New York Times bestselling author Adam Silvera wanted bookmarks to promote his newest release, The First to Die at the End.

The bookmarks needed to showcase the exclusive editions releasing at various retailers, plus all special features included within each edition. Smart use of spacing, labels, and branding elements accomplished these goals.

Bestselling co-author Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal were looking to swag set for readers, themed around their newest release.

By working with the book cover’s existing color palette and energetic design elements, all pieces (postcard, stickers, and star-shaped tattoo) were branded as part of the set and easily recognizable as Why We Fly swag.

New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand needed bookmarks that could promote her most recent series while simultaneously highlighting her backlist. As a result, the bookmarks needed to be branded to her, as an author, not a particular title.

By creating a typographic logo and featuring a tagline that sums up the type of books Claire writes, the design was able to communicate what a reader can expect from any of Claire’s books. Her most recent releases are featured on the front (alongside her logo), while the back includes backlist titles and pull quotes from trade reviews for each.

Young adult author Chelsea Mueller needed bookmarks to promote her upcoming novel. Using imagery from her cover, a killer tagline, and a brief synopsis, the design avoids becoming too copy-centric—a request from Chelsea.

Chelsea was also in need of author-branded bookplates to sign for readers. By utilizing a clean framework and Chelsea’s logo, the final product is eye-catching yet easy to sign/personalize for readers. 

Childrens author Natalie Lloyd needed bookmarks to promote her general author brand, as well as all her titles. Custom illustrations that Natalie had commissioned elsewhere where used on the front of the bookmark and paired with friendly, handwritten fonts. Her titles where displayed on the reverse alongside a QR that readers could scan to get more information.

Natalie was also in need of author-branded bookplates. The same custom illustrations and friendly fonts were used here, creating a charming end product to sign/personalize for readers. 

Bestselling author J.C. Cervantes was looking for promotional graphics that could help raise awareness of her upcoming release—the third and final installment of a middle grade trilogy. Focusing on instagram, teaser quotes were designed for the author’s main feed and quiz templates were created for her insta stories.

Shown here are the quiz templates. These activities sought to encourage engagement by proposing scenarios that tied into the book/series and allowing users to fill out and repost their results to their own stories. Content and copy was developed during design, with the author providing tweaks/edits where necessary.

Examples of sticker sheets designed for authors Jessica Spotswood and Mackenzi Lee, respectively.

Both sheets feature quotes from the author’s novels, with artwork pulled from the covers. Careful font and color palette selections were made to match the aesthetic established by the novels’ artwork.

Author Julie C. Dao wanted a unique header image for her twitter account that would feel like her author brand while also highlighting her various novels.

Using visuals from one of her book covers, moody background art communicates “dark fantasy,” while her name and tagline clearly help brand the image. Overlapping book covers are artfully arranged, complete with critical praise for each of Julie’s backlist titles and, in the case of her then forthcoming novel, a release date. 

Additional examples of bookmark design done for young adult authors Jessica Spotswood and Katherine Locke, respectively.

Both designs were focused on promoting a certain title, with cover(s), reviews/praise, and tagline included to give readers more information about the novel.