Designing the Best Book Cover

You’ve heard the old adage: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Well, we all know that a gorgeous cover is hard to pass by, and those of us in the publishing industry know that a good book cover can be the difference a reader picking it up or leaving it behind.

In this episode of “Writer’s Digest Presents,” editor-in-chief Amy Jones and content editor Michael Woodson are joined by designer Charlotte Strick and writer Zachary Petit to discuss all things book design and book covers!

About Our Guests

Zachary Petit is an independent journalist and editor. Previously, he served as the content director of the HOW+PRINT brands, editor-in-chief of the National Magazine Award–winning publication PRINT, managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, and executive editor of several related newsstand titles.

Petit works above a Victorian bowling alley turned illegal gambling hall turned punk club turned cab company turned brewery. His book about Modest Mouse’s The Moon & Antarctica for the 33 1/3 series will be available this fall.

For 14 years, Charlotte Strick was a designer and Art Director at Faber & Faber, Inc and the paperback line at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Her work has been featured in the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers show, the TDC Annual Exhibition, Print magazine, the Book Binder’s Guild Annual Awards Show, and many books about cover design. Her writings on art and design have been published by The Paris Review, The Atlantic and The Huffington Post. In 2014 she partnered with Claire Williams Martinez to form Strick&Williams, a boutique, multidisciplinary design firm focused on the arts, education, publishing, non-profits and everything in-between.

A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Charlotte lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, their twin boys, and a giant bowl of goldfish.