Inside Publishing: Designing Book Covers

[@shadabkhan-ng5xe]

Wow, had no clue so much goes into making a cover, and so many people are involved. I always thought it was just the author and the designer, brainstorming.

[@carlosandino5524]

Pretty similar process to all cover design including video games and movies. I know at larger companies they could have focus groups on the initial design concepts done in black and white. Then repeat the feedback process after it is completed in color.

[@Viksbelle]

For many indie authors, it IS just the author and the designer. Publishing houses have greater resources than an indie; yet many indie books look just as professional as traditionally published books. Depends on the designer and what the author can afford.

[@barretthighschool9508]

I love how this company includes the author. Some publishers don't. As an author, if you hate how your book looks, that's got to be one of the worst feelings. Great job, you two!

[@michalhajlasz3835]

Right, I remember reading something along the lines of Kafka explicitly not wanting the "bug" on the cover of The Metamorphosis. To no surprise, so many covers of the book blatantly disregarded his wish, with really blatant pictures of beetle-type creatures

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Appreciate the work that goes into these. Documentary level

[@SnehaSrik]

As a bit of a graphic design nerd I loved seeing this process, it’s so easy to underestimate all of the work that goes into this as a reader (once I’m in the book and reading the front cover doesn’t have my attention anymore) I think I should spend some time looking back at a cover after finishing a book

[@ebmockingjay]

I would’ve liked to see them walkthrough an example and talk about why they switched directions and how they came to a decision on a specific cover. For example, I wanted to hear more about the Nature of Witches cover and hear why they went in the direction they did, since the first pass designs felt so different from the final

[@MackPaddy]

If my company has the budget, we'll A/B test different covers. But we're a small press, so we'll play with ideas, and usually end up on a generic cover that looks nice, but not particularly trendy.

[@ifsadks]

So much work and I bash covers when I don't like it. Now I feel bad.

[@butterflywings565]

Yeah, right. But then again, even after so many people working on this, some covers still look bad.

[@DeeSnow97]

To be honest, while this shows a lot of great stuff about the process of cover design, in the background you can also see the problems with it. Mainly, that the author is mostly out of the picture and while they can give a bunch of info on the book, they are not asked for feedback on intermediary steps such as the mood boards or the individual art pieces, that whole thing is decided by the marketing team and when they show the first actual image to the author, it's already a finished cover. It is basically a miniaturized version of an adaptation of the work by a completely different creative team, who might have a different vision, and definitely lives in a different world of creative stimuli. This actually explains a lot about the final covers we see and how they relate to the actual content of the book, or the weaknesses of such relations, since the process of coming up with them is much more tuned to creating something that looks professional and works as a poster than something that actually represents the story in question. Additionally, the entire trend-hopping idea is circular in logic. If covers are used to market the book to a specific genre and not to represent the contents of the book, design aspects like hand lettering or making a series of covers and then subverting it have no intrinsic value, and are only done because others do it, others with a similar mindset of doing things because others do it and so on. If everyone looks at everyone else to predict the trend, and everyone assumes everyone else knows what they're doing, a simple mistake or a minuscule aspect without much thought given by one party might be picked up by three others, then seven more, and you got yourself a trend that no one knows where it came from with no actual purpose behind it. It is basically a process of citogenesis, just with marketing instead of science. A cover that is a true and honest representation of the actual story within, conveying its mood and character as faithfully as possible, being an extension of it rather than an adaptation, could still be adjusted to market trends and would be a better cover in every way. It would be a better marketing tool because instead of maximizing sales within the scope of a cover's capabilities, it would maximize the number of _right_ people buying the book, the people who the book actually speaks to, by minimizing the discrepancy between the book and its cover. That, in turn, would increase ratings and word of mouth marketing, and build trust with the readers that whatever identifying trait is represented on the cover -- the author, the publisher, perhaps a series -- is going to be honest with them, and if they see a cover that makes them feel in a particular way, they can trust the book to get them to feel exactly like that for a whole lot longer. Which is precisely what we want as readers, we all have our ideals of what we seek in a story, and if we could pick that out just by the cover it would help us pick up new books easier, without having to look for recommendations or feel out the author first. So, to return to your original point, you are absolutely right to bash covers, no matter how much work went into them. Your feelings induced by said cover are valid, and what you see in them is your honest, descriptive criticism, which is invaluable to any self-respecting creative. If a cover makes you feel weird, or if after reading the story you feel like a promise the cover made was broken, it is still a real problem, and you should by all means speak up about it. Thanks for coming to my TED talk, I guess.

[@-shakir5152]

@@DeeSnow97 My first thought watching this video. I'm suprised that authors do not really have a part in making the cover. I mean the one who create the world and the stories and the vision are totally different than the one who illustrate it.

