Book Design (ft. Adrian M Gibson) | Episode 89

Thank you for liking the video and subscribing to the channel! In Part 2 with Adrian M. Gibson, we leave the world of fungalpunk behind and dive headfirst into book design—the craft that turns a manuscript and a piece of art into an actual, sellable product. Adrian has gone from designing his own debut Mushroom Blues to completing over 15 freelance projects in under a year, including Michael's own Crownfall, and landing a design director role at Grimdark Magazine. In this episode, he breaks down everything indie authors need to know: what book design actually is (and how it differs from cover art), why thrillers use bigger fonts with more spacing than epic fantasy, the three-legged stool of reader expectations, why incredible art paired with terrible typography is a designer's worst nightmare, how to write an effective art brief, when to bring a designer into the process, the full workflow from manuscript to print-ready files, and the difference between being a creative director and a creative dictator. Whether you're a debut author about to publish your first book or a veteran indie who's never thought about spine width, this one will change how you look at every book on your shelf. Chapters 00:00 - Cold Open: "Shut Up. You All Judge Books by Their Covers." 00:19 - Welcome & Introducing the Topic 03:06 - What Is Book Design? (And How It Differs from Cover Art) 07:12 - Interior Design, Typesetting & Formatting Explained 08:30 - The Thriller vs. Fantasy Font Experiment 13:30 - The Three-Legged Stool of Reader Expectations 16:33 - Great Art Destroyed by Bad Design 19:10 - Research Your Genre: Thumbnails, Amazon & Comp Titles 25:05 - You Are Not Stephen King — Invest in Your Cover 33:21 - Working with a Designer: The Ideal Process 42:30 - From Manuscript to Print-Ready Files: Adrian's Workflow 48:55 - Creative Director vs. Creative Dictator Adrian M Gibson Website: https://www.adrianmgibson.com Links: https://linktr.ee/adrianmgibson Michael Vadney Website: MichaelVadney.com X: x.com/Michael_Vadney Instagram: instagram.com/michael_vadney TikTok:   / michael_vadney   Threads: threads.com/@michael_vadney Bsky: bsky.app/profile/michaelvadney.bsky.social #Writing #FantasyBooks #IndieAuthor