Barbara Howell

Guest post  by Author Barbara Howell. Howell is the author of Splinters: The Pain, The Passion, The Point published by Paige1Publishing in Tulsa, OK. Howell is a member of the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation, Inc., Tulsa Night Writers, and RHEMA Writer’s Bloc. Recently, Howell’s book, was chosen to appear in an upcoming release from Harper Collins Publishing, “The NEW Big Book of Layouts” honoring the best of the best in book design.

Before I began marketing my book, “Splinters: The Pain, The Passion, The Point” I was under the impression as most writers are, that the WRITING was the most important part of my book. And while, I’m not saying that the writing isn’t important, a lesson that I learned early on as an author was the importance of the book cover and design itself. My book, a memoir that outlines some of the adventures of my life as a woman succeeding in a man’s profession of woodworking, is not a “traditional” book. Non-traditional in the sense that throughout the book, I wanted to include photos and “show” the story rather than simply telling it.

When all was said and done, the book itself had taken on a life of it’s own, thanks to the skilled design team at Paige1Publishing. With color photos throughout it keeps the reader engaged and has a slightly “magazine” feel to it. I’ve had several readers comment on how “easy” it seemed to be to read and how the photos kept them “turning pages”. That aside, what makes a reader even pick up a book?

In a recent study released, there are on average more than 1,000,000 books are published worldwide every year. With all that competition it seems that authors are doomed to have their books sitting on store shelves collecting dust. Enter design. It’s true what they say, ‘a picture’s worth a thousand words’. And a ‘catchy’ cover is one of the most important pieces of any successful book. Very few books survive on the writing alone.

For a book to move off the shelves, it has to BEG readers to pick it up and demand their attention. Something different. Something new or just something that demands a second look. Whatever the direction, the cover design is invaluable to solid sales. Think about it, if the cover design isn’t solid how can the promotional design be?
Thankfully, my book design has proved itself solid, in the recent award I received. What’s interesting is that the very element–it’s untraditional layout–that caused me to win this award is the SAME element that was ‘rejected’ by a large book distributor in the U.S. It goes to show you that you can’t please everyone. Just remember the only target you’re aiming for is the readers! Don’t be afraid to stand out and BE DIFFERENT!

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