker recommend?Bowker shares the view of the International ISBN Agency; e-book formats should be assigned separate ISBNs, especially where trading models involve multiple partners. There will, however, be instances of compressed supply chains where an e-book in a particular format is available exclusively through a single channel (e.g. Kindle). In those circumstances there is no requirement for an ISBN, unless the publisher needs it for control purposes. (A simple guiding principle is that a product needs a separate identifier if the supply chain needs to identify it separately). The assignment of separate ISBNs to each format ensures that the e-book ordered is the correct one for the user‟ e-reader device and/or software platform, it facilitates electronic trading of e-books, particularly where multiple formats are sold through the same channel. For example, without unique product identification, a retailer or library wishing to order specific formats would have to add various additional metadata fields that would require extra processing by each link in the supply chain, it enables product level reporting of sales and usage and facilitates management of e-book products by publishers, and provides a well-proven global system that is simple to use and involves no new integration work to fit into existing systems. This position paper might also be helpful as a point of reference: ISBN E-Book Paper, Feburary 2010http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/05/bowkers-andy-weissberg-on-isbns-and-the-future-of-the-book/
If you love a book author...how to help....
If You Love a Book Author and Want to Help Her ...36 Ways to Help a Book Author You LoveEileen Flanagan, author of The Wisdom to Know the Difference, wrote a blog post about a year ago telling friends of book authors how they could help the author sell more books. You can read her blog post here: http://bit.ly/9v5TgA.I thought I'd include some of the highlights of her help list, add my own comments, and provide many more ways that friends can help book authors to sell more books.If you have a friend who is a book author, please use these suggestions to help them out. If you are a book author, please share this page with your friends (so they can help you out).1. Buy your friend's book. Encourage other friends to buy the book. Go to your local library or bookstore and encourage them to buy the book. Buy books as gifts.2. Don't put off buying the book. Don't wait for the holidays to buy the book as a gift. First, the sooner you buy, the more confidence you'll inspire in your friend. Second, media and other decision makers pick up on a book based on the momentum the book inspires. The more sales at the beginning of the book's life, the more attention it will get from key decision makers, the media, and consumers.3. Where should you buy the book? First choice: the indie bookstore nearest you (that will help your friend get her book into that store on a regular basis). Second choice: a chain bookstore like Borders or Barnes & Noble (if they start selling the book locally, they might buy books for more stores in the chain). Third choice: the author's website (the author makes the most money when selling direct). Fourth choice: buy direct from the author. Fifth choice: Buy from Amazon.com (preferably from the link on the author's website).4. Recommend your friend's book. If you like the book, recommend it to friends. Blog about it. Tweet a review or mention. Share a note on Facebook. Recommend the book to your book group. Review her book on Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads, Library Thing, and other reader social networks.5. Tell your friend what you like about the book. Provide your friend with support by telling him something you like about his book. Was it a good read? Did it move you to tears or laughter? Did you learn something new?6. Help your friend get speaking engagements. If your friend is comfortable speaking, recommend your friend to your Rotary Club, Jaycees, church, Friends of the Library, bookseller, garden club, school, etc.7. Recommend your friend's website. Link to it from your website, blog, Facebook page, etc. Tweet about it. When your friend writes a blog post, link to it. If your friend tweets something great, retweet it. Feature a quote from your friend's book on your website. Or tweet the quote.8. Create a Wikipedia page for your friend. While authors can't create their own Wikipedia page, other people can. Every book author deserves a Wikipedia page, since a published book grants the author at least a modicum of fame. On the Wikipedia page, feature a short bio, a bibliography, a link to the author's website.9. Help your friend with the media. If you know of any newspaper editors or reporters, magazine editors, radio producers or hosts, TV show hosts or producers, columnists, bloggers, etc., send them a copy of the book or a note about the author. Or tell your friend about your connection, and introduce her to your contacts.10. Pray. Prayer always helps. Pray for your friend and his book. If you're not into prayer, ask your favorite tree to help.11. Ask. Ask your friend how you can help her. You may have some talent, connection, specialized knowledge, etc. that might be just the thing she needs. Or they might just need some of your time to help pack and ship some books or make a few phone calls.12. Do a video review of the book and post it on YouTube and other video sharing websites.13. Help your friend make some videos for the book. Every author needs a cameraperson, a scriptwriter, a producer. Again, share on YouTube and othervideo sharing websites.14. Look for specialty retailers. As you drive around your own hometown or a nearby larger city, keep on the lookout for specialty retailers that might be interested in selling your friend's books. Cookbooks in gourmet shows, do-it-yourself books in hardware stores, children's books in toy stores, art or history books at museum shops. Make the contacts yourself or pass them on to your friend to follow up.15. Look for other sales venues. If your friend's book is about retirement, check out accountants, tax lawyers, etc. who might be interested in buying copies to give to their clients. Health books, children's books, and cookbooks might interest doctor and dentist offices. Health clubs might be interested in exercise or diet books. Again, make the contacts yourself or pass them on to your friend to follow up.16. Suggest catalogs, associations, and other special sales opportunities. If you receive mail order catalogs that feature books like your friend's book, tell her abour the catalog. The same with associations, groups, corporations, etc. that might be interested in buying bulk copies of your friend's book.17. Help them sell rights. If your friend's novel would make a great movie and you have a connection to an A-list actor or producer who might be interested in making the movie, introduce your friend to your connection. The same with TV producers, audio publishers, agents, etc.18. Be a mentor. Provide feedback on your friend's marketing ideas, book proposals, news releases, book covers, etc. Share your experience, if you have any, on marketing, writing, publishing, printing, design, etc.19. Form a mastermind group. Create a group of five or so knowledgeable people who can help your friend with the writing, publishing, or marketing of his or her book. You can meet regularly (at least once a month) live, via phone calls, or via online webinars.20. Write a testimonial. Or write an introduction to the book. Blurb it (give a great selling quote that can go on the back cover of the book).21. Social network for your friend. Tweet about your friend's book. Retweet his