What goes on behind the scenes? 6. Jacket design and Marketing copy

What happens with the book's jacket, marketing copy, and endorsements?

As part of a new mini-series covering what happens behind the scenes, I thought it might be useful and perhaps enlightening if I share what's going on at Pearson at each stage of the book publishing process. You can catch up with the previous articles here and I'm interested to hear if this confirms your expectations or surprises you.

Last time, I explained what happens with manuscript writing and development. Alongside that, there's usually a lot going on with the packaging of the book in order to ready it for the market. By packaging, I mean the title, the jacket design, the marketing copy, and endorsements. So here's how it works at Pearson:

Title - It would be very unusual at Pearson for a project to get to the writing stage without the main title being finalised but we could still be tweaking the subtitle at this point. Sometimes, seeing it on a draft jacket can prompt suggestions to shorten it or tweak keywords and we want to be sure the title and subtitle are searchable and buyable.

Jacket design - We aim to brief the jacket design as soon as possible once the project is commissioned. This is because we want a design 6 months before the book publishes and sometimes it can take months to get to a final jacket that everyone likes. We've built long-term relationships with several freelance designers who are familiar with our house style and imprints. We brief them with ideas alongside the book specification (size, ISBN, etc) and they'll share several options in the first round. Occasionally we choose one of the first options and the design is sorted quickly. More usually, we go through a few rounds of tweaks - "move this text down, make this bigger, etc, try this colour...". We do a lot of work on ensuring our jackets are accessible and so try to have high-contrast covers, and refrain from photographs or images of people that aren't inclusive.

Marketing Copy - A lot of work on the marketing copy is done very early. I'll write the draft jacket copy for the editorial board, and we ask the authors to provide a list of keywords upfront. We revisit this again once the book is in production and I ask the authors to check over the copy before it's sent to the jacket designer who lays out of the back cover. We all then see a cover proof to check and make any corrections and improvements. We also upload the copy to our system and it feeds out to retailers and resellers. There's actually a standard for book metadata called ONIX with many fields and we're prompted to complete as many as possible in good time by the Pearson data team before the feed is released about 6 months before publication (hence the jacket deadline). The more complete the ONIX record before sending, the better, as though it can be updated, some sites don't regularly check the feed and so incorrect information can persist for books.

Endorsements - Once the manuscript is final, we provide authors with a PDF of the book and ask them to source endorsements for the book. We do it early as this can be a long process, and waiting for the proofs can sometimes not leave enough time for the quotes to be included in the book. We also ask authors to do this as the endorsers are their contacts and it feels more personal.

As ever, this is the process for my list at Pearson but does this meet your expectations as an author? Does it chime with what you’ve experienced? Do you have any thoughts on the above? Let me know! Next week, what happens during the Production phase?

The Pearson Business Book Club

The Pearson Business Book Club is open to all who would like to learn more about our business books or about a particular topic, and the webinars are free to attend. You can also view the on-demand videos of previous sessions on the Book Club website.

April's Business Book of the Month is How to Get On with Anyone by Catherine Stothart and her masterclass is "The life-changing people skills you need to connect with any personality type". To attend the webinar on Thursday 25 April 2023 at 2 pm (UK time) please register at https://pearson.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_abBvIBl5RSayqEzPMsZSxA.

Most people lack the tools to deal with awkward situations and difficult people. But what if you could find out the secrets of dealing with ANY personality type? How to Get On with Anyone will give you the knowledge, principles and skills you need to improve your interactions with everyone, build your confidence and change your life.

Understand others, use your charisma and communicate effectively to build better relationships.

‘Understand yourself and others so you can be more effective – this book is essential.’ Mark Stewart, General Manager and HR Director, Airbus

Just Published / Noteworthy books

Closing the Service Gap by Benjamin Laker , Lebene Soga and Yemisi Bolade-Ogunfodun PhD, SFHEA -

How connected are your customers, employees and organisation?

Following in the footsteps of some of the world’s largest companies, this book shows you how to transform your business culture using technology to connect the three most important stakeholders – the customers, employees and the organisation – and deliver value to each in turn. With practical steps, tips and case studies, this book helps you to build and implement a strategy to close the service gap in your organisation.

"This important book provides lessons for all of us on how businesses can better interact with consumers to advance economic prosperity for all." Dorie Clark , Wall Street Journal contributor and bestselling author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine.

What am I reading?

I'm enjoying reading more widely about neurodiversity and most recently I enjoyed The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron.?I've discovered I'm an HSP and really identified with a lot of this book, again appreciating the positive language which tries to reframe what society has traditionally seen as negatives or problems. I do feel a bit awkward sharing that I'm a highly sensitive person but I also appreciate other people's honesty and think this understanding can only improve our connections and relationships.

Finally

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for future newsletters? Did I strike a chord with anything in this newsletter? Is there a business book you've enjoyed recently that you'd recommend? Add a comment or email me at [email protected].