The next round may be a little tougher. Industry people won’t candy-coat their opinions, and you may receive feedback that’s less than rosy. Take the good with the bad when it comes to criticism of your book, remembering to appreciate fresh perspectives that may illuminate problems you couldn’t see before. No matter how it may feel at times, most people don’t enjoy raking you over the coals–they just want to know if this is a book they can sell.

So what matters to these book people as they evaluate your work with an objective critical eye? Here are six factors they’ll always look at:

• Platform: How many people already know you and want the information you are selling? Do you have a preexisting base of consumers for your book?

• Content: Fancy design work and a big publicity push will sell books for a few months, but continued sales rely on word-of-mouth advertising. Word-of-mouth advertising, in turn, relies on quality content that readers will find interesting over a span of time.
• Marketing: How will you persuade people to run to the bookstore and buy your book?
• Genre: Is the material appropriate for current trends in the genre? Will it stand out among other books of its type?
• Design: Books are always judged by their cover. Check out the Design & Production category for all kinds of great info.
• Price point: Price the item appropriately for its genre, length, and trim size. You may think a consumer will not mind paying an extra buck for your book, but bookstore buyers purchasing large quantities of the book will mind that extra dollar very much.

At the end of the day, no one can predict how a book will do. The unknowns are scary but inevitable. Make sure the variables you can control are all working for you so you’re in the best position to face the unforeseen. Don’t be discouraged if someone says “no,” and don’t be offended by criticism. Learn what you can and keep pushing forward. This is the entertainment industry after all, and for its author, a book is a bit like a lottery ticket.

Editing
Your content has to deliver the goods. Editing isn’t just about making sure your book is free of typos and grammatical errors—it’s the part of the process that focuses on sharpening the reading experience for your customers. If you don’t invest the time and money to have experienced book editors work with your book, success in this industry will be an uphill battle. Don’t try to justify your rush by duping yourself into believing that you can save time-consuming editorial work for the second edition or the next printing. Crappy books don’t go into multiple print runs or second editions. It’s like not showering before a first date and thinking that you can always wash up for the second date—unless you’re meeting the Vegas drunk from the scenario above, there’s no way you’re getting the second date, stinky. It’s worth the delay in your book launch to work with an editor who can help you develop a rock-solid title, unique hooks, a smart structure, and a compelling voice. If you rush the editorial process, you’ll compromise the integrity of your work for short-term gains. Is a goal like having books in time for one event really worth that?

Design and Printing
While powerful marketing, a strong author platform, and compelling content are essential for a book to succeed, production quality is equally important. And yet there are countless articles that downplay the importance of quality, often making the obtuse argument that anyone with Photoshop or InDesign can throw a book together in no time, or that the difference between top quality and bottom quality is negligible due to advances in technology. Both assertions are appalling fallacies. The quality of your design and printing determines what kind of first impression your book will make. Retail buyers, book reviewers, and consumer make gut decisions based on this first impression, so while good quality costs money and takes time, this is not an area in which it is okay to be either cheap or hasty.

Sales and Publicity
Sometimes, we’re at the mercy of others. Pitching your book to retail buyers and media outlets is one of those times. If you want to sell your books in bookstores or other trade outlets like Costco and Wal-Mart, know that it takes almost twelve months to get your books ready for distribution. This time is spent setting up the title in wholesale and retail systems, presenting to buyers, and preparing the logistics for an on-time launch. And there’s similar time sensitivity inherent in a proper publicity campaign. You only have one book launch, and if you don’t get advance review copies to reviewers at least four months prior to publication, your print campaign has virtually no shot at success.

Deciding to produce a book on an abbreviated timeframe may be possible from a purely logistical standpoint, but you shouldn’t rush your book launch unless you’re prepared to have a product that isn’t set up to reach its full potential. So take a breath and slow down. The book of your dreams will wait for you. If you follow the rules and wait too, the launch will be much more special. If you know what I mean.

It is odd to me that this oops is just now coming up. Currency designers did it right with coins: I can feel the difference between a dime, nickel, penny, and quarter, and when I’m fishing for laundry money, any coin that’s not large and ridged just won’t do. An obvious solution to this ancient oversight is to create paper money of different sizes according to denomination.

Ah, hindsight . . .

Reconciling art with logistics is an issue that comes up often for designers. We are focused on the idea, the creative concept behind the project—whether it’s a book cover, a marketing campaign, or an island wrapped in plastic. Part of our reality is inside Photoshop (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that CS3 will have the ability to make REAL breakfast tacos).

That can cause problems when it’s time to carry out the design in the real world. The last thing on my mind when I’m running with a new idea is what the shipping will cost, or if the holiday card with the eye-catching trim size will fit inside the box it’s supposed to be mailed in. This isn’t always a bad thing. It allows for unimpeded creativity. But the shape of things is important, and so is coming up for air near the beginning of the design process to make sure that all of your great ideas will work in real life.

Real life also has a habit of introducing new hiccups to work around. Beginning in spring 2007, there will be a 3-cent price hike on first-class stamps and the shape of your mail will have a bigger impact on the cost of shipping. If you’re designing an oversized, butterfly-shaped invitation for a garden party, remember, if it’s not “machinable” (it can’t be sorted automatically) it may cost more to mail. Make sure to think about shape—and everything it can affect—early in the project, so you don’t have to cut corners later.