Sometimes the quality--or more the lack of quality--of the artwork is a giveaway. I'm not an expert, but the details like foiling and embossing and the arrangement of blurbs and things on the cover really define a big house book.
Part of my point (and I see that it wasn't well-stated in my post) is that professional design sensibility shows through regardless of the bells and whistles.
This book didn't have foil or embossing or cover blurbs on the ARC. And yet I knew right away it was a professionally published book, not a self-pub or semi-amateur operation.
That's a great looking book cover. Makes me want to read it to find out who lives in the house and where the secret passages are. This is what the cover of Flora Segunda should have looked like.
Part of my point (and I see that it wasn't well-stated in my post) is that professional design sensibility shows through regardless of the bells and whistles.
For sure. As a member of the Norton jury, I received hundreds of books in the mail, some of which were self published. And I could tell, instantly which ones those were. And some of the self-published ones were obviously expensive. Check out www.strandprophecy.com. This book came in a slipcase as a "collectors limited edition" (very limited, I expect!), hardcover, embossed, illustrations, high quality paper, elaborate headers on each page... and man, is it an ugly-ass book.
I didn't even have to read the two continuity errors and three tense errors on the first page (not kidding!) to know that it was amateur. Ugh.
Comments 3
Reply
This book didn't have foil or embossing or cover blurbs on the ARC. And yet I knew right away it was a professionally published book, not a self-pub or semi-amateur operation.
Reply
That's a great looking book cover. Makes me want to read it to find out who lives in the house and where the secret passages are. This is what the cover of Flora Segunda should have looked like.
Part of my point (and I see that it wasn't well-stated in my post) is that professional design sensibility shows through regardless of the bells and whistles.
For sure. As a member of the Norton jury, I received hundreds of books in the mail, some of which were self published. And I could tell, instantly which ones those were. And some of the self-published ones were obviously expensive. Check out www.strandprophecy.com. This book came in a slipcase as a "collectors limited edition" (very limited, I expect!), hardcover, embossed, illustrations, high quality paper, elaborate headers on each page... and man, is it an ugly-ass book.
I didn't even have to read the two continuity errors and three tense errors on the first page (not kidding!) to know that it was amateur. Ugh.
Reply
Leave a comment