Here at 3+1 Publishing, we have the absolute honor of helping author Tiffany Semmons design her debut children's book "What Did We Miss?"
Tiffany and I (Sara Lin) have a special connection- we were both running our Kickstarter campaigns at the same time. I remember seeing her book and thinking, "Wellllll now, what have we here?"
The title was bold and obvious, the characters, darling and well-drawn... I was so impressed just by the cover.... which is exactly what a cover is supposed to do.
Turns out, she was still in the process of finishing the book during Kickstarter, which a lot of authors do. If you have the illustrations, you can finish the rest of the book later.
We ended up in the same marketing group in Facebook and I recognized her name and book. She asked a question in the group needing help to finish the design and we struck up a conversation. Turns out, we have a lot in common AND we have some GREAT designers at 3+1 Publishing just waiting for great authors.
After I signed her NDA, she sent me the interior (body) of her book.
I Got a Feelin'...
Friend, I wanted to laugh and get up and dance. It's such a special book. The story is outstanding and the irony is so sweet. It fits in with our philosophy: it entertains both parents and kids. I won't give away anything but holy cow... I could read it over and over and not get tired of it. It's just so darn relatable. It's on pre-sale now and you can grab your copy HERE
We aren't actually publishing her book (she is self-published), but Semmons partnered with our design services department to design her book. That's something we do often. Authors approach us and use our design and editing services to help put the "spit and polish" on their book. It can mean the difference between a beautiful final product and something that looks, well... less than professional.
What goes into designing a book?
Why would you need a book designer AND an illustrator? Sometimes illustrators are trained/skilled to do layouts and typesetting. More often than not, they want to focus on what they love, which is just illustration.
But what about the rest of the book?
- The title page
- the pre-title page
- the endpapers
- the overall look and feel
- the font selection and positioning
- the text blurb on the back
- the dust jacket
....WHEW.... so many parts that need to go together to wrap a book in style and substance.
Don't skimp on design
A professional designer has the eye for it. The eye to decide when millimeters make the difference between things working and things going wonky. You absolutely will not go wrong when you hire a designer to bring your book together.
Our designers really LOVE working with authors. We are proud of the authors we work with and they always bring great ideas to the table. A collaborative environment pushes US to the next level.
This is just a teaser of the book, but in the near future, we'll do a full reveal of the design we helped our author accomplish.
Watch out for Tiffany Semmons. She and her company "So Much Semmons" have done an extremely impressive job with her debut book and we are honored to have been a part of it. We are rubbing our hands for her next exciting work.