Throughout the final quarter of the year, Judith features top members of "her team" in the creation of THE BOOK. This week's show comes back to the cover and interior... with a different voice, Michele DeFlippo, the CEO of 1106Design.com.

COVER

• What is a book cover? A package that answers the buyer's only question: What's in it for ME?
• How should it look? Like similar bestsellers. Capture the correct mood.
• How should it work? The right words, arranged in the right way, on the front, back and spine.
• All marketing roads lead to your book cover. This is not the place to save money.
• How to hire the right designer. Someone who cares enough to challenge your thinking. Concepts vs. variations. No financial surprises!
• Love your book cover because buyers look at it, and buy it.

INTERIOR

• Never use Word to lay out your book.
• Do-it-yourself templates are plain vanilla, boring. You are sold the level you can work with, not the level you need.
• Compare Word page to a designed and properly typeset bestseller. See the difference?
• Book typography is much more nuanced. Lots of rules = better reading comprehension.
• I have never seen a Word layout that looks like a professionally designed book. Ever.
• Not only are book design rules inadvertently broken, but page counts are usually much higher, increasing your printing cost, so intended savings evaporate.
• Love your book interior because it's beautiful in the hand and easy to read.