Fi Phillips

A friend recently self published for the first time and one of the most interesting (and exciting) elements of what I saw of the process (beyond the actual writing) was choosing a book cover design. She commissioned several artists, used a 'vote for your favourite' as publicity for her debut novel and went through a lot of previously unconsidered questions as to what she wanted. You can read more about her adventure here . As writers, we can concentrate so much on the words on the page, creating and honing, that we often forget the importance of book cover design. To a browser in a book store, the look of a book is the thing that will first catch their eye. If they pick up our book, they'll probably turn next to the blurb, but that initial capture is purely visual. The kind of book covers I like personally are very diverse. I find the covers of the Dark Towers novels by Stephen King to be quite eye catching. But then I also like the simple design of Carlos Ruiz...

I recently returned to a book I started reading years ago, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I got about half way through before we packed up to move house and I've only now found it in a box of miscellaneous items. I packed the box in 2004. Keeping to my 2012 resolution to read more, I've re-started Shadow and in the first section came across a passage that I thought would appeal to the writers and readers in us. Enjoy. "This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs their eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens." The Shadow of the Wind