tweets. Engage in a conversation with her on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Write comments on your friend's blog. Interaction and activity increase any person's visibility on the Internet and the search engines.22. Champion your friend's book. When you visit bookstores, make sure they have your friend's book in stock. If they do, then put the book face out on the bookshelf.23. Seed your friend's book. If you can afford to buy a few extra copies, start leaving them around town. Leave a copy on the bus. Donate a copy to the library. Leave a copy in a waiting room. Every additional book out in the world helps to generate exposure for your friend's book while also increasing the word-of-mouth about the book.24. Host your friend. If your friend wants to do a book tour and you live in a city he wants to visit, offer to put him up at your home. Drive her around town to her media appearances and book events. Pick him up at the airport. Take him back afterwards. Do whatever you can to make their book tour in your town the best ever. You can, of course, also help her set up a tour in your town, with media interviews and author events.25. Recommend your friend's book to your reading group. If you belong to a reading group, suggest your friend's book as part of your reading program. Or at least tell your reading group about the book.26. Sell their books at your events. If you speak, do seminars, or display at trade shows or fairs, offer to sell your friend's book along with your book, crafts, tapes, or whatever you sell.27. Reciprocal link. Set up links from your websites to your friend's book or author website. Better yet, create a special page recommending your friend's book or speeches and then link to his or her website.28. Interview them. If you host an Internet radio show, podcast, or teleseminar series, interview your friend.29. Create other products. Help your author friend generate other products to sell. Interview them for a CD or DVD product. Create a joint webinar. Compile a collection of articles written by your friend and other friends.30. Add their blog to your blogroll. If you write a blog, add your friend's blog to your blogroll. It's a simple thing to do, but another link is added notice to the search engines that the writer's blog is important.31. Blog about your friend or her book. Post an article about the book, a review of the book, etc.32. Interview your friend on your blog. An author interview is one of the best ways to introduce a new book author to a wider audience - even if your blog has a small audience. Every added audience provides impetus to growing awareness of the author's website, book, and brand.33. Host a blog tour visit from your friend. Volunteer to me one of the host blogs on your friend's Mega Blog Tour.34. Share their book in the literary social media such as Goodreads, Shelfari, and LibraryThing.35. Help out on Amazon.com. Amazon is the big kahuna of book sellers, especially when it comes to ebooks, so helping an author get found on there can give them a big boost.You can certainly do these things on other bookstore sites as well (nothing against copying and pasting a review, for example), but Amazon tends to have more cool features to help an author get found.Here's the list (any one of these things can help):Write a review on Amazon, even if the book already has quite a few and/or you've reviewed it elsewhere. There's evidence that ratings and reviews factor into the Amazon algorithms that decide which books are promoted on the site (i.e. certain books are recommended to customers who bought books in similar genres). If reviewing isn't your bag, don't worry about writing paragraphs-long in-depth studies of the book; maybe you could just pen a few sentences with a couple of specifics about why you liked the book.
Tag the book with genre-appropriate labels (i.e. thriller, steampunk, paranormal romance). You don't have to leave a review to do this; you just need an account at Amazon. A combination of the right tags and a good sales ranking can make a book come up when customers search for that type of story on Amazon.
Give the book a thumbs up. This takes less than a second and probably doesn't do much, but it may play into Amazon's algorithms to a lesser extent than reviews/ratings.
Make a Listmania List and add your favorite authors' books to it. This creates another avenue for new readers to find books. It's better to create lists around similar types of books (i.e. genres or sub-genres) than to do a smorgasbord, and consider titling it something description so folks will be more inclined to check it out, ie. "Fun heroic fantasy ebooks for $5 or less."
If you have a Kindle, highlight and share some wise or fun quotations from the boo. If enough people share their highlights, they'll show up at the bottom of a book's page.
The above Amazon.com suggestions are excerpted from an original blog post by Lindsay Buroker.36. Buy your friend a copy of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Okay, this is a little selfish on my part, but your friend will love the gift and gain incredible value from reading the book and acting on all the ideas in the book.You can order the book at Amazon.com or via this website.If you like the above article, you'll also like the following 2 blog posts as well. 31 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page . You can read it here:http://askjohnkremer.com/31-ways-to-promote-your-facebook-page (posted on 9/17/11). 101 Ways to Blog as a Book Author . You can read it here:http://blog.bookmarket.com/2011/06/101-ways-to-blog-as-book-author-plus.html.http://www.bookmarket.com/loveawriter.htm
Tag the book with genre-appropriate labels (i.e. thriller, steampunk, paranormal romance). You don't have to leave a review to do this; you just need an account at Amazon. A combination of the right tags and a good sales ranking can make a book come up when customers search for that type of story on Amazon.
Give the book a thumbs up. This takes less than a second and probably doesn't do much, but it may play into Amazon's algorithms to a lesser extent than reviews/ratings.
Make a Listmania List and add your favorite authors' books to it. This creates another avenue for new readers to find books. It's better to create lists around similar types of books (i.e. genres or sub-genres) than to do a smorgasbord, and consider titling it something description so folks will be more inclined to check it out, ie. "Fun heroic fantasy ebooks for $5 or less."
If you have a Kindle, highlight and share some wise or fun quotations from the boo. If enough people share their highlights, they'll show up at the bottom of a book's page.
The above Amazon.com suggestions are excerpted from an original blog post by Lindsay Buroker.36. Buy your friend a copy of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Okay, this is a little selfish on my part, but your friend will love the gift and gain incredible value from reading the book and acting on all the ideas in the book.You can order the book at Amazon.com or via this website.If you like the above article, you'll also like the following 2 blog posts as well. 31 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page . You can read it here:http://askjohnkremer.com/31-ways-to-promote-your-facebook-page (posted on 9/17/11). 101 Ways to Blog as a Book Author . You can read it here:http://blog.bookmarket.com/2011/06/101-ways-to-blog-as-book-author-plus.html.http://www.bookmarket.com/loveawriter.htm
Book Marketing Tips
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/video-john-kremer-on-book-marketing-in-2012/
Last week I had a chance to sit down with John Kremer and have a chat about book marketing.
