Supplementing Your Publisher's Marketing Efforts Part Two: How To Start a Project With a Designer

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Once you've found a designer you want to work with what is the next step?

No matter which way you find a designer the first few steps will involve interaction between you and the designer to determine what your needs are. Whether this is done on-line, over the phone, or during a face-to-face meeting depends on what you are comfortable with and how close you live to the designer. In most cases it is totally up to you if you wish to meet in person. If your life is completely crazy and even thinking about rearranging your schedule to meet with someone gives you a migraine ... well, chances are the designer can relate. The entire process can be done remotely without affecting the quality of design.

Where should you meet?
If you do choose to meet in person your designer might be able to suggest a good location. Many of my first meetings with potential clients have happened in coffee shops - whatever public location offers a comfortable environment and is the most convenient for both parties. I always bring my portfolio to show a prospective client some physical examples of past work I have done and a notepad to take notes about what their particular design needs are. I suggest not meeting in your own home, even if that is where your office is located - a neutral location is best for the comfort of both you and your designer.

What should you bring to the first meeting?
This first meeting is your opportunity to bring physical samples to show the designer (or mention online samples of things you like) and might wish to emulate. If you have published books you might also want to bring copies of these for the designer to see or possibly even for them to borrow and read. This will give them an opportunity to familiarize themselves with your writing style and try to match it as closely as possible in their designs for you. The more they know about you, your writing style, your personality and your readers - the better their designs for you will be.

What if you don't meet in person?
If you can't meet with your designer in person they will likely either send you e-mails full of questions to get to know you and your needs or possibly a form for you to download, fill out and return. I have also had FaceBook or Skype chats with potential clients that can work just as well as a face-to-face meeting.


What happens next?
After the designer knows more about you, your readers and what your immediate design needs are they will usually provide you with at least an estimated price of what the design will cost. Some designers will roll the costs of stock photos or illustrations into their pricing and others will let you know that photo costs will be in addition and only purchased upon your approval.  (Note: The second option sounds more complicated, but is actually how I prefer to work so that I can keep the price as low as possible and increase awareness of the costs involved for me to fulfill the project as well.)

One you have gone over the estimate provided by your designer you have the opportunity to accept it, ask questions, attempt negotiation, or let the designer know if it is simply not within your budget at this time.  The designer will not start working until they know you have reached an agreement on pricing. On larger projects, such as web site design, the designer may ask you to pay in installments. One payment at the beginning of the project and others after certain stages of the project have been reached. This is usually due to both the fact that the costs involved in these projects are higher and that these projects also take more time to complete. Spacing out the payments is to help both parties manage the costs and encourages fast responses and the meeting of deadlines!

Once an agreement has been accepted the designer will begin work on your project. Tune in next month for more on what the next steps in the process will likely entail, and what your role will be.

If anyone has questions about this post, or ones they wish me to tackle in next month's post please comment below.

Suzanne Wesley has been a member of ACFW since November of 2009. She considers herself still very much a student to the craft of fiction writing, plunking away on her stories in only her spare time. She makes her actual living supporting other writers and businesses large and small by creating marketing materials from her home office. She has been a professional graphic designer and copy writer for over 15 years. Visit www.suzannewesley.com to see samples of her work.

Supplementing Your Publisher's Marketing Efforts Part One: Finding A Designer

Note: I was hoping to contribute to this topic for the stay-at-home conference but ran into a shortage of time. So instead I thought I'd post it here for the benefit of our Hoosier Ink readers!

Mary has just published her first novel. She hugs her first copy and cries with delight at how perfectly they captured the feel of her writing with the beautiful cover. She can't wait to see it in readers' hands. Unfortunately, the publisher didn't put much money into marketing her book because she's an unknown author and therefore not likely to sell many copies. But how can Mary become known without more marketing from her publisher?

What seems like a Catch 22 situation may lead to it being necessary for Mary to invest a bit of her own time and money into marketing.

Social networking and guest blogging about your book are virtually free ways of getting the word out. But what if you want to send postcards to local bookstores, create bookmarks for guests of book-signings, web-site ads and other marketing of a quality that you feel matches your book? Then it might be time to seek out a professional designer.


Where do you find a professional designer?
Probably the most expensive approach would be to hire an ad agency. The positives of using an ad agency are that they typically encompass a pool of talented folks and the capability to do many forms of advertising from video to print. The negative, however, is that their prices also reflect a lot of office overhead costs to support this large group of people and all of their capabilities. You can find your local options via the phone book, Google or even by visiting your local Chamber of Commerce.

If your needs are less broad (i.e. you know you don't need ALL the bells and whistles) you might be able to find a professional designer working solo that is experienced in exactly they type of design you need. Local options to find a designer would be to check with area universities and the chamber of commerce. For non-local options you might try sites such as iFreelance, ODesk, eLance and others where artists are asked to bid or compete for your business. I would strongly advise that you not choose the artist by the lowest bid when using this type of site as in many cases you do in fact get what you pay for!  Look closely at their portfolio of past work and choose the artist whose style most closely matches what you are looking for - AND whose rating is above par.

Often, the best method is to ask around. Ask other authors who they are using. Since we are all members of ACFW I suspect that putting the question to the loop would garner you lots of options! (Yes, I would be among those options.)

Next month I plan to tackle what to expect when working with a freelance designer. If any of you have related questions please include them in a comment below and I will be sure to answer them.

Should you add maintaining a Cash Flow Analysis to your 2011 Writing Goals?

by Suzanne Wesley

Like many fiction writers I use writing and other skills to 'supplement my fiction habit' and assist my family in paying the household bills. This year, it was suggested to me that I should create a Cash Flow Analysis to track the highs and lows of my business income. If I repeat this year after year I will better be able to predict when I will experience less work, less income or even potential surges in work (so that someday when I can afford a vacation again I will know what month NOT to leave town!)

Not being a 'math person' I didn't get it right the first go-round. But what I discovered was that I was making the process WAY more complicated than I need to, and it's really pretty simple and easy to maintain throughout the year.

Tips to Make The Process Easier

1. I recommend having a separate checking account - it can be a second personal account and not a true 'business' account by the standards of your local bank.
2. Deposit every cent you make via your writing or other freelance skills into this account.
3. Pay any business related bills through this account
4. Pay yourself 'wages' to another account in order to pay non-business related expenses.

Creating Your Cash Flow
Essentially my cash flow is an Excel file I use to track how much income came in each month, where any cash was paid out, and how much cash is available for use the start of the following month. (If any, right?) Each month, when you get your bank statement for your business checking account, you will compare it to your Cash Flow analysis to make sure that the balance at the beginning of each month matches what you have recorded on your Cash Flow file.

I find it easiest to record income onto the file whenever I have made a bank deposit, (whether by depositing a paper check, or by moving money from PayPal) and not saving it all for the end of the month.  Additionally, if you pay yourself 'wages' because the house payment is due ASAP ... it's easier to record it right when you do it, then to expect that you will remember where that x amount of $ went at the end of the month.

Thanks to on-line bill pay, many of us already know our bank balance at any given time, but seeing where a whole year's worth of income has really gone is a real eye opener! You may find a few surprises ... or just have black and white evidence of what you already knew. I can definitely see that doing this year after year will help me see semi-predictable financial patterns that will be helpful to growing my business - and paying my bills!

Have you ever done a cash flow for your writing business? 
If not, maybe 2011 is the year to get started on one. I'd be happy to send the blank Excel file that was given to me to get you started. Send me your e-mail via my web-site contact page, www.suzannewesley.com and I'll send the file to you ASAP so that you can started tracking your January income and expenses.