Book Covers for Self-Published Authors: A Guide to Picking the Right Designer
We won’t waste your time with a long introductory paragraph making the case for good book covers, other than declaring that a book cover is important. You (hopefully) know it, we know it. So, let’s cut to the chase: since a book cover is so important, how does an author pick the right designer that will pull off the perfect one?
Like all artists, graphic designers cover a range of disciplines and experience, and you want to make sureyou’re hiring someone who understands book cover design.
Tap into your network and see if someone can point you in the direction of a good graphic designer. Reach out to authors whose covers you like and ask them if they mind introducing you to their designer. If you want to widen your search even further, there are always graphic designers advertising their services, but proceed with caution. Yes, there are plenty of Fiverr success stories, but we’ve also had authors come to us with less-than-impressive experiences.
Oh, and please remember that your friend’s “supremely gifted” husband/wife/babysitter might not have the know-how to adapt their gift to a book cover template provided by Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark or any other book printer.
Once you have built your list of potential designers, ask some basic but important questions:
- Have they done book covers in the past? Not all graphic designers have dabbled in book cover design. Having said that, you might come across a newbie whose work you admire and want to take a chance on them.
- For which genres have they designed covers? If the designer has only worked on children’s books and yours is an historical romance, then he/she might not be a good fit.
- Are there samples of their work? Look at these book covers critically. Do you like what you see? Would any of them catch your eye?
- Will they be the one doing the actual work? Some more established designers have a stable of designers they collaborate with, and they simply function as the operation’s frontman/woman. You don’t necessarily have to avoid doing business with these guys, but make sure the samples they provide are those of the actual designer who would be doing your cover.
- What do they charge? As you can imagine, design costs range wildly, from next to nothing to thousands of dollars. In our experience, an established designer will generally charge somewhere between $250 to $750 for a book cover. Don’t forget to ask how many initial concepts and eventual revisions are included in the quoted price.
- Will they produce a free mock-up? This refers to a rough sketch based on some general guidelines provided by you on what your want your book cover to evoke. Not all designers will say yes, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
- Will they give you full rights? If you want to eventually sell t-shirts or other merchandise featuring the book cover, will your designer want royalties from these sales?
- What does their timeline look like for the next 6-8 weeks? Will the designer have the time to give your book cover the attention it needs and deserves?
- Do they have any references? Find out from each reference what the working relationship was like, and whether they got a finished product they were happy with.
- Do I like them? This is a question to ask yourself. Unlike the bored looking teen who hands you your latte every morning, your designer will be in your life for at least several weeks, if not months. You want to make sure the sight of their name in your inbox will not make you gag.
With our proposed screening process, we are confident you will filter out all the designers that either don’t have the required experience or that don’t jive with what you’re looking for artistically. Once you have picked the right designer for your book cover, you want to make sure you communicate effectively with him/her so that you get the cover design you were expecting. That will be the focus on the next blog post in our Book Covers for Self-Published Authors series.
Have more questions on picking the right cover designer for your self-published book? Drop us a line. We also invite you to download our free No-Hype, No-Nonsense Author Success Tracker below
