The Making of a Book Cover

Here are the first cover ideas I pitched for Skip to the Fun Parts.

I knew I wanted to go with a handwritten look, since that’s kinda my vibe, but other than that, I was experimenting. Do I keep it text heavy, or go all in on the little critter doodles?

The main piece of feedback I got at first was that white book covers tended to get dirty, so I’d best try something with a color background. Good to know!

At one point it occurred to me that what is a book cover if not a potential vehicle for a fancy border, similar to that of a ketubah? Maybe I could play with that idea?

At this point we still hadn’t nailed down a subtitle.

Another legal pad draft.

This eventually led to the design below, which did not become the cover, but I wound up using as the title page.

I have a whole chapter on what I call “Procrastination Fishies,” so thematically everything you see here is relevant.

Anyhow, back to the cover. None of the lettering felt quite right yet, so I treated myself to a new set of brush markers and went to town:

All Skipping and No Fun Makes Jack a Dull Boy

Eventually I landed on my favorite colored text + colored background plus some critters and a human figure, and it was just a matter of choosing the right combination of elements.

Fun with Photoshop Animated GIFs

My editor also came up with the idea to emphasize the advice-less-ness of the book and cross out the “Guide” part, which led to some experiments here:

The little “Advice Free” sticker at the top was deemed too busy, so eventually we got to this:

The finished cover!

Before you go…

• Tickets are still available for my talk with

  Mari Andrew
  at the Powerhouse Arena on May 9th! Mari and I became friends back when she lived in DC, and if she says “we’re gonna GET INTO IT” you know it’s gonna be good. On sale now!

  

  
  I’ll also be chatting with one of my favorite writers, Leigh Stein at P&T Knitwear on May 17th! She also sends out a fantastic book publishing / writing newsletter that I personally found very helpful when writing Skip the the Fun Parts. Join us for a discussion about procrastination, social media and art, and why it's impossible to never read the comments. RSVP here.

  

• I’m hosting a Ladies Drawing Night Against Humanity + Book Talk on May 25th at the Shop Made in DC in Georgetown. No drawing ability required, but a twisted sense of humor doesn’t hurt.

• Order my book!

• See a drawing you like, or want to buy some original art? Purchase it here.