Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine January 2018 New Year, New You | Page 56

A Book is Judged by its Coverver
J. L. Woodson
The cover of my first book, The Things
I Could Tell You, was designed by my
mentor, Barron Steward. I was amazed
at how well it was done. The image was
a profile of a young male with a solemn
expression over a background of a
hallway in a house that was designed in a
way to give it a flashback feel. I looked at
what message the book cover conveyed
to me as a young author. I was proud to
call the book mine, not just because of
the content, but because of that book
cover.
I started learning graphic design not
long after I started learning website
design in early 2010. However, I didn’t
start designing book covers until
September, 2013, when my mother
needed one for a special edition of her
novel Open Door Marriage. It wasn’t
necessarily easy to dive into either.
There are so many things to focus on as
a designer of book covers.
Picture yourself walking through a
bookstore. What is the first thing you
notice as the reader? The book cover.
What is the second thing you’ll most
likely do? Take in the title. The third
thing? Look at the back of the book to
read the synopsis. If not designed right
or positioned correctly, the reader could
be turned off at the first step. A well-
56 | NKLC Magazine