How to Publish Well-Designed Books

BY S. KIRK WALSH, FOUNDER OF THE AUSTIN BAT CAVE

This is something Austin Bat Cave (ABC) started doing right away, despite our limited funds. 826 and Dave Eggers’s high standards for design helped to establish a high bar for design and quality. One of my favorite parts of working on ABC was collaborating with our design team at Lewis Carnegie on the anthologies and other materials for ABC. It is so rewarding to see the students’ work between the pages of a published anthology. I would say to any new organization: Spend some time finding the design team who is willing to work with your organization pro bono. It’s a great opportunity for them, too. During our early years, Lewis Carnegie won a significant design award for their work with us (on the storefront concept). Prior to Lewis Carnegie, several designers said that they wanted to work with ABC, but they never followed through.