All the Rage

Kelly Hartman, marketing manager of Phoenix Color (www.phoenixcolor.com), agrees. She says that Phoenix stocks all paper in-house for use on traditional and highly creative projects. For instance, Hartman says, "A year ago, we were doing a (Tom) Clancey job that required two foils and it was embossed. It had a 500,000 run and shipping that needed to be done in three days."

Besides adding graphics to covers in reprints, such as the case with Oprah Book Club selections, covers, she says, often come under the gun of last minute editorial changes, too. "We did the Kenneth Starr report and had three different covers ready for release," she recalls, depending on what the content revealed. "That Friday, the report was released and by Tuesday, the book was in stores."

Hartman attributes fast cover production to digital printing. She says that because publishers can view digital proofs of these covers more quickly, approvals and printing can be made. She also admits that UV printers speed the process by eliminating drying time that was once required to print over a foil. "Now," she says, "you can print right over a laminant with no drying time."

To appeal to publishers ranging from educational to trade, Phoenix is launching spot glitter this summer, which provides a glitter effect on spot locations for covers and jackets. Hartman says that since more publishers are delving into adventurous cover projects, being able to supply alternatives to foils has been successful. "We already have several jobs signed on to use the spot glitter," she admits.

Hartman also says that Phoenix operates under the assumption that starting ahead of schedule benefits publishers the most. She outlines the following tips for cover and jacket design, prepress and printing:

-Start communicating early. At Phoenix, Hartman refers to the sales team as "trusted advisors." She says that when publishers communicate ideas about cover designs, substrates and specialty additions are more accurately chosen with technical assistance.