I don't think John needs much of an introduction, but for those new to the indie publishing scene, you really ought to get to know him and what he has to offer indie authors.
John is the owner of Open Horizons publishing in New Mexico and his website, http://bookmarket.com/ is the largest collection of marketing advice for indie authors anywhere online.
John is the author of several books including the classic 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, and he runs The Book Marketing Network, a social media site with a membership of over 7,000 authors, self-publishers and others involved in writing, producing and marketing books.
I was curious to see what John thinks are the best practices for authors who are marketing today, and he really delivered. This video is full of actionable advice, tips and ideas from a man who has been studying and practicing book marketing for over 25 years.
Here's the interview
click on the link ot see the video!
Last week I had a chance to sit down with John Kremer and have a chat about book marketing.
I don't think John needs much of an introduction, but for those new to the indie publishing scene, you really ought to get to know him and what he has to offer indie authors.
John is the owner of Open Horizons publishing in New Mexico and his website, http://bookmarket.com/ is the largest collection of marketing advice for indie authors anywhere online.
John is the author of several books including the classic 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, and he runs The Book Marketing Network, a social media site with a membership of over 7,000 authors, self-publishers and others involved in writing, producing and marketing books.
I was curious to see what John thinks are the best practices for authors who are marketing today, and he really delivered. This video is full of actionable advice, tips and ideas from a man who has been studying and practicing book marketing for over 25 years.
Here's the interview
click on the link ot see the video!
January 23, 2012
How to Get Blurbs for your book!
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/how-to-get-testimonials-for-your-self-published-book/
One way enterprising authors can level the playing field for their book marketing is to enlist the help of better-known, more-established figures in their field.
How do you do that? By getting people to read (or scan) your book and supply a positive comment you can use in your book promotion. These promotional quotes have many uses, whether you call them testimonials, blurbs, or something else.
Before we go into how to get these testimonials, let's take a look at why they work.
How Testimonials Help Sell BooksThe power of testimonials varies depending on:
the kind of book you are publishing
the specific niche into which you hope to sell it, and
the influence of the people who are giving the testimonials.
Two important elements that affect the effectiveness of your testimonials are social proof and congruence. Let's look at each one.
Social Proof
A lot of the influence of testimonials comes through the persuasive effect of what's called "social proof." In an ambiguous situation, the influence of what other people are doing can determine how we react.
For instance, in considering a book in which you might be interested, if you notice that every authority in the field has recommended the book, that's a powerful form of social proof in your decision whether or not to buy the book.
The Congruence Test
Testimonials also exercise another persuasive effect through the perceived authority of the person giving the quote. So if you have a book on how to throw the perfect pass in football, a testimonial from Aaron Rogers, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, last year's championship team, will carry a lot of influence.
But a mistake authors often make, in my experience, is assuming that authority in one field will carry over to other fields. If Aaron Rogers gives me a testimonial for a book on getting rid of garden pests, who cares? Rogers has no authority in the field of pest control (that I know of) so this testimonial would fail the test of congruence—there's no connection between his field of authority and the subject of the book.
Authors fall into this trap in different ways, but the most common one I hear is something like this: "Well, Aaron used to babysit for my sister and said he'd be happy to help out any way he could, so I thought it would be great if someone as famous as him says good things about my garden pest book. I mean, millions of people love the guy, how could it hurt?"
My advice would be to resist this temptation and wait for your football book to be ready before you appeal to Aaron Rogers for a blurb. It's important here to realize the difference between the kind of celebrity testimonials you see on TV and targeted book promotion. Aaron might be able to sell Cadillacs for the local dealer. After all, Cadillacs are the same no matter which dealer you buy them from, so Aaron's testimony that "Charlie's Caddys is the best place to shop!" could carry some weight.
But if your book presents you as an expert in the field, you are selling something quite different and unique. Here, people really care about whether you know your stuff, and no amount of testimony from an unrelated, non-expert, non-authoritative source is going to help.
Okay, now we're ready to look at how to get this done for your book.
Getting Testimonials: A 3-Step ProcessIn order to streamline your efforts at getting blurbs for your book, I've condensed this process into three pretty simple steps.
1. Identify Your Targets
This is a very important part of the process, and here's where you have to really stretch yourself the most. What I mean is that you are going to want to "shoot for the stars" and try to get the very best quotes you can from the people who are at the top of the mountain in terms of notoriety and influence over the people you've identified as potential buyers of your book.
It's super important here to rigorously apply the law of congruence we talked about before. You have to know who your readers are and who influences them. That's much more important than whether they are "famous" or on TV or a friend of the family.
But don't hold back. Spend a few minutes fantasizing about the "perfect" blurb, the one that might really change the sales of your book, and what it would look like on the cover of your book or in the first paragraph of your press release. Then go for it, and include those people in your campaign.
In this step, you'll also need to get the email or regular mail addresses for the people on your list. And don't limit the number of people you ask. Get your list together and plan on approaching every one of them.
2. Send a Well-Crafted Query
Your query letter will make or break your testimonial campaign, so it's important to spend time on it. Here are some tips to remember as you draft and review it.
Keep it short. It's likely that the people you are querying are pretty busy. If you send a four-page letter explaining your book and marketing in detail, many people won't even have time to read it. So how short should it be? As short as possible to still get the job done, but in no case should you go more than one page.
Introduce yourself. If the people you are writing to don't know you, you'll need to include some information on who you are and why you're qualified to write your book. However, no one wants to read a resume or long list of accomplishments; that's boring and will put people off if you include it at the beginning of your query.
Why is it important? Tell in a sentence or two what you hope to accomplish with your book and why other people should care.
Connect to a common cause. This is crucial. Try to establish a commonality between yourself and the person you are querying. For instance, if their last book is on a similar subject, point out that you are both trying to educate people on these issues. It's also important here to mention whether the person's work is noted in your book, or if they or their works are quoted, and where.
