How To Self-Publish Your Book (A Man, A Book & A Misguided Theory) Part 3

After determining a publishing house and securing a superb editor, I wanted a quality graphic design. So I decided to combine the work of Gradient Overlay with help from the world of Twitter and Facebook.

Gradient Overlay is a graphic design company that not only contains the extraordinary creativity of Toby Sturgill, but they also understand the Web 2.0 world of collaboration. After several conversations about the book’s content, intent and mood, Toby produced five prospective covers. We then decided to utilize the power of social networking. After three Twitter and Facebook updates asking everyone to help choose the cover of my new book, over 250 comments and votes had been registered at the new Sex, Lies & Religion blogsite.

That 250 people would vote in this short amount of time was amazing, but there was another even more surprising and unanticipated outcome. Because of the affinity of my followers, an inordinate amount were artists and creatives. So instead of a simple “I vote for #4” comment, instead it was “I like the typeface of #2 with the placement of #1 with the colors of #5.” It was an amazing discovery that eventually produced a cover that was truly a remarkable collaborative result of social networking. In my graphic, you can see three of the five prospective covers and the eventual “winner” on the right.

Kudos go to Toby and his creative selflessness for building the artistic foundation and then enjoying the collaboration of other creatives, resulting in a tremendous cover. Another unexpected outcome, one of the many commenters suggested having David’s censor bar on the cover removed to reveal his beauty on the inside title page. A brilliant idea which we subsequently implemented.

A creative team of 250 people created a book cover far greater than any of us could have accomplished alone. In less than three hours. Amazing. The power of social networking and collaboration. A stunning example of engaging creativity in a digital world.

Tomorrow, the details and process of creating and uploading the digital files to create a proof. And then finally, a new and outrageous social marketing plan.

4 Responses to “How To Self-Publish Your Book (A Man, A Book & A Misguided Theory) Part 3”

  1. Brilliant plan, well executed and we readers rock don’t we? :)
    .-= Carol Asher´s last blog ..Consistency and Conditional love =-.

  2. As always, interesting! I think it’s neat that you let your readers help design your cover. Just out of curiousity, did you have a favorite cover and why was it your favorite?
    .-= patriciazell´s last blog ..#39 THE DOING OF LOVING: FREEDOM =-.

    • @patriciazell, Yes, my original favorite cover was David with the censor bar, not the briefs, because of the serious nature of the book. But the iteration after the collaboration was far better than any of us dreamed.

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