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Saturday Q & A With the Book Designer 03: Book Cover Wrap

by | Jun 4, 2011

This week’s video answers the question of how to calculate the size of your book cover wrap. A lot of people find this confusing, but about 8 minutes from now you will know the answer and get to see a cover come together on screen, you won’t want to miss that.

Here I’m trying out a screencast video. Using software to record my computer screen, I can show you in detail exactly what I’m doing and explain why as you watch. I love these types of instructional videos and find them by far the easiest way to learn something new, particularly with software.

In fact, I watched two instructional screencasts while I was preparing this one. I think it came out pretty well for a first attempt, what do you think?

Since I’m still learning this technology, I’ve got a ways to go before the video (and the audio) are as good as I would like them to be.

Give my your feedback in the comments. Do you find this a better learning experience? Let me know.

If you have a question you’d like me to address next week, leave it in the comments. (If you can’t see the video, please reload or refresh the page.)

Discussed in this video:

  • Calculating book spine width
  • Using the Lightning Source cover template generator
  • Assembling a book cover in Adobe InDesign
  • How to calculate spine width if you know the number of pages and the paper’s pages-per-inch (PPI) specification

Additional resources:

Lightning Source Book Cover Templates for DIY Self-Publishers

Top 8 Cover Design Tips for Self-Publishers

Book Covers, Dust Jackets and Casewrap Books

If you would like a more complete treatment of these topics, make sure you’re on my newsletter subscriber list. You’ll be the first to hear when I issue new resources and e-learning materials.

I’m working on an exciting course specifically designed for new self-publishers, but it’s only going to be offered to subscribers. If you’re interested, get on the list now.

tbd advanced publishing starter kit