Be specific about what you want. You need to include in your query exactly what you're looking for and what you intend to do with it. For instance, you might say "If you enjoy the book, would you give me a quote I can use in my book promotion?" Don't forget to mention that you may edit the responses for length, since some authors will send you much more material than you can reasonably use.
Set a deadline. You will get far more responses if you set a deadline, and this is quite common in publishing where we're trying to meet publication day deadlines. You can say something like, "It would help tremendously to have your response by February 1, but of course I would be grateful for any responses that come in after that if your schedule doesn't allow you to meet that date."
Make it easy. Don't send your book with the query letter, but do offer it in whichever formats you have available. If you are doing a print or print on-demand book, offer the printed copy as well as a PDF. If you have an eBook version, offer that as well. I particularly like PDFs and use them extensively because they look just like the printed book but can be delivered instantly.
Leave options open. Be aware that there may be reasons a particular person won't blurb your book, and that's just the way it is. Don't take it personally, since the person may just be very busy, on a deadline of their own, traveling, or the brother-in-law of your biggest competitor. You never know, but the idea is to invite enough people that you'll end up with some really great testimonials even if a number of people don't respond.
3. Follow UpAbout a week before your deadline, send a very gentle reminder to people who have agreed to review the book but who haven't yet responded.
Even more important, when someone sends you a blurb you can use, make sure to thank them. This simple step, often overlooked, can help ease your way when you want to do more promotion or you're ready to promote your next book.
Another way to show the people who blurbed you that you really appreciate their help is to send them a copy of the finished book with another thank you note.
Being able to issue your book with the strong recommendation of a host of experts and authority figures in your field will give your book a boost in many ways. So shoot for the stars, and give your book the help it deserves by getting the best testimonials you can.
One way enterprising authors can level the playing field for their book marketing is to enlist the help of better-known, more-established figures in their field.
How do you do that? By getting people to read (or scan) your book and supply a positive comment you can use in your book promotion. These promotional quotes have many uses, whether you call them testimonials, blurbs, or something else.
Before we go into how to get these testimonials, let's take a look at why they work.
How Testimonials Help Sell BooksThe power of testimonials varies depending on:
the kind of book you are publishing
the specific niche into which you hope to sell it, and
the influence of the people who are giving the testimonials.
Two important elements that affect the effectiveness of your testimonials are social proof and congruence. Let's look at each one.
Social Proof
A lot of the influence of testimonials comes through the persuasive effect of what's called "social proof." In an ambiguous situation, the influence of what other people are doing can determine how we react.
For instance, in considering a book in which you might be interested, if you notice that every authority in the field has recommended the book, that's a powerful form of social proof in your decision whether or not to buy the book.
The Congruence Test
Testimonials also exercise another persuasive effect through the perceived authority of the person giving the quote. So if you have a book on how to throw the perfect pass in football, a testimonial from Aaron Rogers, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, last year's championship team, will carry a lot of influence.
But a mistake authors often make, in my experience, is assuming that authority in one field will carry over to other fields. If Aaron Rogers gives me a testimonial for a book on getting rid of garden pests, who cares? Rogers has no authority in the field of pest control (that I know of) so this testimonial would fail the test of congruence—there's no connection between his field of authority and the subject of the book.
Authors fall into this trap in different ways, but the most common one I hear is something like this: "Well, Aaron used to babysit for my sister and said he'd be happy to help out any way he could, so I thought it would be great if someone as famous as him says good things about my garden pest book. I mean, millions of people love the guy, how could it hurt?"
My advice would be to resist this temptation and wait for your football book to be ready before you appeal to Aaron Rogers for a blurb. It's important here to realize the difference between the kind of celebrity testimonials you see on TV and targeted book promotion. Aaron might be able to sell Cadillacs for the local dealer. After all, Cadillacs are the same no matter which dealer you buy them from, so Aaron's testimony that "Charlie's Caddys is the best place to shop!" could carry some weight.
But if your book presents you as an expert in the field, you are selling something quite different and unique. Here, people really care about whether you know your stuff, and no amount of testimony from an unrelated, non-expert, non-authoritative source is going to help.
Okay, now we're ready to look at how to get this done for your book.
Getting Testimonials: A 3-Step ProcessIn order to streamline your efforts at getting blurbs for your book, I've condensed this process into three pretty simple steps.
1. Identify Your Targets
This is a very important part of the process, and here's where you have to really stretch yourself the most. What I mean is that you are going to want to "shoot for the stars" and try to get the very best quotes you can from the people who are at the top of the mountain in terms of notoriety and influence over the people you've identified as potential buyers of your book.
It's super important here to rigorously apply the law of congruence we talked about before. You have to know who your readers are and who influences them. That's much more important than whether they are "famous" or on TV or a friend of the family.
But don't hold back. Spend a few minutes fantasizing about the "perfect" blurb, the one that might really change the sales of your book, and what it would look like on the cover of your book or in the first paragraph of your press release. Then go for it, and include those people in your campaign.
In this step, you'll also need to get the email or regular mail addresses for the people on your list. And don't limit the number of people you ask. Get your list together and plan on approaching every one of them.
2. Send a Well-Crafted Query
Your query letter will make or break your testimonial campaign, so it's important to spend time on it. Here are some tips to remember as you draft and review it.
Keep it short. It's likely that the people you are querying are pretty busy. If you send a four-page letter explaining your book and marketing in detail, many people won't even have time to read it. So how short should it be? As short as possible to still get the job done, but in no case should you go more than one page.
Introduce yourself. If the people you are writing to don't know you, you'll need to include some information on who you are and why you're qualified to write your book. However, no one wants to read a resume or long list of accomplishments; that's boring and will put people off if you include it at the beginning of your query.
Why is it important? Tell in a sentence or two what you hope to accomplish with your book and why other people should care.
