Book Cover Illustrations

Choosing the right typeface (aka “font”) for a book cover or other publication is not as easy as it may seem. Part of the problem is the huge wealth of choices most of us have today. Back just a few decades ago, a designer might have access to a dozen typefaces on a good day. […]

I completed the book cover illustration and lettering/layout for R. P. Tedlie’s Isabel’s Tears a few days ago. While the initial publication will be in the Kindle format (which is grayscale), we went ahead and created a hi-resolution color version so the author would be ready for traditional printing should he decide to go that […]

The picture above was created for the cover of Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel’s book, The Spiritual Journey of Psalm 23. This is the second cover I’ve done for Samuel. Recently he found one of my illustrations at my web site that he liked, and we built on that concept using his choice of colors and […]

From the press release: The 2010 DIY Book Festival has issued a call for entries for its ninth annual program celebrating the success of independent authors and publishers. The DIY Book Festival will consider self-published or independent publisher non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children’s books, teenage, how-to, cookbooks, science fiction, audio/spoken word, photography, art, comics, ’zines, fan […]

Mother Jones magazine recently published “The Death of Fiction“ which suggests that while magazines that publish fiction are being flooded with submissions these days, the publications have fewer and fewer subscribers and readers. From this the author concludes that fiction, especially short stories, is dying. Well, maybe. But one is reminded of the old Mark […]

It is one thing to self-publish. Quite another to make money at it. Many beginners assume that if they right the book about the better mouse trap, the world will beat a path to their door. Sadly, that seldom happens. There are three things a title needs to succeed in today’s marketplace: Promotion, promotion, promotion. […]

Often when working on book illustrations for self-publishing authors, there will be confusion in regard to the DPI (dots per inch) needed for a picture to look good in print. The confusion comes because web pictures and most artwork designed for viewing on a computer screen will appear at 72 dpi (or, more rarely, at […]

I’ve become a publishing “old timer.” Over the years, I have played on both sides of the publishing street, starting as a small publisher in the 1980s (using a fine-dot, dot matrix to print up copy for the books, no less) which I marketed by magazine ads. This went well and laid the ground work […]

From time to time I get questions from self-publishing authors about books and ISBNs, so I thought I might address it here in my blog. The ISBN ( International Standard Book Number) was created so that books could be easily identified through computer systems worldwide. Originally made with a 10-digit number, it was later changed […]

Before you read further, a caveat and a few facts about me: I’ve worked for several decades in the publishing industry and worn all sorts of hats, from self-publishing/direct marketing, to advertising (mostly my own publications), to author (80 some books with large publishers like HarperCollins and Avon on down to small presses you’ve likely […]