How To Write A Book – Day 4

Cover Design

Admittedly, it would have been more poetic for me to have started writing this book about how to get gigs speaking on cruise ships while I was actually on board a ship.

As it is though, I’m in the middle of an extensive college tour and just spent all day flying across the country between gigs. I could have written on the plane but I was preoccupied reviewing footage of my appearances.

A Note To Professional Speakers and Entertainers:

It’s a good idea to review your work from time to time. The camera doesn’t lie. We can get so accustomed to hearing how great we were as we step off the stage that it can distort our perception of the true effect we’re rally having on our audiences.

Having a video camera set up in the back of the room and then reviewing the footage afterward is a great way to ensure that you are constantly polishing your skills and improving your delivery.

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

It’s important to stay focused on any major task in order to see it through to completion and writing a book is certainly no exception. Even if it’s just doing 1 thing every day that brings you closer to your goal of completing the project. I did exactly 1 thing to advance the progress of my book today — I emailed my graphic designer and asked him to start working on the cover.

There is no reason to wait until it is fully written before having a designer create the cover. Having a cover designed is a great way to visualize your book as already completed and in existence. It’s very motivating to have that taken care of early on in the process.

In my home study course on how to write and self publish your own business building book in a month (which you can find at www.YourBookInaMonth.com) I suggest using one of two online services to have your book cover designed.

1. Elance. Which is sort of like eBay but for services instead of products

2. 99designs. Which is where graphic designers compete to be awarded your project.

A third option is to use a designer you already have a working relationship with. Since I do have such a person designing many of my promotional materials already I thought I’d give him the first shot at this book cover. If he’s unable to deliver I can always use one of the services listed above.

For my first book, “The Weight Loss Hypnosis Solution”, I had the cover designed by someone on Elance who was based in India. Because designers in India get paid a lot less than their counterparts in the United States I was able to have this work done for a fraction of what it would have normally cost.

Professional book cover designers can charge $1,500 or more here in the States, but by using Elance I was able to have the job done for about $300. I think it turned out quite well. Here’s a picture of it (in case you don’t have your own copy already):

Weight Loss Hypnosis Book Cover

This time around though I would recommend using 99designs before Elance. With 99designs. you have a chance to see what the artist has in mind for your project before you award the funds for it’s completion. It’s an ideal way to shop for design work since a visual proposal is submitted as a part of the process.

With Elance you’re making your assessment based on the designer’s past work and hoping you’ll like what he creates for you.

Whenever I work with coaching clients on writing their books I suggest using 99designs over Elance for that very reason. Unfortunately, it didn’t exist back when I wrote my first book. Now that it does it’s worth checking out for your cover design and other promotional projects as well.

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