How to Make Your Book Look Good

Start the new year right with a meeting that reveals the “visual secrets” that can make your book stand out, whether it sits on a bookstore shelf or an Amazon sales page. No matter where you are on the book publishing journey, you’ll learn something new when Peggy Nehmen and Sue Sylvia reveal the very best tricks of the book design trade.

People do judge a book by its cover, so make sure yours is ready for the spotlight. You will learn:

• What separates a good book cover from a great one
• What you need to do differently for your ebook cover

Peggy and Sue will also reveal:

• The little things that make your book’s text look and feel better
• The best places to find images and how much to spend on them
• Unraveling the mystery of DPI (and why Google Images isn’t the place to find pictures)
• How to use images in an ebook
• Great ways to get a good author photo
• When DIY makes sense and when a professional is a smart choice for you
• How to fix mistakes you may have inadvertently made on your own

You’ll also learn:

• How to coordinate your “look” into your marketing materials (yes, you need materials)
• Low-cost strategies you can do yourself to make sure your book is “discoverable”
• What marketing tools you can use to breathe new life into a backlist book

We’ll also do a Lightning Round Q&A, so bring your projects in progress and your questions!

Your Presenters:

Peggy Nehmen, a veteran graphic designer, and her husband and partner, Gary Kodner, own Nehmen-Kodner, a St. Louis-based design studio. Peggy has a love of typography, book design, and all things creative. Nehmen-Kodner provides branding and marketing for indie authors, start-ups, and established companies. Peggy is a longtime SLPA member and former newsletter designer of SLPA News and Views (inherited from Sue Sylvia). Her objective is to help authors through the design process to produce customized book covers and interiors. You’ll find Peggy's portfolio at

www.n-kcreative.com/bookdesign.html.

Sue Sylvia of Staircase Press Design is a publisher/book designer who works with authors and small publishers to produce good-looking books that stand out at retail. She is passionate about mentoring her design clients on marketing strategy and development. She is an award-winning art director and a 30-year marketing industry veteran. You can see her work online at www.staircasepressdesign.com.