6 Tips for Briefing your Book Designer

6 Tips for Briefing your Book Designer 6 Tips for Briefing your Book Designer Last week, we revealed through a survey on social networks how much importance indie authors place on working with a professional book designer for their covers. After all, big part of the what makes self-publishing so attractive is that authors retain all creative freedom over their work. This means it is up to you, and you only, to choose your cover designer and brief them properly.As in any other creative business relationship, the briefing process is the most important part of the collaboration. A good brief will save you and your book designer both time and money. To help you refine your future design briefs, we’ve asked some of our brilliant designers on Reedsy what their main advice is for authors. Here are their answers!1- Know your audienceYour cover design will be your most powerful marketing tool. It will influence your discoverability as well as your buyer-to-reader conversion. Therefore, it must follow the #1 rule in marketing: know your target market and focus on them.â€Å"Different colors and fonts appeal to different readers. Different genres have different looks that you would want to utilize in your cover. Marketing to everyone is the same thing as marketing to no one. Your cover design should be a marketing tool to find readers who will like your book†. - Ellie Bockert Augsburger2. Give the designer an idea of your tastes and expectations 6. CommunicateThis might sound obvious, but communication is the best way to speed up the process and make sure you end up with the perfect book cover. This doesn’t just mean briefing your book designer accordingly, it also means staying in touch, giving feedback on the early comps and sharing ideas as they come along.â€Å"The #1 way to avoid miscommunications in the design process is to speak in person†, says designer Brian LaRossa. â€Å"If that is not an option- which is often the case- a video chat or phone call is still much better than an email.†If you don’t know much about the design process and are unsure about what your artist wants or needs, just follow the tips above and let them take the lead. After all, as Michael Kellner puts it: â€Å"experienced designers will know what questions to ask an author about their book: it’s subject, themes and spirit. It’s style, plot and characters. Where the story takes place, and so on.† If you trust your book designer, communication will be easy.Click the following links to learn more about professional book cover design, illustration, or book layout design on Reedsy.