Connect to a common cause. This is crucial. Try to establish a commonality between yourself and the person you are querying. For instance, if their last book is on a similar subject, point out that you are both trying to educate people on these issues. It's also important here to mention whether the person's work is noted in your book, or if they or their works are quoted, and where.
Be specific about what you want. You need to include in your query exactly what you're looking for and what you intend to do with it. For instance, you might say "If you enjoy the book, would you give me a quote I can use in my book promotion?" Don't forget to mention that you may edit the responses for length, since some authors will send you much more material than you can reasonably use.
Set a deadline. You will get far more responses if you set a deadline, and this is quite common in publishing where we're trying to meet publication day deadlines. You can say something like, "It would help tremendously to have your response by February 1, but of course I would be grateful for any responses that come in after that if your schedule doesn't allow you to meet that date."
Make it easy. Don't send your book with the query letter, but do offer it in whichever formats you have available. If you are doing a print or print on-demand book, offer the printed copy as well as a PDF. If you have an eBook version, offer that as well. I particularly like PDFs and use them extensively because they look just like the printed book but can be delivered instantly.
Leave options open. Be aware that there may be reasons a particular person won't blurb your book, and that's just the way it is. Don't take it personally, since the person may just be very busy, on a deadline of their own, traveling, or the brother-in-law of your biggest competitor. You never know, but the idea is to invite enough people that you'll end up with some really great testimonials even if a number of people don't respond.
3. Follow UpAbout a week before your deadline, send a very gentle reminder to people who have agreed to review the book but who haven't yet responded.
Even more important, when someone sends you a blurb you can use, make sure to thank them. This simple step, often overlooked, can help ease your way when you want to do more promotion or you're ready to promote your next book.
Another way to show the people who blurbed you that you really appreciate their help is to send them a copy of the finished book with another thank you note.
Being able to issue your book with the strong recommendation of a host of experts and authority figures in your field will give your book a boost in many ways. So shoot for the stars, and give your book the help it deserves by getting the best testimonials you can.
January 18, 2012
Ebooks, Authors and Musicians--a Special Link!
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/lee-fosters-ebook-publishing-revolution/
Today I welcome a friend from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA), travel book author Lee Foster, an energetic practitioner in the ongoing ebook publishing revolution around us. Lee is a veteran and award-winning travel journalist whose work has won eight Lowell Thomas Awards, the highest awards in travel journalism.
You can see more about Lee's articles, photos, 10 books, and 4 apps on his website at http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/lee-fosters-ebook-publishing-revolution/www.fostertravel.com. Beyond ebooks, Lee has been a pioneer in app publishing.
In this article Lee focuses on "The Ebook Publishing Revolution." Lee has just released his independently-published print book as an ebook through BookBaby and will keep 100% of the net sales.
At the same time, one of Lee's traditional print publishing partners has released ebooks of two of his earlier books, with Lee getting 20% of the net sales.
What will be the future of independent author/traditional publisher relationships? Lee has many insights into the current publishing scene, including the debt that writers/photographers owe to musicians, who led the way in digital publishing. Lee is impressed with the simplicity of ebook publishing files and has a perspective on the price of ebooks, always a controversial subject.
Here's the first half of Lee's article. Look out tomorrow for the conclusion.
We are in the midst of a fast-developing publishing revolution in ebooks. The most revolutionary aspect of the current scene is that I, as a travel writer/photographer, can publish an ebook of my work and keep 100% of the net sale.
I have done just that, publishing my travel literary book, Travels in an American Imagination: The Spiritual Geography of Our Time, for $2.99 in the Apple iBook Store, the Amazon Kindle Store, and the other viable stores for Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader. The book also sells as a printed book for $14.95. The book won a Best Travel Commentary award from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.
The deal sounds too good to be true. When things sound too good to be true, they usually are not true. But this is an exception. My partner in this venture is an entity known as BookBaby.
Simultaneously, one of my traditional print book publishing partners, Countryman Press, has released two of my books published through them as ebooks in the same stores. The titles are The Photographer's Guide to San Francisco and The Photographer's Guide to Washington DC.
The Countryman price for these ebooks, which sell as print books at $14.95, are $9.95 in the Amazon Kindle Store and $10.95 in the Apple iBook Store. They pay me 20% of the net sale as my royalty.
A careful reader will already detect some issues with all the conflicting figures presented. What is the basis of price? What is the share of royalty? Where is this publishing drama headed? How will author/traditional publisher relationships evolve, given the revolution in process.
To understand what is happening, I present three aspects, which may at first seem ironic and tangential, but are, in fact, central to the discussion:
The Ebook Publishing Link Between Musicians and Writers/Photographers
The Layout Simplicity of Ebooks
The Pricing of Ebooks
Let's get started:
The Ebook Publishing Link Between Musicians and Writers/PhotographersIronically, there is a special link between musicians and writers/photographers in the new publishing world of ebooks and apps.
Musicians have led the way in the publishing of digital files, meaning downloadable files or files on a CD product. Now writers/photographers are beginning to benefit from the publishing of digital files, meaning ebooks and apps, either downloadable or on a CD. Most of the activity and benefit is in the downloadable sector.
Writers/photographers owe a great debt of gratitude to musicians, who have created the ground-breaking relationships for selling in this manner in the new digital age.
An interesting expression of this relationship can be seen in a Portland-based company that started with the company named CDBaby and has now expanded to include an ebook-publishing branch called BookBaby.
CDBaby claims to have published music from more than 250,000 independent musical artists, paying them about $200 million in royalties. BookBaby hopes to do the same for writers/photographers who want to publish ebooks.
BookBaby, like CDBaby, has an unusual business model. They charge a small up-front fee of $199 for formatting and placement of the ebook in the main store structures (Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook, B&N Nook, and Sony Reader). There may be further charges for graphics-intensive layouts, cover design, and ISBN assignment (if the author doesn't have his or her own ISBNs).
They also charge a longtail fee of $19/year to keep the ebook in their system for every year after the first year. Beyond that, they return to the creator 100% of all sales.
