So you’ve finished writing that book that’s been on your heart and mind for a long time. You’ve put a lot of time, planning, and energy into crafting the best book possible. You’ve considered your business goals and how the book will help you achieve them. You’ve thought about your reader’s journey and how the book can help them.

Now that you’ve written the book, that’s only part of the journey of bringing this book to life! One of the areas many writers don’t think about much is the design of their book.

As writers, we like to focus on the words and storytelling. However, the design of your book has a huge impact on the reader’s experience, not to mention how you will market it—and how it will be perceived—by your ideal reader.

That’s why I’m excited to bring you this conversation with my friend, Kaycee Parker. She is a graphic designer and writer who has been freelance designing for various clients nationwide for over ten years.

Kaycee published her first devotional book in 2023, titled Devotions on Diabetes: A 30-Day Journey to Anchor Your Soul. (You can grab your copy by visiting https://devotionsondiabetes.com/book.) She enjoys cover design and interior formatting, but more than anything, she loves to help bring a book to life for an author.

In this conversation, we dive into 5 ways to improve the design of your book. This is based on her excellent free guide, which walks you through each of these steps. You can download it by visiting https://kpcommunications.net/bookdesign.

Let me say this as plainly as I can—I see a LOT of self-published authors publish books with mediocre or even terrible covers, or formatting that doesn’t look good. Don’t compromise the quality of your book by letting poor design detract from the reading experience.

* * *

Today’s episode is sponsored by Karen Hunsanger, an incredible editor known as “The Word Wizard.” I’ve worked with Karen many times, and she is your secret weapon for crafting the highest-quality book possible. Visit the link above for a free sample edit.