One DOES Judge a Book by its Cover!

I’ve often heard, “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” But in working with my publishing team, I found out readers and buyers of books often do. In fact, a book cover is one of the most important, if not the best marketing asset, an author has. After finishing my first draft of my book, A Run to the River, I began working with my publisher and her design team on my book cover. I knew I was going to incorporate my brand-and favorite colors of the blue and orange often seen in the sunsets of Marine City, Michigan. I also knew I wanted the harpoon logo of the Marine City high school football team woven into the design somehow. Further, it was important to me that I honor the great community and beauty of Marine City. My book is certainly about football but it is also a memoir and an homage to this great town. The stories I share go beyond sports and I was curious as to how that would all ultimately tie into the final cover.

In the process of the cover design and working through various renditions with the graphic designer, Randy Goad, and publisher, Susan Sember, I saw firsthand that cover design is a specialized art form. Randy and Susan have worked over 15 years together on her film and book projects. With Randy’s designs, Susan’s movie posters have won several awards. The posters have traveled all over the world and are collected as limited editions and framed by many. Yet, I also learned that a book cover is very different than a movie poster as are the skills used in each.

I didn’t have a clue as to what expertise was involved and learning about the various aspects of publishing has been a real education. Colors, fonts, and images all have a psychological, marketing, genre, and retail basis in the choices. But I also loved that Susan wanted to use one of our finest local photographer, Lori Hannon’s work into the cover. Knowing how much Marine City means to me, Susan agreed that including the local community in this project is key. As another proud Michigan born and raised collaborator, Susan values her midwestern roots like I do. Watching Randy blend in Lori’s photography into the book cover art was fun. Susan was awestruck by the breathtaking colors of the Marine City sunrises and sunsets. She asked, “Ron, are the oranges in the sky there really that vibrant?” The next morning I sent some photos from my phone to show her that the colors used on the cover were indeed realistic and truly that intense. She replied back, “I can’t wait to film there!”

There are many similarities in the coaching, leading, teamwork, specialized roles, and coming up with the “plays” in publishing… and this rookie author is having a ball learning new skills and being a part of a different industry and career. I’m very proud of my book cover and I hope you like it, as well. Stay tuned for the back cover reveal and launch date!