Print Cover Design

Your cover is the first thing anyone notices about your book - make it powerful

Print Cover Design

CREATE AN IMPRESSION WITH A STRONG PRINT COVER DESIGN

Whether you are a veteran indie author or are self-publishing for the first time, then our print cover design service is ideal for you. We utilise our years of design experience to deliver professional, eye-catching cover designs that will stand out to potential readers.

What we do

After we receive your form and deposit, we use the information you’ve given us to create a print cover design draft that we think is the perfect fit for your book. Once we get your feedback, we work on getting the cover to the point where you are 100% happy with it. If you don’t like the first design draft, then we can create another and then work with you from there.

A professional print cover design should be clear and always convey the right tone and feel for both book and genre, which is why we strongly recommend that you avoid focussing on a specific scene or cluster of characters/objects. Too many distractions or clutter can leave a cover looking confusing and unfocussed, and risks putting off potential readers.

We do not create character artwork or paint specific scenes, and therefore recommend that you hire an illustrator if this is the sort of thing you are after. If you have already done this, then we can discuss its inclusion, but sadly we can’t provide this service for you.

Please note that we strongly recommend that you avoid pushing towards a specific scene or group of characters for your cover. Less is usually more, and if you expect everything including the kitchen sink on your cover, then it can look cluttered and unprofessional, often leading to confusion for potential readers as to themes, tone, and even genre.

A good, professional cover should be clear, concise, and convey the right feel and genre for your book. In short, please trust us to do our job to the best of our ability, utilising our years of design experience. We want your book to succeed as much as you do!

We do not do character illustration or creation, or scene-specific artwork. If you have hired an illustrator to create such artwork for you, we can discuss its inclusion, but we do not offer this as a service.

Service includes

  • Professional print cover design*
  • No stock image fees**
  • Dropbox with all final images
  • 3D mockup of finished book

THE NEXT STEP

Simply complete the form on the right, giving as much information as possible, and this will allow us to know whether we have enough to start with or whether we need to contact you to discuss requirements before getting back to you with our initial concept and thoughts.  When we, and you, are ready to begin the print cover design process, a deposit of 50% of the standard fee is required.  The balance of the payment, as well as any additional costs for optional extras, will be required once a design has been agreed upon and prior to the release of any artwork. If you’d rather discuss your requirements in a more informal manner prior to going ahead, please use our standard contact form.

*As standard, you will be provided covers for both KDP and IngamSpark platforms in paperback format for your print cover.  If you require hardcover and/or dust jacket, you must specify this otherwise your cover will only be created in paperback format for the aforementioned platforms.  Similarly, if you require that your paperback or hardback covers be produced for a platform other than KDP and Ingram, there will be an additional fee of £100 per platform, and you will be required to provide the necessary templates or provide access to your account to allow us to request templates on your behalf.

**All images used are royalty-free and are typically sourced from DepositPhotos and Dreamstime. These are included in the cost of your cover design and this gives you the right to their use for sales of up to 500,000 units/books (physical/print books). However, if you exceed this, or are planning on using your cover design on non-book items/merchandise for sale then an extended license will need to be purchased for each image used in your design. Please speak with us if this is the case and we can facilitate this or offer advice. You are responsible for ensuring that you act within the law with regards to image licensing beyond what we have provided, and paying your deposit is an acknowledgement of that. If your cover design requires elements that cannot be obtained from our subscription-based stock libraries, such as specific character types from NeoStock, or imagery from Shutterstock, Alamy, or AdobeStock, there will be an additional fee but there will be no mark-up.

ABOUT YOU

ABOUT YOUR BOOK

PAPERBACK PRINT BOOK SPECIFICATIONS

Trim Size
Your trim size is the width and height of your book as you look at it lying flat on a surface. It is the finished size your book will be, based on if you were to measure your front cover. Knowing your trim size in advance is important as this will not only affect the shape of your back and front covers, but also the thickness of the spine, based on the number of pages and paper type. Please select your preferred trim size from below.

Paper Colour
Please specify which colour of paper you're planning on using for your internal pages. It's important to note that white is generally reserved for non-fiction and reference books, whereas cream is the standard for fiction.

Who will you be using to print your book?
Please note that, unlike other cover design services, we will always provide covers for KDP and Ingram as standard, rather than only provide one and charge for the other. We DO, however require an additional fee if you are using someone who is not in our typical daily workflow for print copies (B&N or Draft2Digital, for example). We also require an additional fee if you want to have both paperback and hardcover versions produced as the design process is very different for both. Please also note that the costs quoted below for hardcover and dustjacket are based on Ingram and KDP specifically, and only apply if you opt for these at the outset as it's more complicated to go back and retrofit a hardcover when the artwork has been finalised. If we're not notified in advance of a hardcover or dustjacket and you come back to request one after your paperbacks have reached completion, there will be an additional fee, so please be sure to let us know below if you require them.

BOOK INFORMATION

OPTIONAL EXTRAS

If selected, these will be added to your final balance, which is due to be paid on completion. Your deposit remains unaffected.

eBook Cover Design (£100)Handholding Service* (£75)Audiobook Cover (£100)Social Media Headers (£75 each)PSD of flattened final artwork with editable text layers (£250)PDF of final artwork as A2 (420x594mm) poster (£100)PDF of final artwork as A1 (594x841mm) poster (£150)Proofreading (Price on Application)Author Website (£600)

*Our handholding service allows us to take the burden of uploading and submitting your books for publication to the various platforms. We would stress that this is only required if you are genuinely uncomfortable at the thought of doing this yourself. It is a relatively simple process, but we understand that those who are not necessarily computer-literate might prefer not to do it themselves.

EBook and print formatting
We can provide a professional formatting service for eBook and/or print.
Click here to view our formatting services in a new window.