[@pjalexander_author]

@@DeeSnow97 All of this

[@AvatarYoda]

As a librarian, there are two cover concepts I would like to go away: characters with their backs to us (we did a display on them and had over a hundred possibilities) and characters with the tops of their heads cut off (the eyes are always off the cover). It makes covers homogenous and bland.

[@cheesecakelasagna]

Don't worry, it definitely will go away (and resurface) as design trends do.

[@aaronembry9692]

It's stuff like this that causes the video to bug me. They kept talking about a collaborative effort to make sure everyone is happy before even showing it to the author. You end up with bland uninspired covers when you try to please so many people.

[@LarryHasOpinions]

this was so interesting and the quality of the video is excellent, thanks Murphy for taking the risk to produce something different

[@weareallstories6420]

So many amazing covers and nearly all of them get scrapped. I feel for the artists. Great series Merphy! You’re really outdoing every other booktuber with your high-quality content!

[@TheMightyFlea-0]

This is a great little series. What i love is that as movie posters are getting incredibly unimaginative (a visual medium) book covers are getting increasingly more inventive and beautiful.

[@imanafandy6607]

Make me appreciate publishing even more now

[@matheusvmoraes]

Now this is a real inner vision of a book's structure, and I appreciate it a lot.

[@gunveersingh5893]

As an aspiring writer, this series is both informative and inspiring. Thanks a lot Merphy for providing such gift to us.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

And of course your sponsor sections are as funny as ever

[@_gamma.]

No wonder you were so excited for this series, the people you're interviewing clearly love their jobs and make it sound like so much fun! Great video

[@Emancy3]

These videos are just a dopamine rush for me to finish my book 😭😭 thank you for these. I mean I came for one piece but I'm staying for the quality videos ✨✨✨👍👍

[@oldscribe6153]

Crikey! Amazing. I knocked up the covers for my last three novels in Canva. It took about three hours. I have to admit the covers this incredible team create are another dimension better and, in another league, altogether. Watching this made me reconsider so many aspects of creating covers for the next three.

[@MadBunnyArtist]

I really like this series, I had hope in the covers episode you might've spoken to one of the artists on how they take the mood board and general ideas put forward by the design team and create those concepts

[@myhobbies7091]

The video is great. It really gives insight on the whole publishing process.

[@kendallh.18]

YAY I’m so excited for this series! It’s gonna be so cool to learn about all of the unseen parts of publishing 😁

[@maheensalmanahmad8658]

TO HAVE SOMEONE WORK SO HARD ON YOUR BOOK and to have a BEAUTIFUL cover for it 😭 It's a dream

[@beccierae]

Would have liked to hear and see more from the actual designer and less the concept editors

[@SkimoStories]

agreed, editors are boring people

[@HaileyShelton]

Already so impressed by this series!! Your content is always amazing but these are next level. I’ve always been interested in this process so thank you for making this info accessible to us in such an interesting way!!

[@3.k]

This is great! I’m so looking forward to watching the next parts of your new series! If you ever feel that you want to make a longer version of this, I’d love to watch it as well. Like, if there weren’t just people telling how it’s done, but if we could witness it, if we could follow every stage of the process, hear what everyone involved thinks, and what decisions they make and why. We could see the author’s first reaction to the new artwork first hand. We could watch people strive for deadlines. Show, don’t tell. 😁 I don’t know if they would let you film it all, but it would make a terrific kind of documentary! 🤩

[@felice2441]

I love these videos! Its so interesting seeing everything that goes on behind the scenes to make a book/show successful.

[@samkathryn4825]

I don’t think anyone else makes such engaging ads.

[@zalseon4746]

This is actually real helpful, my books are VERY weird and VERY specific. Understanding the process of cover making is gonna save me and the graphic designers a lot of headache in the future, thank you.

[@OntheOtherHandVideos]

It's funny how much a book cover is designed with the same concepts that KZbin thumbnails are designed with. Great series!

[@LarryHasOpinions]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON!!! haha i love it

[@Varshamohanta]

This is the best video series! Thank you so much, Merphy! 💜

[@rays5808]

I meant to comment on the previous Inside Publishing video, but… I have a tiny squirrel brain and an easily distracted. I just wanted to say that I found your channel from your One Piece content, but I have been enjoying all of your other videos as well since I’ve subscribed. Really looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@sweetplay15]

I have always found the publishing industry kind of intimidating, but these people in this series are so kind and passionate ❤️

[@rumbarrels1183]

Between Inside Publishing and One Piece Friday I think it's safe to say we're in the golden age of KZbin!

[@klaratehcoolcat]

NGL The Neon Gods cover they chose was by far the least interesting and most boring out of the array of designs, I'd have walked past it lol. Funny they say they get all their feedback from their stakeholders, not the people who would be buying the book, which is why I assume the extremely safe and boring design was chosen

[@butterflywings565]

Yessss!

