I received an email from a college student asking about cover design for his dissertation. I thought it most straight forward to share my answers here as I am asked these questions quite frequently.
1. What are your thoughts on working in the book design industry?
I absolutely love what I do. The book industry is a fantastic community and I am so privileged to be a part of it. Not only do I get to interact with authors but I get to make their words come to life visually. I also get to meet readers, bloggers, editors and other industry professionals. Being able to share my creativity while designing covers is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as an artist.
2. How much influence do you think your work has over a customer buying a book?
Most people shop based on what they see or have heard from others. If you had not heard about a product you will usually either look it up for reviews or base your decision on the visual appeal which includes the written description and design of the packaging. It is true that we are told not to judge a book by it's cover but we all do. To some extent. If it looks like little care was given to the "design" of the product it can be easily assumed that the content was also not cared for. I believe that a book cover should convey as much passion and heart as went into the story itself.
3. What made you want to work in such a competitive field?
I have always been a designer to some degree or another. I have never thought of it as a competition. I love what I do. All artists have their own style. My techniques for design are unique to me alone.
4. How do you think the rise of eBooks has effected the success of book cover designers such as yourself?
I think that the digital world and accessibility to information has changed the way we live, research and shop and any successful business needs to adapt to these changes. I design for both self published authors and traditional authors as well as publishers. Both for ebook and print design. Most authors I work with start with ebook and transition to print later.