AN: We’re taking the week off from original posts to focus on returning some e-mails and answering your questions — so let ‘er rip! Today, I’m posting an excerpt and a link to a guest post I wrote for The Creative Penn. It was originally published on June 17, 2010.

I’ll never forget my first book cover design presentation. It was for a church directory and, man, I was on my game.

My passionate, detailed explanation of the design decisions made, coupled with reasons for their effectiveness – sprinkled with just the right amount of humor — was persuasive and professional. To this day, I still haven’t topped it.

I finished my presentation, ready to be bathed in the warm glow of “Wow! What incredible work!” and “Amazing! We’re so glad we hired you.”

What I received instead was Myrna and her 11 friends in the design committee staring back at me with varying looks of displeasure and confusion. Gulp.

Cricket. Cricket.

They totally didn’t get it and, therefore, hated it. Total book cover design fail.

I’ve never been so crushed. But, this led me to an important realization:

You’ll work better with some book cover designers than others.

[continue reading 'Choosing the Best Book Cover Designer for Your Book' at The Creative Penn]