Cover.
Cover.
As you may know, I changed my topic to literacy / phonics. I'm rubbish at design so have played around and come up with 8! I'd really appreciate your thoughts (positive or negative) on:
- the best title
- the kind of design (e.g., jolly vs serious)
- anything else!
https://www.canva.com/design/DADD0UR9jVQ/pjVudw3NQsZm940hQdXwFA/view?utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=email&utm_source=publish
As you may know, I changed my topic to literacy / phonics. I'm rubbish at design so have played around and come up with 8! I'd really appreciate your thoughts (positive or negative) on:
- the best title
- the kind of design (e.g., jolly vs serious)
- anything else!
https://www.canva.com/design/DADD0UR9jVQ/pjVudw3NQsZm940hQdXwFA/view?utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=email&utm_source=publish
Black looks very serious...maybe try a dark blue, dark green, or dark red? I'd put your subtitle on two lines, not three, and make it larger. Move your name to the bottom and remove the quote (which could go on the back cover, if you do a paperback. But it's not clear who Morrison is.. ??).
ReplyDeleteIs your middle photo about teaching children to read? It looks more adultish somehow.
Having the strip of photos and then a plain color gives you lots of room for title & subtitle, which is good. Use your space! Enlarge those letters! lol
Maybe put a writing photo in the middle, since you have reading photos on either end?
ReplyDeletePixabay has some nice photos (free for commercial use) of kiddos writing.
ReplyDeleteThere are eight covers in total. Some are far less serious. What do you think of the more cheerful kids' covers?
ReplyDeleteAH, I only saw the black one when I clicked! Let me go check the others now.
ReplyDeleteOK:
ReplyDelete1 and 2: see comments above. But I do think the black makes it look like a dense, serious research book, and I'm not sure that's what the insides are.
3 and 4: I like this. ELT-ish colors, but some life to it. You'd have to play around a bit with wording on the title, so that it's clear it's for teaching kids. Is it ELT only, or would it apply to native speakers as well?
5 and 6: Not keen. Too scrap-hooky. Has a homemade look, but not in a good way (for me).
7 I like a lot. I'd take your name out of the box and put it at the top, larger.
8 I like the look of, but it's not clear that it's about books, and your name isn't on it (though could go at the top). I think less effective that 7, 3 / 4, and even 1 / 2 (with a different background color).
Thanks, Dorothy! I really appreciate your feedback. Regarding who it’s for: anyone teaching kids to read and write for the first time (could be native speaker teachers, homeschool parents, or ELT).
ReplyDeleteNote: I’m holding on to a thought for a second book (as a series) which would be for adults - speakers of other scripts like Arabic, Chinese, Hindi - who need to learn the Roman script. That could be for teachers of immigrants, or EFL teachers. We know so many teachers in this situation and most adult EFL course books assume people are familiar with the Roman script... What do you think?
Dorothy - regarding content, there are 50 simple games / chants / TPR activities, plus some spelling rules and advice on phonics. So it’s not all games. Another thought - how about keeping this to purely games and activities, and moving the spelling rules and phonics stuff to a second book called something like “Phonics Companion”? Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteKate Cory-Wright What would the word count be for each? Can you estimate?
ReplyDeleteDorothy Zemach No idea! What do you suggest for an activity / resource book?
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the word count at the moment? I mean. Then you can see if it’s big enough to split or not.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Zemach I wrote it on the document itself. Pretty low, but I’ve only included 10 activities.
ReplyDeleteKate Cory-Wright Can you just tell me here what it is? lol Word will count it for you... just check the bottom of the document.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Zemach It’s written on the doc, but we’re both too lazy to look, lol. (2,567 words so far)
ReplyDeleteIt looks really professional. Reminds me a bit of those Routledge books on pedagogy. How did you create it, Kate?
ReplyDeleteI like 3 & 4. They're really fun!
ReplyDeleteSwim Finn Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSwim Finn I've decided to split the activities I have into TWO books (one for kids and one for adults- by adults, I mean, people who already know how to read and write but in a different script and now they need to learn english). What could I do to 3/4 to distinguish the kids one from the adult one, but making it look like a series? Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteKate Cory-Wright That’s pretty short, although figure front & backmatter will add another 300 words or so. About double that is the minimum (I’d say) for an ebook, although there isn’t any real minimum. For a paperback, there is a page-count minimum. Figure around 10,000 words for a slim paperback. Do you have a rough feeling of how much you have left to write?
ReplyDeleteHmmm... maybe put a silhouette of a graduate student or a professor rather than just a book? That might set it apart. and perhaps keep the same design but have it be different colors.
ReplyDeleteimages.google.com - Image: Silhouette Wand Teacher · Free vector graphic on Pixabay
Dorothy Zemach Thanks. These are just the first 10 activities (out of 50) so we can estimate by x5. Approx 10,000 words in total.
ReplyDeleteKate Cory-Wright Oh, nice. That will make a paperback as well as an ebook, then, if you want.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not sure you need to make it look like a series if the audiences are so different. Presumably someone wouldn't buy both? If you have a series of, say, ten things, that doesn't matter. But if it's a series of two, then I think the only point to their being a series is if the same person would buy each one.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Zemach Thanks for all the tips above! I feel so much more connected to the course this time and you really reap the benefits if you get that! (Good point about teaching literacy to the two groups - they don't really make a set, unless more ideas spring to mind - I had thought of a companion, which contains more of the rules, skills, etc)
ReplyDeleteI like #1, but in more cheerful colors. Not sure about the quote at the bottom though - it looks like those review quotes, when somebody has written a review of your book and you put quotes from various reviews on the front/back cover to boost sales. So, it was a bit confusing to me.
ReplyDelete