{"id":2597,"date":"2016-04-23T16:30:36","date_gmt":"2016-04-23T23:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=2597"},"modified":"2017-08-15T10:33:22","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T17:33:22","slug":"book-cover-wins-gold-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/book-cover-wins-gold-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Cover Wins Gold Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"book<\/a>The Winning Cover<\/h3>\n

I’m thrilled that the book\u00a0cover for THE RUBBER FENCE<\/span><\/strong><\/a> has won a\u00a0\u00a0Gold Star <\/strong>from Joel Friedlander of the BOOK DESIGNER.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When I submitted the cover for their monthly contest, I wrote, \u00a0\u201cAs this story takes place largely on a psychiatric ward, I thought that Jun Ares\u2019s book design spoke about the desperation of those seeking treatment, as well as of the helplessness of the psychiatric intern who has to fight the hospital system that\u2019s as stuck as the patients it treats.\u201d<\/p>\n

BOOK DESIGNER’s Joel Friedlander wrote: Restrained yet emotional, with carefully controlled colors and typography, this cover excels at portraying the issues in the book within and reusing a stock photo in a creative way.<\/p>\n

My Debut Novel’s Cover<\/h3>\n

Jun Ares also designed the cover for A CRY FROM THE DEEP<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, my debut novel. I found this one more challenging. Originally Ares \"book<\/a>showed me two covers, both of which I rejected. You can see the ones he suggested here<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and why I ended up rejecting them.<\/p>\n

Keys To A Good Cover<\/h3>\n

As I mentioned in my presentation on book covers at the North Shore Writers Festival <\/a><\/strong><\/span>in North Vancouver, a book cover is what a reader first sees before one word of the story is read.<\/p>\n

It needs to be:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. eye-catching and scalable<\/strong> (meaning it has to look good not only as a cover for your paperback but also as a thumbnail image on an online booksellers’ site).<\/li>\n
  2. It also has to be uncluttered<\/strong>. Too many fonts or colours are distracting.<\/li>\n
  3. And most importantly, it has to fit your genre<\/strong> and story<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"book<\/a><\/p>\n

    Having some control over the cover design has been a rewarding step for me in self-publishing. In traditional publishing, authors have little control over the final book cover.<\/p>\n

    There are other excellent book covers on Book Designer<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Worth having a look to see what resonates with readers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Winning Cover I’m thrilled that the book\u00a0cover for THE RUBBER FENCE has won a\u00a0\u00a0Gold Star from Joel Friedlander of the BOOK DESIGNER. When I submitted the cover for their… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[744,4],"tags":[609,604,878,881,78,880,606,879,43,812],"class_list":["post-2597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-writing","tag-a-cry-from-the-deep","tag-book-cover","tag-book-designer","tag-cover-design","tag-diana-stevan","tag-joel-friedlander","tag-jun-ares","tag-readers","tag-self-publishing","tag-the-rubber-fence"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/TRF-OLD-POSTER.jpg?fit=417%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-FT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2375,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/therapy-2\/cover-reveal-for-the-rubber-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2597,"position":0},"title":"Cover Reveal for THE RUBBER FENCE","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"26 \u041b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm very excited to announce the cover reveal for The Rubber Fence, my second novel.\u00a0The cover was designed by Ares Jun. The story, which largely takes place on a psychiatric ward in 1972, was inspired by my work on such a hospital ward in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I had just graduated\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"cover reveal of THE RUBBER FENCE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Rubber-Fence-The-Diana-Stevan-2-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2519,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/therapy-2\/book-launch-of-the-rubber-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2597,"position":1},"title":"Book Launch of THE RUBBER FENCE","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"3 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's official! The day has arrived for my book launch of \u00a0THE RUBBER FENCE\u00a0online. It's\u00a0now on sale on Amazon and will be available at other booksellers in time.\u00a0 Inspired by my work on a psychiatric ward in 1972, it covers a time when feminism was being born, shock treatment was\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/therapy-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Book Launch THE RUBBER FENCE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/150-rubber-fence-ebook-cover.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3898,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2019\/writing\/the-hunt-for-the-right-book-cover\/","url_meta":{"origin":2597,"position":2},"title":"The Hunt for the Right Book Cover","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"22 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So much rides on the right book cover. Most of us have heard the expression: You can't judge a book by it's cover. True enough, but if it\u2019s appealing you\u2019ll likely pick it up and read what\u2019s on the back. And if you like what's on the back, you\u2019ll open\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/author-149694_1280-1.png?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/author-149694_1280-1.png?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/author-149694_1280-1.png?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/author-149694_1280-1.png?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/author-149694_1280-1.png?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6242,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2023\/writing\/designing-hard-covers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2597,"position":3},"title":"Designing Hard Covers","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"13 \u0427\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Designing hard covers for my trilogy\u2014Lukia's Family Saga\u2014was never part of my writing plan. As a self-published author, I know my limits. I've hired Jun Ares, a professional book cover designer, Polgarus Studios for my formatting needs, and multiple editors, both copy and substantive (story) editors for all my novels\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Designing Hard Covers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LUKIA-FAMILY-SAGA-transparent-png.png?fit=390%2C368&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4206,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2019\/writing\/amazons-surprise-discount-psychological-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":2597,"position":4},"title":"Amazon’s Surprise Discount","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I checked the book categories of The Rubber Fence on Amazon and discovered that Amazon had given my novel a surprise discount. It was listed as $14.95 but was now on sale for $6.91. Confused, I phoned to enquire why. The agent told me that Amazon selects certain\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Quote-from-The-Rubber-Fence.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Quote-from-The-Rubber-Fence.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Quote-from-The-Rubber-Fence.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Quote-from-The-Rubber-Fence.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1610,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/the-challenge-of-book-covers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2597,"position":5},"title":"The Challenge of Book Covers","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"26 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was writing A Cry From The Deep, I never gave any thought to a book cover. That\u2019s not unreasonable given that I had to write the novel first. Mine took longer than most because I chose to write about subjects that I didn\u2019t know much about. Also, since\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From 123f.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/a-cry-from-the-deep-alt-watermark-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}