The Baltimore Chapter and friends the CityLit Project and the Write Here, Write Now workshops, present freelance editorial service provider Lauren Manoy who will be leading a workshop on successful book cover design.

We do judge books by their covers. Great book covers draw readers in while not-so-great covers get skipped over. A book's cover is the author's first point of contact with potential readers. It sets the tone for your book's content, and it has to stand out among thousands of available choices. Publishing houses have small armies of marketing and design staff and budgets to match to help them create covers that sell. So how can self-publishing authors compete? What elements make one book cover compelling and another easily forgotten?

This workshop was designed with self-publishing authors in mind and clarifies the basics of successful cover design from start to finish: eye-catching image selection, powerful composition and color choices, effective typography, and how to prepare files for print. Get savvy about budget-friendly resources for professional art and type, common cover-design pitfalls, and how to select and work with design professionals. Bring your own cover-in-progress for a critique to help your book look its best on the shelf!

Lauren Manoy has been a freelance editorial service provider for almost a decade. She works with traditional publishing houses, corporations, academic presses, and self-publishing individuals to edit, write, and design a variety of material. Her first book, Where to Park Your Broomstick (Simon and Schuster, 2002), won the Garden State Library Award for Best Nonfiction (teen category) and was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Her essay "My Roaring Twenties" was included in the anthology Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers: The Best New Voices of 2006 (Random House, 2006).

That's Monday, July 26 at 7:00 p.m. at the Towson Arts Collective studio, 410/406 York Road, in Towson. Look for the TAC sign (with a MWAB sign) on the street and follow the stairs down. Parking is available near the Library and on the street; there should be no charge after 6:00 p.m.

Download a copy of Lauren's presentation here.