Book Design Made Simple

Archiving an invaluable resource

Pound for pound, there may not be a single book I’ve learned more about book design from than Book Design Made Simple by Fiona Raven and Glenna Collett. In addition to the book, there is a blog I have referred to many times to refresh my memory on some technique or tool.

Recently, I learned two things about Book Design Made Simple in one fell swoop:

1. The blog is going away later this year.

2. The blog is being archived by my book design colleague Hadley Hendrix!

You can find the blog archives here.

You can find the video archives here.

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Hadley on the project:

In October 2026, the website BookDesignMadeSimple.com (founded by Fiona Raven and Glenna Collett) will be closing, and their co-written book will no longer be available for purchase. While this is incredibly sad news, Fiona and Glenna have generously allowed me to archive their blog posts on Hadley House to avoid having them disappear with their website. You can find all of their archived posts here. Fiona and Glenna have made a huge impact on my life, teaching me so much about book design and giving me the hope, motivation, and confidence to succeed in this field. I am eternally grateful. It is an honor to learn from them. I think you will feel the same <3

Here’s a small sample of the archived posts you can find at Hadley House:

What Type Size Should I Use?

Designing a Book Title Page

Creative Book Cover Treatments

ISBNs for Self Publishers: How to Get and Assign Them

If you have any interest in self-publishing, do yourself a favor and check out these archives. Thank you Hadley, for preserving such a wonderful resource!

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News

I got asked to do a cover for a very exciting book! It’s a political biography for a new client.

In Case You Missed It

Do Killed Covers Go to Heaven?

Better than Sex, Drugs, or Christmas

Cover Design from Hardcover to Paperback (with an Italian Twist)

What I’m Working On

I’m making lots and lots of handmade pocket notebooks. I think they look pretty good! I continue to flirt with turning this into a business, but for now I am going to keep it a hobby. I love giving them away. I did design and order a custom stamp, though

Thanks for Reading!

Thank you for reading! I mean it.

If you’d like to keep this newsletter going and help me say no to designing soul-sucking books about corporate events, email marketing, and raising capital, consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a coffee.

Until next time,
—Nathaniel