Info and pricing for Cover Art, Illustration and Layout elements of book covers.

They say that we should not judge a book by its cover. And while it is true that a cover may not be able to represent every single thing contained within it I do believe that it is the cover that should stop people in their tracks and make them want to examine the book further still.

I believe in communicating as much as possible to ensure that you get exactly the cover and or illustrations that you would hope for. It is important to me that I am as pleased and as proud as you are of anything that I make and I will always do all that I can to fully realise your dream.

I am a cover artist / illustrator and layout designer. I am available to work either as the cover artist or the layout designer separately but there are several advantages to using one person for both. Decisions about the blending of artwork with layout, as well as the choice of fonts etc. are less complicated when dealing with just one person, and it also gives you more control over the final outcome of your book. I am however happy and used to working in conjunction with other artists, designers, publishers and printers. The choice is yours.

Once I take on a design project I begin by making several drafts, usually in pencil, that I adjust or redo until you are completely happy with the 'idea' conveyed in the drafts and any emails included with them. When I begin the Cover Art I will continue to send updates so that any adjustments or additions can be made as we go.

Once the Cover Art element is completed and then scanned or photographed, depending on what it is, I can begin the Layout element of the cover.

Layout in a print-ready format consists of applying any digital enhancements to the Cover Art elements (which may already have gone through some digital manipulation in their creation), the placing of blurbs, titles, author names, spine width, crop marks and bleeds, also logos and barcodes if needed. I can communicate directly with your printers and work to their parameters to provide them with a file in the format they need.

Unless the cover has a hand drawn title (hand drawn titles count as Cover Art) there is also the selecting of suitable fonts for the various parts of text that may appear on the front, back and spine. These may also need digital enhancements in the layout stage.

If I am supplied with whatever images/elements you would like on the cover I have a set Layout fee of £50 for paperbacks, £60 for hardbacks, and £70 for both. Ebook layouts are £50.

Prices for the Cover Art elements vary depending on what you would like and how that can best be achieved.

I believe that it is the author who best knows what they would like on their cover. However if you would like me to read your work first in order that I can come up with ideas then please bare in mind that this can rarely be done in less than two or three days. I am not a quick reader and this is time that has to be figured in when pricing a commission, so if cost is a concern it is probably best to have at least some idea, no matter how vague, that you can relay and that I can then expand upon. A brief synopsis is not usually enough on its own for me to get a complete enough feel for in order to design an appropriate cover. No matter how vague or simple an idea you have for your cover it can serve as a starting point and save an awful lot of time.

I retain the original and the copyright to any images or artwork used unless otherwise arranged.

I also offer a formatting service to make your book available on e-readers.