你有没有因为书封而爱上一本书？|英语阅读|英语阅读理解

你有没有因为书封而爱上一本书？据说有本书的封面，装帧精美，标题两个大字——“男人”。好奇的读者信手翻开，会发现里面一片空白。这当然只是个玩笑，兴许是笔记本，或者行为艺术。但它至少成功地让你把它，从书架上拿下来——翻开——进而可能因为设计而购买。

在琳琅满目的书店里，要让你完成这一系列动作，是出版社面临的大考。封面设计只是书籍出版过程的一小块。在电子产品围剿纸质书的时代，为了让你走进书店，取阅购买，出版机构在做些什么呢？

作家写的不是书，是手稿。

Authors don’t write books, they write manuscripts. Publishing is the process of getting an author’s manuscript into the hands of a reader, by materializing it – giving it form, as a book. This may be printed (a codex) or digital (an ebook).作者写的不是书，他们写的是手稿。出版发行的过程就是把作者的手稿送到读者手中的过程，把手稿实体化——给它书的外壳。手稿可能会被印成纸质书，或者做成电子书。

The author’s manuscript is either solicited (the publisher asks them to write it) or unsolicited (the author writes it, then shops for a publisher). Being rejected is awful and publishing contracts are complicated, so many authors employ an agent to negotiate a deal with a publisher.作者的手稿可能是征稿渠道来的（出版社会要求作者写书）或者是非征稿渠道来的（作者写完之后拿着手稿找出版社出售）。手稿被拒绝的滋味不好受，而且出版合同也很复杂，所以很多作者会雇佣代理人帮自己与出版社协商。

出版社内部分工明确，书籍内容及发行环境都有专人负责。

The “publisher” refers to either the publishing house (such as Penguin Random House), or the person whose title is Publisher. Within a single publishing house there may be several publishers, each overseeing a different list based on genre. For example, there may be a literary publisher, an academic publisher and a non-fiction publisher within the same publishing house.“Publisher”这个词可以指代出版社（比方说企鹅兰登书屋），也可以指代拥有“发行人”头衔的管理者。一家出版社可能有多个发行人，每个人管理一个按文学体裁或流派分类的书单。比方说，一家出版社可能会有文学发行人、学术发行人、非虚构发行人等等。

Within the publishing house, different departments deal with different aspects of the publishing process. Editorial is concerned with content: ensuring the story/information is communicated in a clear and engaging way. Sales, Marketing and Publicity are concerned with context: figuring out where the book sits in the market, how to get it into bookstores, and reviewed.针对出版过程的各个环节，出版社设置了不同的部门。编辑部关注的是内容，他们要保证故事/信息清晰地传达，且引人入胜。销售部、市场部、以及广告部关注的就是发行环境，他们要弄清楚该书籍的市场定位，怎样让书打入书店，以及如何让书评人写好评。

The designer is generally commissioned by the publisher or editor overseeing the title. Some publishers have creative directors, who commission (freelance) or assign (in-house) designers.负责某本书的发行人或者编辑会委托设计师做装帧设计。有些出版社会有创意总监，他们会委托自由职业的设计师做设计，或者指派自己社内的设计师做。

装帧设计师需要兼顾内容与发行。

The designer is given a brief, a document that outlines the format (size and shape), production schedule, information about the content and context of the book including a blurb (a version of what end ups on the back cover), and passages that represent the writing style and plot. Some designers also read the full manuscript. Unless it’s a math textbook.设计师通常会收到一份任务简介，里面说明了版式开本（包括大小和形状）、付印计划、关于书本内容和发行环境的信息，其中包括一份书的简介（即印在封底的内容）、以及能够代表写作风格与情节的原文段落等。有些设计师会通读手稿，除非那是一本数学教材。

Designers usually communicate directly with the publisher/editor, but need to respond to critical feedback from Sales/Marketing to develop a cover that communicates both the content of the book (evoking a sense of what it’s about and the writing style) and the context (ensuring it looks like it belongs to its genre, and is appealing to the intended audience).设计师们通常与发行人/编辑直接联系，但也需要回复来自销售/市场部的挑剔反馈。他们设计出的封面需要传达书籍内容（引起受众对内容和写作风格的兴趣），还需要关照发行环境（确保书籍封面看起来像该体裁或流派的书，以及对目标受众有吸引力）。

This balance happens by showing “roughs” for different approaches. Designers usually present two to three different concepts, roughly mocked up to show how the final cover might look.要达到这种平衡，设计师会用到不同的方法画多张草图。他们通常会画出2-3种不同的方案，然后做成印刷样品，看看最终的成品封面是什么样子。

A process of to-and-fro between editor, publisher, sales and marketing continues until everyone is happy.这种在编辑、发行人、销售市场部之间来来回回的决策过程会一直持续到各方都满意为止。

封面设计一般七、八版，运气不好有可能达到50版。

A quick design process might involve seven or eight different iterations before a final design is chosen, followed by a process of fine-tuning (make the title bigger, try a script font, Marketing wants the author in gold foil, etc). A painful design process can involve dozens of covers; There is a record of 50 different approaches for the one cover. Excruciating.通常快速的设计需要7-8个版本的迭代才能选出定稿，之后还需要做一些微调（把标题调大一点儿、换一个正文字体、市场部要求作者的名字用金箔等）。碰到磨人的设计，要做出几十个封面，最高记录是做了50个版本的封面。太痛苦了。

People are often surprised how little input authors have in the design process, considering the cover is how their book first faces the world. It’s important to consider two factors.有些人总是惊讶于作者很少参与设计过程，因为封面是这本书首次面世的样子。但有两个重要因素需要考虑到。

First, most authors are happy to defer to the publisher about how to sell as many copies of their book as possible; publishing is a commercial business and the publisher knows the market.第一，对于如何尽可能让书畅销这件事，作者们很乐意听出版社的意见。出版发行是商业行为，而且出版社通晓市场行情。

Second, while the design process is happening, the author is generally in the last harrowing stage of editing their manuscript and doesn’t want any distraction. This said, if an author hates a cover it will go back to the drawing board, but if everyone has done their job well this shouldn’t happen.第二，设计过程进行的同时，作者们通常还处在改稿的最后阶段，痛苦到不想被任何事情打搅。话虽如此，如果某个作者不喜欢某个封面，那么这个设计就会推倒重来。不过如果各个环节都没出问题，这种情况也不会出现。

Once the design is finalized, digital files are sent to a production house so copies of the book can be printed, bound and delivered to the publisher’s warehouse, from where they will be shipped to bookstores when wanted.设计一经定稿，出版社就会把数字版发给印刷厂，然后书就被印出来了，接着打包运送到出版社的仓库里。出售的时候，书也就从那里运往书店。

有些人格外喜欢某一本书，在读完平装版之后，会专门买精装版回来收藏。

美观且易于保存的精装书中就凝结了出版人的心血。