I used BookBaby for my book, and it worked. My book looks great in both its Kindle and Apple versions. I will use BookBaby for two future ebooks I plan to do.
Joel has conducted two fascinating interviews with the CDBaby/BookBaby CEO, Brian Felsen. The most recent is at:
Brian Felsen of BookBaby.com on the Future of e-Books
and the earlier one is at:
e-Book Distribution with BookBaby's Brian Felsen
Felsen comments that they have had so much success with musicians that it is easy for the company now to branch out to writers/photographers who want to market their products as ebooks. After all, digital files are digital files.
Today I welcome a friend from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA), travel book author Lee Foster, an energetic practitioner in the ongoing ebook publishing revolution around us. Lee is a veteran and award-winning travel journalist whose work has won eight Lowell Thomas Awards, the highest awards in travel journalism.
You can see more about Lee's articles, photos, 10 books, and 4 apps on his website at http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/lee-fosters-ebook-publishing-revolution/www.fostertravel.com. Beyond ebooks, Lee has been a pioneer in app publishing.
In this article Lee focuses on "The Ebook Publishing Revolution." Lee has just released his independently-published print book as an ebook through BookBaby and will keep 100% of the net sales.
At the same time, one of Lee's traditional print publishing partners has released ebooks of two of his earlier books, with Lee getting 20% of the net sales.
What will be the future of independent author/traditional publisher relationships? Lee has many insights into the current publishing scene, including the debt that writers/photographers owe to musicians, who led the way in digital publishing. Lee is impressed with the simplicity of ebook publishing files and has a perspective on the price of ebooks, always a controversial subject.
Here's the first half of Lee's article. Look out tomorrow for the conclusion.
We are in the midst of a fast-developing publishing revolution in ebooks. The most revolutionary aspect of the current scene is that I, as a travel writer/photographer, can publish an ebook of my work and keep 100% of the net sale.
I have done just that, publishing my travel literary book, Travels in an American Imagination: The Spiritual Geography of Our Time, for $2.99 in the Apple iBook Store, the Amazon Kindle Store, and the other viable stores for Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader. The book also sells as a printed book for $14.95. The book won a Best Travel Commentary award from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.
The deal sounds too good to be true. When things sound too good to be true, they usually are not true. But this is an exception. My partner in this venture is an entity known as BookBaby.
Simultaneously, one of my traditional print book publishing partners, Countryman Press, has released two of my books published through them as ebooks in the same stores. The titles are The Photographer's Guide to San Francisco and The Photographer's Guide to Washington DC.
The Countryman price for these ebooks, which sell as print books at $14.95, are $9.95 in the Amazon Kindle Store and $10.95 in the Apple iBook Store. They pay me 20% of the net sale as my royalty.
A careful reader will already detect some issues with all the conflicting figures presented. What is the basis of price? What is the share of royalty? Where is this publishing drama headed? How will author/traditional publisher relationships evolve, given the revolution in process.
To understand what is happening, I present three aspects, which may at first seem ironic and tangential, but are, in fact, central to the discussion:
The Ebook Publishing Link Between Musicians and Writers/Photographers
The Layout Simplicity of Ebooks
The Pricing of Ebooks
Let's get started:
The Ebook Publishing Link Between Musicians and Writers/PhotographersIronically, there is a special link between musicians and writers/photographers in the new publishing world of ebooks and apps.
Musicians have led the way in the publishing of digital files, meaning downloadable files or files on a CD product. Now writers/photographers are beginning to benefit from the publishing of digital files, meaning ebooks and apps, either downloadable or on a CD. Most of the activity and benefit is in the downloadable sector.
Writers/photographers owe a great debt of gratitude to musicians, who have created the ground-breaking relationships for selling in this manner in the new digital age.
An interesting expression of this relationship can be seen in a Portland-based company that started with the company named CDBaby and has now expanded to include an ebook-publishing branch called BookBaby.
CDBaby claims to have published music from more than 250,000 independent musical artists, paying them about $200 million in royalties. BookBaby hopes to do the same for writers/photographers who want to publish ebooks.
BookBaby, like CDBaby, has an unusual business model. They charge a small up-front fee of $199 for formatting and placement of the ebook in the main store structures (Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook, B&N Nook, and Sony Reader). There may be further charges for graphics-intensive layouts, cover design, and ISBN assignment (if the author doesn't have his or her own ISBNs).
They also charge a longtail fee of $19/year to keep the ebook in their system for every year after the first year. Beyond that, they return to the creator 100% of all sales.
Ed: Readers of The Book Designer get a discount from BookBaby: simply use the coupon code jfbookman2 at checkout!It sounds almost too good to be true. However, these people have vast experience with handling digital files and setting up automatic bullet-proof accounting systems in CDBaby, which has a similar revenue payout. So they can now make this same offer to writers/photographers. CDBaby/BookBaby describes itself as a "non-predatory" publisher.
I used BookBaby for my book, and it worked. My book looks great in both its Kindle and Apple versions. I will use BookBaby for two future ebooks I plan to do.
Joel has conducted two fascinating interviews with the CDBaby/BookBaby CEO, Brian Felsen. The most recent is at:
Brian Felsen of BookBaby.com on the Future of e-Books
and the earlier one is at:
e-Book Distribution with BookBaby's Brian Felsen
Felsen comments that they have had so much success with musicians that it is easy for the company now to branch out to writers/photographers who want to market their products as ebooks. After all, digital files are digital files.
January 17, 2012
Advance Reader Book Review -Closing The Gate
CLOSING THE GATE
Book Review by Teresa Belardes
"Closing the Gate" by Deb Simpson
For most of us, the headlines regarding the Mass Suicide of the thirty-six "Heaven's Gate" cult members in Rancho Santa Fe, Ca. in 1997 was a sad curiosity. For Author Deb Simpson, it became up close and personal when her now adult, baby brother Jimmy, became collateral damage, his dead body discovered five weeks later in Atlanta Georgia. This, his second attempt to follow "those who went on ahead', at last for him, successful.
