Book Cover Contest - $500 to the winner

I am going to be putting out a revised edition of High Impact Middle Management later this Fall and I would like to add a new cover. I have always disliked the old one, but as a first time author (this was my first book), I did not have any say in the matter.

I have decided to open up the cover design to my blog readers and their friends. If you or your friend would like to submit a design, read on. I will pay $500 (for royalty free rights) for the winning cover design and will provide exposure for your work through my blog and website.

Here are the details.

On the front cover, I want the following words:

High Impact Middle Management

Lisa Haneberg

Revised Edition

That's it - no HIMM acronym (I have never liked this acronym) and I am not putting the subtitle on the cover. On the back, we can include a few blurbs. I am open to innovative designs!

The book will be a 6X9 paperback and approximately 240 pages. Four color is fine for the cover. I will likely use Book Surge to publish this revised version of the book and you can find a PDF with cover specs here (under common downloads).

I would like the cover to be striking, bold, and smart.

Send me your cover designs by November 9th, you can submit as many cover designs as you like. I will post the entries on my blog and get reader input as to which cover best expresses the book's essence. I will use that feedback as part of my selection process. I will share the website information for all entries, so everyone will get exposure for his or her work. I will be doing other books in the future, so this could lead to more work on other projects.

Feel free to email me with your questions, but I do not want to limit the creative process by suggesting any particular color palette or style. I recognize that the cover I like the most will likely be nothing I could have imagined on my own.

Once the decision is made, I will announce the winner and pay that person $500 for the winning cover.

This is the old cover:

I can't wait to see what the new one will look like!

Comments

[David Airey]

Hi Lisa,

Why not pay a designer $500 for your cover, rather than have a lot of non-designers devote their time for no reward?

Bye for now.

[Dwayne Melancon]

It's like YouTube for cover art! What could be more fun?

[Lisa Haneberg]

David:

Good question. I assume that most of the folks who offer a design will be a designer of some sort (like someone doing this kind of work on the side for extra cash). If I can help bring exposure to someone's work and get to see a variety of styles, I think that's a win-win.

Some readers of this blog have or will one day write a book of their own (and many of these will self publish). So the exposure that the participating folks get goes beyond just me. I might pick "Sally's" cover, but Bob will see and like "Ari's"style.

My hope is that no one will feel like he or she got no reward.

[David Zinger]

Hi Lisa:

I appreciate your approach, you have got things "covered."

I mentioned your request to a friend and he is busy putting a few designs together.

Well, you opened up my eyes as I looked at his initial drafts I realized that when I publish a book he will be my cover man.

Thank you.

David

[Vern Firestone]

Lisa,

Hello. My name is Vern Firestone and I am the publisher for TRIAD Publishing Group. I notice you said you will probably publish through Book Surge. Please contact me as we might be able to help you out much more then Book Surge. We do marketing for all of our titles and we are making some waves in the publishing community and are getting books out there. You will get a cover you WILL be happy with and will have final say on. Like I said contact me and we may be able to help you out.

Regards,
Vern