[@bybookandbone]

I agree. I'm always pulled towards interesting covers. Boring covers hint at a book people don't have faith in imo

[@adroitws1367]

Yeah, exactly. I think the feedback should come from potential consumer not stakeholder wtf

[@fndmaioli]

To get feedback from a single consumer, or even 10 consumers, is not enough because of their personal bias and things each individual likes. To get feedback on covers from consumers, they would need to pitch the cover to hundreds of people and gather all the data, that way the personal bias of each person is less impactful in the final decision. When the stakeholders are the ones giving the feedback i think it's safe to assume they are people with experience who aren't looking and thinking about what they personally like, but what the consumers are buying and generally like, also considering general Design concepts/rules that shouldn't be broken, much like what she says at 12:05 about trying to not consider what she likes herself. In the case of The Neon Gods, I personally prefer the final cover by far compared to the others, but that doesn't mean it's the best cover for the book or the cover that will sell more.

[@aless.andra9620]

I loved the cover with the Greek statue/black-and-white photo of a woman on the cover (4:14 the one with a similar style to The Madens). In my opinion, it would be more relevant to the Dark Academia trend which is super popular right now, and objectively speaking it's more beautiful and interesting than generic chair in a shadowy room.

[@mikeh5399]

I wish they gave more examples, both of book covers and the kinds behind-the-scenes conversations they’re referencing. It’s all really interesting but feels very abstract the way it’s explained.

[@RadioactiveWeka]

Thanks for doing this series Merphy, it's super helpful for those of us trying to get into the business (And just very interesting in general :)

[@Mathue360]

Thank you for providing the inside scoop on this process. It is way more interesting to see how the books are made on top of how it is marketed! Also your commercials are great!

[@brokenentertainment327]

You've really elevated your channel with this decision.

[@jesset292]

First saw you when you did a Harry Potter plotholes vid, had a blast watching you step into the non-booktube fandoms of Avatar and One Piece, now actually doing awesome publishing doco stuff, and it's so good. Crazy to see how far you've come!

[@LEThavFUNnSMILE]

Great stuff and big respect putting the ad at the end no interpretation

[@chloeahey]

Thank You so much for doing this series Merphy! I love seeing behind the scenes of publishing, and thank you to Source books!

[@alwaysreadin163]

I'm so excited to get into this field!!

[@johnypanta6208]

Thank you for doing this series!! I'm a graphic designer and an avid book reader and this is SO INTERESTING to me ❤️!!!

[@MaskedChieff]

This video is so underrated 😫😫😫

[@saaramyllynen8227]

Designing book covers has been my dream for a long time and this was such a helpful video! This made my dream feel more tangible and I'm so thankful!

[@alysonserenastone2917]

I didn't know how much went into just picking a cover for a book. It's actually very interesting to see just how much work goes into it.

[@andeeharry]

Thanks for sharing, yes, a lot goes on here and you wouldn't think so from some of the professional covers that are out there

[@giangerd3686]

Cant wait to see this one too! Great job Merphy

[@whyt5840]

This series is quite good!!! Never knew this much work went into a cover

[@kammy6340]

I had no idea so much went into covers and that it actually takes months. I thought the author just tells the graphic designer "I want this" and they do it. Wow. I will do my best to never bash a cover again. I've developed a newfound appreciation for covers. Edit: Merphys ads are the best haha.

[@rakshabm6429]

Loving this series! I am finding out so many new things about what goes on!

[@bodine219]

This was super informative. As someone who is planning to self publish, it gives me some good tips for evaluating a potential cover design.

[@TheChocolatiie]

This is everything I could have asked for and more! Thank you xx

[@eternal_napalm6442]

This is a fantastic video. I am definitely going to self-publish my debut fantasy novel. I don't want a corporation slapping their ideas on my immaculate piece of art. What's awesome is that I can conceptualize and hone in on my desired ideas using AI picture generators before handing it to a hired artist. These "creative leads" will soon be obsolete.

[@mcdcurtis]

This is a really exciting and interesting video Merphy, it's like the "how its made" of books and I can see it being just as addicting as it grows!

[@2ntwins]

if y'all are interested in book cover design there is a wonderful ted talk from the guy who designed the icnonic jurassic park cover and many other famous ones

[@nasiaamin312]

This actually gave me few ideas to try with my book cover. Since I'm going for self publishing, I gotta figure out everything by myself 😥

[@JAKEBB]

Awesome work!!!!

[@AJNUNEZ17]

Love the Deathly Hallows tattoo on her palm. Amazing haha

[@kulaniwarner7262]

Excellent series Merphy!

[@Lynn-CA]

Another great video!

[@subodhgarg5531]

Really Good Video! I hope this series is successful.

