1776 Press needed a new book or magazine cover design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 83 designs submitted by 16 freelance designers.
The Bacon Fell On the Floor and other shocking stories
The Lynchsters with Brendan D. Lynch
This is a group of authors who wrote this, so it is not one single writer.
This is a collection of short, short stories. In fact, each story is only six words long. The book contains over 150 categories (like "If Your Pets Could Talk") and each category has 12 six-word stories. A few examples of six word stories for the category above would be "When I'm moody I break things," "That squirrel looked at me funny," or "I never get bored of barking."
The target audience is middle grades, ages 8-12.
1776 Press is seeking a creative cover designer for its newest release, "The Bacon Fell On the Floor and other shocking stories." The target audience is children, ages 8-12. We would like to harness the creativity of all the talented designers who wish to work on this so the criteria will be somewhat open. We are seeking a design for the cover, spine, and back-cover. While the prize money should certainly be a dangling carrot to win this contest, the opportunity to have your design/artwork on a book that will be widely marketed, especially in schools, should be an inspiration as well.
1) The size of the book is 5.06 in. by 7.81 in.
2) The title of the book, "The Bacon Fell On the Floor and other unbelievable stories" should appear on the cover. (No quotes around it.) "The Bacon Fell On the Floor" is the main title and "and other shocking stories" should be below that in smaller font. The authors should be at the bottom center of the cover - "The Lynchsters" and just below that (in smaller print) "with Brendan D. Lynch." No quotes.
3) The cover – be creative. This is a collection of short, short stories. In fact, each story is only six words long. The book contains over 150 categories (like "If Your Pets Could Talk") and each category has 12 six-word stories. A few examples of six word stories for the category above would be "When I'm moody I break things," "That squirrel looked at me funny," or "I never get bored of barking." Make "Lynchsters” a bit larger and more prominent that “with Brendan D. Lynch." (See attached samples from our previous two books.) All could be in caps or all lowercase, depending on your style of cover. That is an easy adjustment later. Please include a blended background that transitions from the front to the spine to the back. In other words, the color should not abruptly stop at the spine on either side. Also, please include some art on the spine, whether it is part of the background image that wraps around the entire front, spine, and back, or a small element of something on the cover.
4) The spine should include the complete title and authors - “The Bacon Fell On the Floor and other shocking stories” and “The Lynchsters with Brendan D. Lynch.” (No quotes) Please include a blended background that transitions from the front to the spine to the back. In other words, the color should not abruptly stop at the spine on either side. Also, please include some art on the spine, whether it is part of the background image that wraps around the entire front, spine, and back, or a small element of something on the cover. Otherwise, the spine of 174 page book will be too boring with only the title and authors.
5) The back cover should include a description of the book (see below) and the bar code with ISBN, which is already on the template. However, I included another PDF file of the barcode in case you want to move it. It should say "Cover design by YOUR NAME" in very small print below the bar code. (Feel free to leave this part out of you would prefer not to have your name or business listed.) It should also have "1776 Press" written somewhere on the back cover (small print) with a small American Flag above that. The flag graphic is attached, but feel free to alter it in any way to get it to blend. Other than that – be creative, and include more artwork. Again, check out the sample back cover of one of our previous books to see how this could look.
FOR BACK COVER:
The Bacon Fell On the Floor
and other shocking stories
Do you like short stories?
Do you like really, really short stories? Do you like stories that are so short that you don’t even have to move your head to read them? If so, then this is the book for you. The Bacon Fell On the Floor and other shocking stories is filled with the most interesting stories you've ever read. The best part: they’re only six words long! They will make you laugh, smile, and even cry - that is, if you care deeply about a perfectly good piece of bacon falling to the floor. Be sure to read The Bacon Fell On the Floor and other shocking stories if you're looking for an exciting but short adventure.
I attached a copy of design instructions from LSI (the printing company) in case you need more details as well as the PDF template. If the cover is kicked back to me from the printer for technical errors due to the cover, the winning designer must be willing to fix that for me to ensure this can be printed. The last two cover designs (for the last two books) were rejected by the printer for some small technical errors, but both designers were great about making adjustments and sending me the fixed version. This book is being fast-tracked and will be going to print in August after a cover has been created. Thank you all in advance and please don’t hesitate to ask questions. I will be following the designs closely and frequently over the week, and will provide daily feedback.