This is a page turner of a story that manages to show clearly, the many facets of the characters who shaped the author's life and that of her brother. It is a testament to their grandmother with whom she spent a few early years, that she was able to come away with enough tools to enable her to make different choices than the narrow possibilities that would inevitably be all that were available to her brother, after a childhood of loneliness and neglect. It paints a vivid case picture for the argument gauging 'Nature versus Nurture'
This author has managed, through her grief, to tell the poignant and tragic story of a childhood bereft of the safety and security of the traditional family at the hands of a mother and father who can only be described in hindsight as wholly unfit to parent, but whose journey is as fascinating as it is doomed. With these two, the dynamics that are at play are as intricate as the voices are strong, and everyone in their orbit comes away with at least a partial ticket to their ship wreck.
Deb's detailed and appraising effort to sort out the path of a life that would lead to such a tragic end, results in a book that is at once a tribute and memorial to her brother, a soul search for the reader, and a call to arms for recognizing the utter importance of the early childhood years as a foundation for a well-rounded and fully formed adulthood. Might it also be a conscious or unconscious attempt to protect all the young and innocent souls that come after?
Probably.
Successful?
I hope so.
Closing the Gate is simply and frankly written. The author pulls you into her story and doesn't let you go. In fact, you will be thinking about this one long after you close the book.
ISBN Paperback ;978-0-9848968-0-6
ISBN Hardcover 978-0-9848968-1-3
Available March 2012 -bookstores and online booksellers
from Piney D Press
Book Review by Teresa Belardes
"Closing the Gate" by Deb SimpsonFor most of us, the headlines regarding the Mass Suicide of the thirty-six "Heaven's Gate" cult members in Rancho Santa Fe, Ca. in 1997 was a sad curiosity. For Author Deb Simpson, it became up close and personal when her now adult, baby brother Jimmy, became collateral damage, his dead body discovered five weeks later in Atlanta Georgia. This, his second attempt to follow "those who went on ahead', at last for him, successful.
This is a page turner of a story that manages to show clearly, the many facets of the characters who shaped the author's life and that of her brother. It is a testament to their grandmother with whom she spent a few early years, that she was able to come away with enough tools to enable her to make different choices than the narrow possibilities that would inevitably be all that were available to her brother, after a childhood of loneliness and neglect. It paints a vivid case picture for the argument gauging 'Nature versus Nurture'
This author has managed, through her grief, to tell the poignant and tragic story of a childhood bereft of the safety and security of the traditional family at the hands of a mother and father who can only be described in hindsight as wholly unfit to parent, but whose journey is as fascinating as it is doomed. With these two, the dynamics that are at play are as intricate as the voices are strong, and everyone in their orbit comes away with at least a partial ticket to their ship wreck.
Deb's detailed and appraising effort to sort out the path of a life that would lead to such a tragic end, results in a book that is at once a tribute and memorial to her brother, a soul search for the reader, and a call to arms for recognizing the utter importance of the early childhood years as a foundation for a well-rounded and fully formed adulthood. Might it also be a conscious or unconscious attempt to protect all the young and innocent souls that come after?
Probably.
Successful?
I hope so.
Closing the Gate is simply and frankly written. The author pulls you into her story and doesn't let you go. In fact, you will be thinking about this one long after you close the book.
ISBN Paperback ;978-0-9848968-0-6
ISBN Hardcover 978-0-9848968-1-3
Available March 2012 -bookstores and online booksellers
from Piney D Press
Why Book Cover Design is Challenging!
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/book-cover-design-and-the-problem-of-symbolism/#more-18959
Do You Know Your Own Book Too Well?One common cover design error you may not have thought of is particularly difficult for many authors to overcome: they know their own books too well.
What I mean is that when you wrote the book, you invested it with lots of meaning, and perhaps you wove in symbols throughout the story to make it that much more enticing. But when it comes to the book cover, professional designers know that usually, "less is more."
The problem is that authors are so attached to their own symbolism or to an image they have lodged in their mind that would be "perfect" for the book cover, they lose sight of the role their book cover is intended to play. One of the quickest ways to kill any good effect of your book cover is to include too many elements. In fact, this is one of the most common failures of amateur designers.
Let's say a book has scenes that take place near the pyramids in Egypt, in Trafalgar Square in London, and atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The protagonist is an expert at martial arts and a vial of some secret compound plays a central role in the book.
Okay, here's my message: you don't have to assemble a picture of the pyramids, the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar Square, the Eiffel tower, two men in a fight, and a glass vial and put them all on the cover.
I've seen book covers with as many as 12 separate elements crowding into the space. What's the result? Confusion. And when people are confused by what they're looking at, they just move on. With all that stuff on the cover, there's no one element that stands out or is emblematic of the book and its central themes.
Of course, the author may be quite unwilling to let go of all these pieces, and will fight to keep them. After all, there's great symbolism perhaps, in the red roses the heroine stops to admire in the book, or the bridge the lovers met on and where the story reaches its denouement.
It really doesn't matter. When you tie yourself—or your designer—into the presentation of your symbolism on the book cover, you're tying your hands at the same time.
In Book Covers, Simplicity Works!Book covers work best when they combine simple yet powerful elements together in a unified whole that tells, at a glance, what the reader can expect from the book. If you try to tell the whole story on the cover, it will fail. If you try to load up all the symbolism that's in the book, the cover will fail.
One of the best ways to find out how book cover designers achieve this is to go to a bookstore and look at the book covers in your genre. Stay within your genre and look at lots of books.
You will see exactly what I've talked about in this article. Simple graphics with a clear message about the type of book it is, and a very limited amount of type. Although nonfiction books have a lot more copy on the covers than fiction, it's still precious real estate and every word needs to earn its place on the cover.
The only exception you might find is in historical romance, where the convention sometimes includes sweeping panoramas with details from the story on the cover. So if you write historical romance, go ahead and give it a try, but remember those beautiful illustrations are done by professional illustrators who are paid quite well by the publisher.
