How graphics magazine (their home page is here) had an article about about the increasingly important role of design in selling books. One great example: The Baby Owner's Manual, from Quirk Books. They specialize in "impractical reference and irreverent nonfiction books."
The Baby Owner's Manual is full of practical advice, but it's written as though a baby is a VCR or camera, complete with technical-style illustrations.
Sound a little nuts? Guess how many it has sold...
David Borgenicht, president of Quirk, told How, "We wouldn't have sold 350,000 copies of this book it it wasn't graphically amazing. It would be just another parenting book. Instead, it's a parenting book that's sold in the Tate Modern gallery in London."
Here's an additional insight from Borgenicht you might find useful: "We realize that we're competing not just with book publishers, but video games, the internet, DVDs, iPods and cell phones, so our books have to be as exciting as those things."
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