A Beautiful Book Design Is Intended For You The Reader

By: Yai Prakanorn
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:02
Print this article | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Ok, so anyone can write a book, but just how many folks can write a ‘good’ book or a ‘great’ book is questionable. Since the introduction of the word processor, writing has never been easier and more trouble free. Many budding authors load a program such as MS Word and furiously start typing away until the virtual ink tells them it’s time to stop. There, all done, 1 completed book. Hmm! Well it’s not really that simple or the world would have more writers than readers and that would be bad news for anyone entering into the world of the novelist, the biographer, or the dramatist. Writing, along with book design is a lot more than the mere publication of words onto paper.

Imagine how a picture can look okay outside of its frame yet spectacular once enclosed inside it. Good book design is to a book what a frame is to a picture and this can have huge impact on the whether the book gets picked up and read or not. There are many great books that just sit on a dusty shelf going quite unnoticed for no other reason than the poor book design. Good book design is nothing short or an art form and is therefore an integral part of the book, and not simply an addition to it.

There’s nothing new about book design and it’s probably been going on for as long as the written word became popular. Back in the early days, the book design simply concentrated on protecting the pages by using strong papers which were then sandwiched between hard protective covers. There are still so many antique books around these days which show the designs were really well thought out as they have faired well against the rigors of time.

Over time when folks became more literate, so the demand for books began to grow. As literacy evolved among the masses, the design of books had to take on a whole new approach. Book designers now had to compete and start to concentrate on a more important feature than simple page protection. It was time to design books to sell.

If you look at the book designs of today, they are nothing less than commercial packaging for a product. Don’t get me wrong, book design is important because many of us not only read out books but have them on display too, which means they have to be pleasing covers. Good book designs sell books period. When browsing around a book store, the publishers are all too aware that you never get a second chance to make that first impression and with so many books on display, you need to stand out.

Clever book design also caters for the potential of a diverse readership and so a single book may have different covers which may target for say cultural sensibilities, the religious consumer, and perhaps translated versions of the book in question. To summarize, good book design of the 21st century is like any other commodity in that it needs to be promoted in a competitive way and to broad readership.

So as you can see, book design is more than just the format and layout of a page. It’s the cover, the size, the thickness, the paper, the feel and the understanding of the targeted readership, and, not forgetting that all important ingredient, the written word.

Yai Prakanorn is a proficient writer and webmaster for LoneDesigner dot com where she writes on issues such as the tattoo design and Chair designs. She also has many other design related pieces on the site.

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Book Marketing category

  • How to Make a Great Employee Handbook - By: Jeff McRitchie
    Putting together an employee handbook for your company is an important task, and is best done as a team effort. Here are some tips on how to create a great and useful handbook that covers all the bases.
  • How to Make the Best Yearbook Ever - By: Jeff McRitchie
    Making a yearbook is hard, but very rewarding work. Here are some quick tips for making your yearbook the best it can be.
  • Can you be a Freelance Writer? - By: Michiel Van Kets
    Being able to write for magazines or newspapers or any other well read document is a skill. Being able to write almost everyone learns throughout their life but being a writer as such is a different task altogether. When you write for print media, whether it be online media, a newspaper or a magazine you need to ensure that whatever it is you are offering is quality stuff.
  • How to get rich by writing fiction - By: Sudhir Sharma
    Some of us write simply because we cannot not write. Ideas grab us, move us, and demand to be written. We strive to make it as real as we possibly can, to improve at our craft every day, hopefully to make it into the realm of literature as well as entertainment.
  • Book Marketing 101 - By: Jasmeet Kahlon
    For beginning authors, book promotion is the key to success. Whether an author self-publishes or is published by a major house, most often that author needs to market her book herself if she wants there to be any chance at all of it being successful.
  • The REAL TRUTH on How to Write an eBook - By: Diya Sood
    The hardest part of writing is the first sentence. When you look at the whole project, it seems like an impossible task. That's why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain.
  • Book Marketing - How Rich Authors Make Money - By: Bob Burnham
    Ever wonder how some authors seem to steal the limelight and the profits while others collect dust on bookstore shelves? Some of those really well off authors are not even that good. You read their books and think "I could write better than this."
  • How To Write A Book, 4 Simple Strategies - By: Bob Burnham
    Writing a book doesn't have to be complicated. The image of the frustrated writer sitting at their typewriter with piles of balled up paper at their feet is a myth. In fact, when you use a few simple strategies, writing a book can be accomplished quickly and professionally - no writer's block and no piles of balled up paper.
  • How To Get A Reporter's Attention For Your Book - By: Jitender Sharma
    Reporters are busy people. On any given day they are fielding dozens of phone calls, making calls of their own, reading stacks of newspapers and magazines and rushing to meet deadlines. So how do you break through all the noise to get a reporter or an editor on the phone to listen to your pitch?
  • Kick Off Your Brochure Marketing With These Simple Steps - By: Janice Jenkins
    Brochures are very effective tools to have when you want to grow your business. However, most brochure marketing campaigns need to be redesigned and restructured because they don’t get the results you expect from them. In order for your promotional efforts to be effective, designing brochures should be in order. Here’s how you can kick off your brochure marketing campaign with these steps.