Book Design, Writing & Publishing

Want to leave a legacy, recall experiences, clarify thinking, or promote a coaching practice?  Consider writing a book. Whether it becomes a best seller or just a gift for friends and family, writing a book can be one of the most gratifying things you do in your lifetime. It is a piece of yourself, your story, your wisdom and ideas that can be handed down to future generations. 

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing 

Amazon KDP has changed the game and revolutionized self-publishing. Historically publishers required aspiring authors to purchase hundreds or thousands of books and place them in inventory (garage or car trunk).  Create Space, later purchased by Amazon, allows authors to list their works on the world’s biggest bookstore and sell copies of their books on demand!  

Change Lives with Your Story

I love reading biographies of famous people.  When I read one, I feel as if I know the writer personally.  They become friends that inspire me. Some of my favorites have included John Johnson (Ebony), Phil Knight (Nike), Ted Turner (CNN), Steve Jobs (Apple), and Richard Branson (Virgin).  There was the moment when Phil Knight finally decided to fax the name “Nike” to his Mexican manufacturer at 3 minutes before midnight. Or when John Johnson sold his mother’s prized wardrobe for $500 to raise money for “Negro Digest” which would later become “Ebony Magazine”. There was Ted Turner’s recollection of sailing through a storm during the Fastnet race around the British Isles. Steve Jobs tells a story of how he and Woz used “Blue Boxes” to prank call the Pope.  

Other books have offered me tremendous insights into living a better life or building a business.  “The Four Agreements”, “Zero to One”, and “Lean Start-up” are just to name a few.  In today’s world, there are numerous ways to consume books. The hard and soft cover versions are favorites for many because one can touch and feel the pages. E-books and audiobooks offer unprecedented convenience. You can buy and start reading or listening to a book within minutes.  

People have Writer’s Block 

Recently, I attended an author meeting where some people had been working on their books for years. They had been fleshing out ideas and most were intimidated about putting their creations out there. They were asking themselves whether their voice was worthy. What happens if no one reads what I have to say? Our approach gets you through these perfectionistic fears. 

We work backwards.

Most people start with a general idea for their book and what they want to say. The book is a form of personal expression. We take a marketing approach to developing a book.  We see it as a product targeting a specific targeted and serving a specific target market.  We start with the end in mind: 

1. Target Market Audience
2. Competitors & Substitutes 
3. Title Ideas 
4. Book cover ideas 
5. Chapters 
6. Chapter Outlines 
7. Flesh Out 

Case Study 

Rod Weckworth had the idea to write a book about “the business world being a jungle”.  His vision was to create animal metaphors for the opportunities and threats we face in life. He had created a rough outline of the animals but needed help fleshing them out.  Together, we conceptualized the book along the lines of “Who Moved My Cheese”. The Spencer Johnson classic has sold over 20 million copies and is only about 100 pages long. 

Judging a Books by Its Cover 

Our first step was to create an attention-grabbing title. We generated dozens of ideas. A breakthrough happened when we chose to focus on one animal – the hippopotamus.  “Beware of the Hippo” became our title. “And Other Beasts on the River of Life” flowed naturally as a subtitle.

We then mocked up several cover concepts featuring “hippos“. We chose to go with a safety yellow and black color scheme to emphasize the safety or warning premise of the book. We felt the middle one was menacing enough.  It was a clear winner. 

We then looked at the entire cover design (front and back) including ISBN Number placement.  Amazon is our publisher and had a template we could follow based upon the estimated number of pages and thickness of the spine. 

Ultimately this design would be modified a bit before going to press but most of it stayed the same. Please note that Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Press) requires that this artwork be to specific dimensions. Amazon also generates an ISBN number.   

We created an outlined based on animals and what they represented.  We fleshed out that outline with content based on interviews and research. We moved the copy to a 6 x 9-inch Google Document which allowed collaborative 

Rod and I both love photos and quotes so we envisioned an iconic photo of each animal at the beginning of each chapter with a quote relating to the animal.  We settled on Calibri 13 font for the body of the book. Amazon recommends Bookerly or Ember for KDP e-books.  

Loading to Amazon KDP is a bit tricky for beginners.  Amazon provides tools to calculate cover artwork dimensions. 

We loaded the Paperback cover and contents, and Amazon assigned an ISBN number and allowed an online preview. 

The Kindle e-book required an additional process.  We had to reformat the cover art to a new dimension.  We also used the Kindle Create look to format the book. 

Once we were finished, Amazon put the book on their platform.  It is very gratifying to do and Amazon search for or title and find it right away.  On a side note, Amazon allows the purchase of “Author Copies” at wholesale (no Prime shipping discount).