Designing Books to Sell Without Breaking the Budget

We’re in a tough economy, and the need to make books visually appealing is more important than ever. Your titles not only have to compete with other books, but also with other media. Insights examines current book design trends as well as budget-saving strategies, tactics and techniques.

Drawing Buyers’ Attention
The notion that looks don’t count is a sure-fire way to suppress sales. In an increasingly competitive and visually dominated, full-color world, your books need to capture buyers’ attention. That’s true regardless of publishing category or genre.

In fact, visuals are going beyond the cover in many categories where type-only once dominated. That doesn’t mean every book needs visuals to sell. There are other ways to engage readers. What it does mean is that there is a heightened emphasis on all elements of book design including:

A strong sense of unity should exist between the content of a book and its design and construction. Now more than ever, printed books need to play on their traditional strengths, reviving the concept of being things of beauty and high-perceived value.

Book Design Goes Global
Design styles are now increasingly international as modern communications rapidly spread ideas from one country—or one region of the world—to another. Books, like many art forms, now feature more commonality than uniqueness.

What isn’t changing is the importance of typography, even with the trend toward more color and visuals. Four basic typestyles remain dominant in today’s book designs:

Yet there is also a trend toward incorporating unique fonts, particularly for covers that need a special attention-grabber. Good sources for custom fonts are internal designers, indie font companies and design teams that may be available through your book manufacturer.

Production Techniques for the All-Important Cover
No one questions the importance of a cover’s appeal, and many publishers commit the majority of their design budgets to covers and book jackets. Fortunately, there is a wide range of production techniques available to help execute virtually any design concept. Some of the most popular techniques include:

What About Budget Considerations?
There are a lot of ways to produce creative ideas within budget, and the process starts by working collaboratively with your book manufacturer. But there is no doubt you’ll get the most bang for your buck with ink and coating techniques performed in-line during the normal printing process. The cost of an extra plate and some ink or coating on a multi-color press is a real bargain.

Book Design Services at Transcontinental
In additional to a full range of manufacturing, fulfillment and distribution services, Transcontinental has book design teams that can help you create the book cover or jacket that fits within your budget. We can also fill any other gaps in your design needs, streamlining your supply chain and providing the type of collaborative relationship and continuity that makes outsourcing work.

Why not contact us today for a no-obligations consultation?

Learn More In-depth Facts About Book Design
To help you better understand the trends and issues surrounding book design, Transcontinental published an informative white paper, Designing Books to Sell. Written from a publisher’s perspective, the white paper covers important topics including:

Download a complimentary copy today and discover ways that book publishers are combining design techniques and production technologies to enhance the eye appeal of books at a variety of budget levels, or contact us today.