Say you were a vegetarian and you recently purchased a book on friendly vegetarian recipes. When you get home, you crack open the book for the first time and a handful of postcards and marketing material fall out of the pages advertising meat packer associations and where to find the best steak. Although good for your iron intake, these kind of pictures and campaigns would be poorly received by the reader, potentially damaging the loyalty the reader has to that particular author and/or publisher.

This is an extreme example, however you would be surprised to find out how much time many authors and publishers spend on considering the right artwork for their publications. Let's take a look at understanding matching concept with content.

Most of the time, the artwork chosen for a particular project is left to the designer and he or she is given a brief outline of the content of the book. The designer can then utilize their resources to choose or create their own artwork that matches the particular content. However, what the designer sees as "fresh" and "edgy" may not be effective for a book that is targeting a more traditional and conservative audience. When choosing artwork for your book or publication it is important to keep in mind the ideas discussed in the Targeting Your Audience post. Zero in on the culture that you plan to target and learn to see past your opinions on what kind of pictures can most effectively reach your audience.

Walt Disney once said, "Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language." Often, ideas can be communicated in one picture that words struggle to describe in an entire paragraph. It is vital to choose artwork that digs into your ideas that wraps itself around the essentials of what you are trying to communicate. The better your artwork describes your thoughts, the better impact you can have on your readers (and the more memorable your project becomes).

Now all of this may seem abstract and lofty, but the good news is that you already have access to the people that can handle this for you. "Sure..." you say, "for a fee!" Not necessarily. That is one option and below I have included some links of some very well established and trusted designers and firms that have proven their success within the publishing marketplace. However, you can also utilize royalty-free image galleries such as iStockPhoto.com or GettyImages.com among others. Here you will find a myriad of illustrations, images and photographs of practically any idea you have to communicate. (Tip: if you find yourself searching hours on end to find the "perfect" photograph, consider using more specific search terminology. For example, to find a photo of a beach, be more specific and use terms like "white sand," "footprints," or "coastal sunset" to hone in on your idea.)

For the more technical user, many professional designers use desktop publishing software such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop as their creative platform. These programs are not cheap and have a steep learning curve, however they are incredibly useful in creating high-end customized artwork.

While we have discussed artwork that is found within the body of your book, pay special attention to any artwork you choose for the cover. There is a concept among book publishers that states the 3 points of sale. #1 The customer first sees the title and cover. #2 If the customer grabs the book they turn it over to read the back, and #3 they look at the price. By this reasoning you have 3 chances to engage the potential reader and the FIRST chance you get is by the cover title and artwork so be sure to make a great impression.

Lastly, I highly recommend doing your homework and being thoughtful about the ways you consider matching your concept with your content because in the end, you can either choose a steak on a vegetarian cookbook or a mouth-watering french dish in front of the Eiffel Tower. Although you may not receive any free tickets to France, you will end up with a much better chance of laying the foundation for a truly engaged and loyal audience.

Recommended Professional Designers:

Mike Deitsch - The Vine Collective
Linda Bourdeaux - The Design Desk
Susanna Parrish - Texasus Design
Chase Carter - Revelation Interactive


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As the famous French writer and Nobel Prize winner, Anatole France once said, "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." Writing a book is by no means an easy task, but with your dedication and belief in your ideas, you can accomplish not only good things, but great things.

Believe it or not, some of your biggest obstacles in actually writing, or drafting, your book is yourself. You have probably heard the expression, "A relationship is only as strong as the weakest person in it." This can also be true with your creativity. Your book and ideas can take on their own identity and you enter into a relationship with your creativity. This "relationship" can have it's ups and downs and its important to identify this so that (1) you can learn to adjust to these times and (2) help ease your frustration levels along the way.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way, is an expert on the foundations of creativity and explores some common beliefs about how we have been conditioned to allow ourselves the freedom to be creative. She states that many of the greatest artists are looked upon as having no self doubt. She goes deeper and says that we need to learn to move through self doubt, not avoid it. The Artists Way has a great way of explaining the concept of self doubt and provides excellent resources to improve your overall creative freedom. If you haven't read the book already, stop reading this blog post and go out and get it!

