Don’t judge a book by its cover…except everyone does this. A book’s cover is its single most important marketing tool, and for good reason. Readers are inundated with options these days. At a glance, covers provide vital information about the words that lay within. A cover will key readers into the genre as well as provide hints concerning the novel’s tone and content. The aim is for the cover to draw readers in enough for them to check out the blurb and then maybe even take the plunge and buy the book.
How Does Cover Design Work for Traditional Publishing?
I’ve established the significance of the book cover, so let’s move on to how book cover design works. Traditionally published authors don’t have much of a say in their cover design. If they’re a big name, maybe their words will carry some weight, but at the end of the day, the publisher is in charge of marketing. They’re taking the financial risk, which means they have the final word on the cover design. All that to say, traditionally published authors don’t have to think much about their covers.
I’d like to elaborate more on how this design process works, but in all honesty, I don’t have any information on it. I’ve not been in the traditional publishing sphere, and there’s no point in me talking about something I don’t have personal expertise in. Instead, I’ll talk about what I do know—self-publishing.
How Does Cover Design Work for Indie Authors?
For indie authors, the cover design, as well as all other aspects of publishing and marketing, are the author’s responsibility. Sure, they can farm out some of the work by hiring others, but that still means they play a more direct role in the cover design. Still, not every indie author approaches cover design the same. There are a few routes with different pros and cons and lots of misconceptions. Let’s dive into them.
The first decision an indie author has to make is if they will do the cover design 100% on their own, with the help of a “non-professional”, or with the help of a professional. Most indie authors opt for one of the former two. That’s mostly owing to the sometimes cost-prohibitive nature of hiring a professional cover designer. But remember how I mentioned misconceptions? Well, those abound in indie author circles. We’ll circle back to that later. First, let’s discuss these two more common routes.
Solo Cover Design
First and foremost, cover design is actually composed of a few parts. There’s the art itself (the images), the topography (the text), and the layout (how these are placed). Taking on all aspects of the cover design means trying to master all these elements. It’s not easy, and it’s why author-made cover art is more often miss than hit. Most people don’t intuitively have an eye for design. There’s a reason design is a whole field in and of itself. So, what’s the next best option for getting help from people a bit more versed in design and art?
Hiring a “Non-professional”
This category includes people who often offer to make all aspects of the cover—the art and the design (which includes the typography and layout). These are extremely popular options for indie authors. They take on the heavy burden of the skills most authors lack (design) and charge low rates. There are platforms that have several in-house designers who do end up making decent covers, such as getcovers.com. There are also people who work alone and do the same. They are often artists with some basic knowledge of typography, or they use generative AI tools.
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Side bar
If you’re an indie author, avoid generative AI covers like the plague. Some people claim that only other authors have qualms with AI covers, and that readers don’t care. This is patently false. Yes, there will be some readers who don’t care or can’t tell if AI was used to make a cover, but some is not all. There are so many ethical issues with generative AI from it being trained on other creatives’ work without permission or compensation to requiring huge amounts of energy and potable water to run.
The point is, generative AI is problematic. If a reader has an issue with it, you will automatically turn them off. Additionally, you run into the issue of people viewing your writing as suspect. If you used AI art for your cover, who’s to say the text isn’t also AI-generated. And no real writer wants to be associated with that kind of claim. In short, steer clear of AI.
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I would also like to clarify why I’m using scare quotes for “non-professional”. I don’t claim to know what makes a cover designer a professional or not. Is it education? Experience? If so, to what extent? This is a nebulous label to someone like me (i.e., not well versed in cover design), but there’s no denying there’s a range when it comes to cover design.
One way to divide cover designers into these categories could be based on cost. Professionals will tend to charge much more. Still, indie authors must tread with care. The self-publishing industry is ripe with scam artists. Someone might claim to be a professional cover designer, charge rates consistent with that, then produce a subpar product or, worse, use AI to try (and fail) to make up for their lack of skill.
Hiring a Professional
Have you ever noticed that many indie author covers look generic or like unremarkable carbon copies of each other? This is because most non-professional designers are using principles developed in the 1980s or 1990s. Design should reflect the zeitgeist. This is why so many of these covers look dated or cheesy. They aren’t changing with the times and people’s tastes. This is the purpose of market research.
Market research involves analyzing recent trends in book cover design for the appropriate market. “Recent” means the last year or so. “Appropriate market” means looking at the correct genre. Non-professional cover designers don’t do market research. Professionals do. This is a huge distinction and is what makes a professional design pop.
Okay, so maybe it’s worth hiring a professional, but how do you know that they’re actually a professional? Start with researching the person. Do the have a website? No? Then they’re not a professional. Does their website have a portfolio? No? Then they’re not a professional. Does their portfolio include everything they’ve ever made? Yes? Then they’re not a professional.
If they pass all these checks, reach out to ask them a few questions. First, do they know of good artists? If they’ve been doing cover design for any amount of time, they should have some artists they’ve worked with before to recommend. A professional cover designer won’t be doing the art themselves. They specialize in the typography and layout and helping you figure out what should be in the art. Next, do they include market research in their package? If they don’t, they’re not a professional.
But wait, does that mean you have to pay the artist on top of the designer? Yes, and this is how it should be. If your designer does everything, it’s a sign they aren’t great at any one thing. Better to hire professionals for those two facets of the cover—the design and the art.
Cost
I think it should be obvious what path I recommend other indie authors take for their cover design. But discuss the question of cost since it’s often the most important factor to take into account. There’s good news on that front—indie authors can get professional work for decent prices. It just takes a little extra work.
First, what do I mean by decent prices? Around $300. This is often considered mid-tier and is what some solo non-professional designers will offer for custom work (as opposed to preexisting covers that they just slap your title and author name on). Obviously, this can still be too expensive for indie authors, depending on their budget. Let me go back to what I said in the beginning. The cover is a book’s single most important marketing tool. If an author is going to splurge on anything related to publishing their book, it ought to be the cover.
Most professional designers will charge upwards of $1000 before artwork, so how does one swing the lower cost? Ask. It’s that simple. Some professional designers will offer reduced rate slots for indie authors. You can start with a friendly email asking if they have interest in working with you and provide your timeframe and budget. The worst that happens is they don’t respond or give a simple no. The best is you book them within your budget!
Examples
For my novels, I’ve worked with one cover designer and two different artists.
- Cover designer: Geoffrey Bunting (https://geoffreybunting.co.uk/books)
- Cover illustrator for Nytho and Neuen: Vladimir Solnyshko (https://www.fiverr.com/v_solnyshko)
- Cover illustrator for Blessed is the Rot: Jack Hillside (https://jackhillside.com/)
To give you an idea of how much I paid and what I got, here were the cover costs:
- Nytho: $200 (design) + $183 (art) = $383
- Neuen: $166 (design) + $114 (art) = $280
- Blessed is the Rot: $250 (design) + $250 (art) = $500
The cover for Blessed is the Rot is still under wraps (cover reveal scheduled for October), but here are my covers of Nytho and Neuen to give you a sense of the bang I got for my buck.
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