Marketing’s Role in the Cover Art Process

Julie ThomsonDirect Marketing Manager

& Sales Associate

julie.thomson@dukeupress.edu@JulieJThomsonNC

Overview

• Typically publish 60 books a season

• Fall of 2012: 38 covers for the catalog

• Since then we’ve had 30-40 covers in our catalogs

• Fall 10: 3 covers, all front of the catalog and trade

• Full-time designers: 3 (with some freelancers)

• Marketing department: 9

The Cover Art Process at Duke University Press

• Cover art tracking sheet

• Review of author suggestions via the marketing questionnaire

The Cover Art Process at Duke University Press• Review author’s suggestions and in marketing we try to come up

with other ideas too

• Our Sales Manager and I meet before the launch meeting to review/discuss the cover art suggestions and ideas

The Cover Art Process at Duke University Press

• At the launch meeting I briefly present the author’s and marketing’s cover art ideas.

• General direction is decided upon at launch.

Advance Cover Art Meetings

• Designer-driven idea

• Happen after the launch meeting discussion

• Typically 20 minutes once a week

• Attended by Designers, Production Manager, Editors, Editorial Assistants, Marketing Director, Sales Manager, and me

• Designers present cover art ideas and/or designs

• This is where marketing weighs in about the proposed design

• Allows for all of our departments to get behind a design

• Overall this saves time

• Collegial environment

• A meeting and format that continues to evolve

DUP book designers typically design

• Cover

• Clear all cover rights and permissions for cover art

• 2 sets of cover files: one in a paperback, and one in a Lithocase (paper over boards)

• Book’s design specifications, which are sent to a typesetter

• Our designers use freelance designers strategically to manage workloads.

• We only have 1 series with a cover template. Our World and Latin America Readers series have a flexible cover template.

Collaborative Approach

• Designer: We get input, help, and inspiration without getting bogged down in permissions.

• Sales Manager: We have so much confidence in the skill of our designers they don’t naturally need our help, but because of time pressure we have to be involved. Their instincts are great. They used to figure out the right direction, but now we don’t have that mulling luxury.

• Production Manager: Allows us to look at the possibilities, decide which direction to go, and saves time.

DUP Covers

• Our covers are a great selling tool. We want to make sure we can have them as early as possible so that we can use them to sell the books.

• Our covers are a big part of our Duke University Press brand.

• A willingness to be edgy about what we’re putting on a cover.

Ways Marketing Uses Covers

Subject Matters emails

www.read.dukeupress.edu

Exhibits

What is a book cover for?

It should:

• attract attention

• interest people in it

• convey an accurate message about the book

• sell the book