In the first part of his iUniverse Blog series, master biographer Carl Rollyson described how he was initially attracted to self-publishing with iUniverse because of the low-cost packages available and he also touched on the iUniverse editing and design skills. In this second part, Carl highlights the iUniverse Publishing staff’s design expertise, particularly in book cover designs that compliment the subject.
iUniverse has it covered
“I still like looking at that painting of Samuel Johnson, the father of English biography, reading a book, on the cover of Reading Biography and Napoleon rearing on his horse, flanked by Winston Churchill on the right and Rembrandt on the left on the cover of Essays in Biography.
Over the years I’ve done a lot of writing for academic conferences, and I wanted to collect my papers in one volume. Instead of turning to a university press, however, I decided, once again on iUniverse. Why? Because I felt I could promote my book to an audience far larger than what university presses have in mind. I also love the idea of designing the book and organizing it exactly as I want it to be without, frankly, having to deal with some publisher’s idea of what is best. For better or worse, in other words, the book is all 
mine. And I love the cover of Female Icons: Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag, a cover that has their faces meeting in profile on a black and yellow background. Once again, I suggested the rudiments of this design and the iUniverse staff really came through with a stunning result.
Similarly, I proposed some kind of combination of swastika and hammer and sickle and cross for the cover of Rebecca West and the God that Failed: Essays, because I wanted to represent her as a writer on the subjects of Christianity, fascism, and communism. The iUniverse cover, with those symbols set against a background divided in half with a red side and a black side is stunning.
I have to mention as well, American Biography, a collection of reviews of biographies about American figures, which has Mount Rushmore on the cover with Marilyn Monroe among our presidents. It amuses me and makes a statement about her growing importance in our culture. I suggested the idea, and then iUniverse produced the attractive red, white, and blue cover.”
Learning from the iUniverse master
iUniverse trusts that you have enjoyed the two posts thus far from prestigious author, Carl Rollyson, so please see the final part here. Plus remember you can visit Carl’s website here and check out all his books in the iUniverse Bookstore.
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