Take this advice and keep your cover simple. Pick one element that gives a good idea of what's in the book and use an appropriate typeface, and you'll be much closer to avoiding that dreaded "amateur" look.
Do You Know Your Own Book Too Well?One common cover design error you may not have thought of is particularly difficult for many authors to overcome: they know their own books too well.
What I mean is that when you wrote the book, you invested it with lots of meaning, and perhaps you wove in symbols throughout the story to make it that much more enticing. But when it comes to the book cover, professional designers know that usually, "less is more."
The problem is that authors are so attached to their own symbolism or to an image they have lodged in their mind that would be "perfect" for the book cover, they lose sight of the role their book cover is intended to play. One of the quickest ways to kill any good effect of your book cover is to include too many elements. In fact, this is one of the most common failures of amateur designers.
Let's say a book has scenes that take place near the pyramids in Egypt, in Trafalgar Square in London, and atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The protagonist is an expert at martial arts and a vial of some secret compound plays a central role in the book.
Okay, here's my message: you don't have to assemble a picture of the pyramids, the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar Square, the Eiffel tower, two men in a fight, and a glass vial and put them all on the cover.
I've seen book covers with as many as 12 separate elements crowding into the space. What's the result? Confusion. And when people are confused by what they're looking at, they just move on. With all that stuff on the cover, there's no one element that stands out or is emblematic of the book and its central themes.
Of course, the author may be quite unwilling to let go of all these pieces, and will fight to keep them. After all, there's great symbolism perhaps, in the red roses the heroine stops to admire in the book, or the bridge the lovers met on and where the story reaches its denouement.
It really doesn't matter. When you tie yourself—or your designer—into the presentation of your symbolism on the book cover, you're tying your hands at the same time.
In Book Covers, Simplicity Works!Book covers work best when they combine simple yet powerful elements together in a unified whole that tells, at a glance, what the reader can expect from the book. If you try to tell the whole story on the cover, it will fail. If you try to load up all the symbolism that's in the book, the cover will fail.
What readers are looking for is an indication of what kind of book it is, what genre, and a sense of the tone.Is it dynamic, fast-paced and exciting? Is it a contemplation on our own mortality? Is it a romance? This information can be delivered to the potential book buyer quite easily.
One of the best ways to find out how book cover designers achieve this is to go to a bookstore and look at the book covers in your genre. Stay within your genre and look at lots of books.
You will see exactly what I've talked about in this article. Simple graphics with a clear message about the type of book it is, and a very limited amount of type. Although nonfiction books have a lot more copy on the covers than fiction, it's still precious real estate and every word needs to earn its place on the cover.
The only exception you might find is in historical romance, where the convention sometimes includes sweeping panoramas with details from the story on the cover. So if you write historical romance, go ahead and give it a try, but remember those beautiful illustrations are done by professional illustrators who are paid quite well by the publisher.
Take this advice and keep your cover simple. Pick one element that gives a good idea of what's in the book and use an appropriate typeface, and you'll be much closer to avoiding that dreaded "amateur" look.
January 16, 2012
January 13, 2012
Book cover design --print vs Ebook
Book covers for print and Ebook
One of the regular tasks of a book cover designer is preparing cover images for a client's use in promotions, website design, a whole host of things.
Today that was one of the things on my to-do list, and I prepared two JPGs, one for print and one for web use.
The book is 5.5″ x 8″, a size I've been using a lot recently. I ended up with two files:
Hi-res—This file was 5.5″ x 8″ with 300 dots per inch (dpi, can also be considered pixels for the purpose of file size). This is the resolution that's needed for high-quality printing.
This gives us these dimensions for our image file:
5.5 x 300 = 1,650 pixels
8 x 300 = 2,400 pixels
So the resulting file is 1,650 x 2,400 pixels, or a total of 3,960,000 pieces of data.
Lo-res—This file was also 5.5″ x 8″ but it had 72 dpi, which is the resolution used for images on computer screens.
This gives us these dimensions for our image file:
5.5 x 72 = 396 pixels
8 x 72 = 576 pixels
So the resulting file is 396 x 576 pixels, or a total of 228,096 pieces of data.
What The Figures ShowWhat I'm getting at is this: the print-resolution file has over 17 times more image data in it than the screen-resolution version.
I can't think of a clearer example of what direction designers need to be thinking when coming up with covers for e-books. Browsers will be looking at 1/17th the image information available on the printed book.
Don't fall in love with those big images you're looking at on your monitor. Keep it simple, direct, clear. You'll be way ahead.
One of the regular tasks of a book cover designer is preparing cover images for a client's use in promotions, website design, a whole host of things.
Today that was one of the things on my to-do list, and I prepared two JPGs, one for print and one for web use.
The book is 5.5″ x 8″, a size I've been using a lot recently. I ended up with two files:
Hi-res—This file was 5.5″ x 8″ with 300 dots per inch (dpi, can also be considered pixels for the purpose of file size). This is the resolution that's needed for high-quality printing.
This gives us these dimensions for our image file:
5.5 x 300 = 1,650 pixels
8 x 300 = 2,400 pixels
So the resulting file is 1,650 x 2,400 pixels, or a total of 3,960,000 pieces of data.
Lo-res—This file was also 5.5″ x 8″ but it had 72 dpi, which is the resolution used for images on computer screens.
This gives us these dimensions for our image file:
5.5 x 72 = 396 pixels
8 x 72 = 576 pixels
So the resulting file is 396 x 576 pixels, or a total of 228,096 pieces of data.
What The Figures ShowWhat I'm getting at is this: the print-resolution file has over 17 times more image data in it than the screen-resolution version.
I can't think of a clearer example of what direction designers need to be thinking when coming up with covers for e-books. Browsers will be looking at 1/17th the image information available on the printed book.
Don't fall in love with those big images you're looking at on your monitor. Keep it simple, direct, clear. You'll be way ahead.