Another common frustration creative individuals experience is the weight of their vision. You probably have many great ideas but you may feel so overwhelmed with the weight of the process that you have a hard time getting started. This is very common and you should remind yourself that great things have never been accomplished overnight. There are a couple of ways to get around "writer's block." One way is to refuel your creative muscle. Julia Cameron calls this "taking yourself on an Artist Date." This will help refill your bucket of creativity and encourage you to be more productive. Another way is to schedule your writing time in your weekly calendar. You could schedule 15min in the morning or 1 hour, 3 times a week. It's up to you. The point is that if you plan your creative time, it is more likely you will stay focused, and you will feel more accomplished then if you just "wait" for your creativity to strike.

Lastly, be careful of getting into the habit of constantly editing your work before it needs to be edited. Many creative individuals are perfectionists and while perfectionism can assist your dedication, it can also inhibit your creative flow and keep you stuck in the process. Learn to resist the urge to "edit" your work at the beginning stages to allow your ideas to breath and capture the entire world around them. If you can turn off your "internal editor" at the beginning, you will begin to experience the freedom your creativity needs to better communicate your ideas later.

I hope this helps you during your creative process and remember, "In order to live an extraordinary life, one must be able to overcome extra-ordinary challenges." So when you find yourself getting stuck while writing your book, just say to yourself, "I'm just living to be extraordinary," and allow yourself the freedom to refill your creativity and pick up your pencil and start again.

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While it may be a leap of faith for some, many companies have rapidly begun to realize the value digital printing can provide. Whether you need to personalize your individual printed pieces or find a way to save money on warehousing costs, digital printing can be a very attractive alternative to printing your job.

As the digital printing market continues to gain speed, Vicks is one printer that has made sure to maintain its edge by expanding its digital capabilities. Recently Vicks moved its digital print facilities to its headquarters. This increased many efficiencies and although the move required a mass effort by many in the plant (and I imagine sleepless nights for some) Vicks is delighted to report the transition was smooth and all units are up and running.

Along with the recent transition, Vicks brought another member into the family, a digital printer that is, called the Nuvera288. The Nuvera288 is the most impressive perfecting system on the market today and delivers exceptional offset-level image quality with the cost and time efficiencies associated with digital printing. Additionally, it can RIP multiple projects simultaneously, prints at a resolution of 4800 x 600 dpi and is coupled with an inline booklet maker and square-back spine master. Indeed, a true workhorse for the digital market.

How do all the improvements at Vicks potentially affect you? For starters, digital printing is an extraordinary asset when it comes to added savings and decreased production time. There is hardly a company that exists that wouldn’t benefit from its advantages. Below are a few ways you can capitalize on the added value digital printing can provide:

Digital printing is great for:

• Meeting tight deadlines – with once took days can now take hours.
• Personalizing projects - by supplying a database of unique information for each piece you can more effectively target your audience and customers.
• Short-runs – by printing smaller quantities more quickly and cost effectively without losing quality.
• Reducing storage space and inventory - by printing only what you need thus saving you rising warehousing costs.
• Re-releasing slower moving titles and back catalog - by printing small quantities you can print lower quantity runs and give your market exactly what they are asking for.
• Easy Updates – because of the digital file, it is extraordinarily easy to update digital jobs.
• Low waste and Minimal setup – no plates or film to process.

…and the best part about it is the quality. In fact, I know some people that have reported they can hardly tell a difference in color quality when they’ve compared their digital work to an offset job. Now that’s impressive!

The digital workflow that Vicks has implemented is guaranteed to offer you flexibility and quick turnaround while producing a cost effective way to print your short run projects. I would highly recommend this digital print house.

For more information about Vicks, follow the link below:

Vicks Lithograph and Printing Corporation

http://www.vicks.biz

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