Lose the Diet

 

NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Diet: Winner   

Editor's Choice: 2nd Place

Best New Non-Fiction: Finalist

NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS

Diet/Nutrition: Winner

Self-Help: Finalist

Health/Wellness: Finalist

NATIONAL BEACH BOOK FESTIVAL

Winner

Tough to lose weight and keep it off? Here is help. Know yourself, be in touch with your inner spiritual core. Kathy Balland shows you how. Her message transcends weight loss to help you become a happier person in general. You get solid, useable tips and facts to educate yourself about managing your weight in a healthy, spiritually oriented way. 

I contacted Marci Shimoff, NYT bestselling author (Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul, Happy for No Reason), who loved the book and gave a very strong endorsement. Now here come the awards. Kathy's off to a great start. She even has a lovely book trailer.

For the cover, I wanted a large title because it's such a compelling three-word message. The universal circle for "no" bonds with the word "diet". The subtitle surrounds, hugs, the happy female showing off her new figure. The subtitle's last two words make this diet book unique, so I enlarged them. The yellow blend in the background adds energy and is good for a health book. The violet type contrasts well and is associated with spirituality. The book's benefit -- transform your body -- is conveyed in red, the attention-getting color.

We got Marci's endorsement at the last minute. I used one sentence of it for the front cover, placed at the top because elsewhere caused a mess. It looks kind of stuck on -- definitely NOT my usual method -- but it works for me somehow. It stands out on its own. I went hot and cold deciding whether to do it in plain black condensed helvetica on a colorful cover, believe me, but I wanted it strong because it had to be small. Would I do it that way for another cover? OMG. Well, maybe.

White stars line the left edge of the cover, wrapping around to the spine. They'll be there for us when Kathy publishes her next book, as a visual brand. The stars are unobtrusive but add some distinction in the genre.