Kirchweg is a literary fiction debut from Ninefold Press about a woman clearing out her mother's house and confronting the village's very different version of events. The cover must read as quiet, precise and cold: a serious literary object, not a cosy village mystery, correcting the tonal misstep of the publisher's last title.
Overview & Goals
- Signal serious literary fiction to readers who actively avoid cosy village mysteries
- Translate the novel's quiet, precise, cold tone into a restrained visual and typographic system
- Design the spine with the same care as the front, since that is what bookshops actually display
- Ensure the title reads clearly at a 200 pixel thumbnail for online retail
Budget & Timeline
The cover needs sign-off by the end of October so it can go into the spring catalogue, with final print-ready files delivered to the printer in December.
Publication & print
- Logo files
- Vector file (SVG, AI, EPS or PDF)
- Format & extent
- 125 x 200 mm, 288 pages, hardcover with a dust jacket.
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Content
- Text ready, images missing
- Print run & paper
- 4,000 copies, offset. Uncoated jacket stock with a soft-touch feel, printed in two colours plus a foil if the budget allows one.
- One-off or series
- One-off
- Handover
- Print-ready PDF for our printer
- Trim, pages & spine
- Trim 125 x 200 mm, 288 pages on 90gsm bulky paper, giving a spine of about 24 mm. The jacket has 90 mm flaps front and back.
- Cover parts
- Front, Back, Spine, Flaps, Dust jacket, Ebook version
- Cover text
- Front: Kirchweg, the author's name, and Novel. Spine: title, author, the Ninefold mark. Back: blurb of about 90 words, one quote, ISBN barcode and price.
- Printed by
- The publisher's printer
- Print colors
- Not defined yet
Target Audience
Readers of serious literary fiction who want atmosphere and precision, not genre comfort. They are wary of anything that signals cosy village mystery and will judge the book by its restraint.
Style
Typography
Chosen
- Kirchweg (Ninefold Press)Classic & bookish · Old-style serifExample typeface: EB Garamond. A starting point, not a requirement.
Colour
New color direction
Dark & premium
Deep grounds with one metal accent. Restraint doing the work.
Examples of the mood. The final colors are part of the job.
For print
The new palette has to be defined for print as well: CMYK values for four-color process, and Pantone or HKS for any color that must match exactly.
In the client's own words
Ninefold Press is a small independent publisher. We are bringing out a debut novel called Kirchweg next spring, first print run four thousand, and it needs a cover. The book is about a woman returning to the village she grew up in to clear out her mother's house, and finding that the village has decided a different version of what happened. It is quiet, precise, and quite cold. It is not a cosy village mystery and the cover must not promise one, which is exactly the mistake we made on our last title.
Scope & Deliverables
- Front cover design
- Spine design
- Back cover design with blurb, quote and barcode placement
- Front and back flap design, including a non-portrait solution for the author flap
- Full dust jacket layout
- Ebook cover version
- Print-ready PDF handover to the publisher's printer
Do's & Don'ts
Do
- Treat the spine as a primary display surface, not an afterthought
- Make the title legible at 200 pixel thumbnail size
- Use the uncoated, soft-touch jacket stock and any foil budget to reinforce a premium, dark palette
- Find a non-portrait solution for the author's back flap presence
Don't
- Do not depict a woman walking away down a lane
- Do not use a handwritten script typeface
- Do not evoke cosy village mystery through imagery, colour or type
- Do not sacrifice spine legibility for front cover impact