[@holdenbeach4ever]

This series is wonderful!! And the editing is amazing

[@emilmartinez7830]

Thank you for bring us this information, i like to learn something new every day, this day is no exception

[@Bolero451]

I love this series and can’t wait for more episodes!

[@luvBB4lyf]

This is so cool! Really, a village goes into publishing even 1 book. This also makes me think of self pub authors who have to manage all this themselves 🤯

[@sukainahusain2482]

I actually did my masters thesis on book covers and how they impact marketing

[@kulaniwarner7262]

Care to share a synopsis of your findings? I’d be interested.

[@Nasser851000]

What is Merphy's favorite book design cover?

[@BlaCk-we7cy]

Very well produced

[@louiscarrico-braun5483]

These have both been great, can’t wait for the next one

[@BlackHand531]

I like this series. I hope there are alot more topics being covered.

[@elisabethprice4697]

i love this series so far this is so cool!

[@emilymendoza41891]

It’s really amazing how much work is put into designing covers and making them standout. For me, the covers are sometimes the make it or break it point when buying a particular boo, especially if it’s a debut/new to me author. This makes me curious to see all the rejected cover of some of my favourite books just to see the journey of the covers 👀

[@malkard1]

This is such a good an interesting series! Definitely dunked on them with this one

[@mryubnub508]

Wow this new series is already so cool. Thanks for sharing with us! Merphy, would you ever consider writing a book?

[@lizryan7451]

This is so fascinating! I'd be really interested to know how much the process changes or stays the same when it comes to creating a new cover for a re-print of a previously published book

[@kunai92]

Loving this series, Merphy!

[@paniklewe]

I'm exited for this series!

[@matthewwatkins7558]

This is an awesome series. :)

[@weeklywheelnews]

Incredible! Thanks Merphy!

[@elsalrod5978]

Super cool! I've been thinking about applying to Penguin when I graduate in august

[@plasticturnipboy5642]

that was incredibly interesting! Thank you for doing these

[@m.j.mahoney8905]

Brilliant! Thanks, Merphy.

[@tristaaaaaaaaa]

Absolutely loving this

[@jirenthegoat9717]

I'm very interested to see the binding aspect of books. Might give me insight how the comic omnibus/hardcovers are built.

[@divinesolstice3744]

Im glad they get Author feedback on the cover design. I've always been wary after I heard of an incident where they put a white person on the cover of an Octavia Butler book and as a black creator that is a possibility that can happen to us.

[@FitzVestrit]

Very informative and insightful!! Great Video!

[@ayushgurung9564]

This video was so cool. It's really interesting that they have to make sure that the cover looks good in different mediums. Also, this series has got me wondering how different the process must be with different publishers, specially when comparing East and West, since the work culture in Asia is so different.

[@saidalsadi5675]

I like this video and wating for next episode 🔥🔥

[@LarryHasOpinions]

some of the process sounds so similar to designing thumbnails for youtube videos

[@LarryHasOpinions]

those covers!

[@sylviacorchado4173]

Which degree should you obtain for this publishing? English or creative media for creating book covers?

[@chrstian-zm7yt]

Personally, just go into art field because it would be easier for you to build your portfolio while creating connections with people from that industry. But, also, degree wouldn't really matter to some extent as long as you have a strong portfolio!

[@paperstars9078]

A book with a dedication to the cover artist. Can you guess which book this is from? Here is the dedication, good luck. This book is dedicated to cover artist extraordinarie, Tom Percival. For most people, the cover is the reason they pick up a book in the first place. The amount of correspondence I get proves this, as people go on and on about how the cover caught their eye, made them want to read about a skeleton detective, how the covers are the best things ever, how the covers blah blah blah... I think it's a generally agreed upon fact that I could draw the covers if I really wanted to. I have the raw talent, I have the eye, and I have that one year of art college under my belt. And I think Tom knows this, which is why he pushes himself to excel each and every time, why he pushes himself to make these books stand out from the others on the shelf. The threat I pose is important. The threat I pose is a good motivator. Keep pushing yourself, Tom. My time is coming. P.S. You're welcome.

[@romalibra_books]

Thanks for this video, it was sooooo interesting

[@Starrynight1800]

This was very informative.

[@alsergogo2047]

Thanks for doing this!!

[@fatimasajid1026]

This is fascinating ❤️

[@susanbuckminster282]

Thank you!

[@godfather3002]

Really fascinating! 👏

[@krzysamm7095]

I just don’t get why the UK editions tend to have better covers overall than the ones in the US

[@MrGreyseptember]

I find Russian editions of many foreign books more beautiful than the original. Sometimes I want to write and publish a book just to have such an amazing cover :'D

[@cheesecakelasagna]

Japanese editions tend to go for more abstract book-to-cover relation.