Full book cover design

Whether an author has a clear vision or they want me to lead the creative conversation, I thoroughly enjoy creating book covers that really help authors to really sell their story. Blending an image with the right typography is absolutely key. The perfectionist in me then loves to tweak the balance of fonts, weights, colors, sizes and alignment to find that perfect combination that makes the cover really POP!

ABIGAIL

WzW DESIGNER

about this service

If you're ready to have a professional designer turn your ideas into an incredible, eye-catching book cover, then this service is for you. Just send us any content that you have, leave us to work some magic and we'll return a print-ready PDF. Below you'll find:

details of what we actually do
some cover design examples
what's included in our service
the next steps

The design of the cover is a big part of any book project. But if you haven't already got one, you'll also need a properly designed and typeset interior. You may then want to convert your print book into an ebook. And if you haven't chosen a printer, you may find one of our smart publishing solutions an easy, flexible and affordable option. So take a good look around ... and if there's anything else you want to know, just ask!!

how we design a book cover

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1	Front Front: We blend color, type and imagery to set the mood and context, creating the perfect front cover for your concept.
2	Back Back: Designed to complement your front cover and display synopsis and other details as clearly and attractively as possible.
3	Layout Layout: We generate the cover template ready to place on your design. Measurements are all determined by the trim size, binding type, spine width and book printer.
4	Spine Spine: Calculate exact spine width from the paper weight and page count. Spine text is added where width permits.

5	Color Color: Ensure design is produced to the correct color model and ink levels so it will print as well as possible without appearing dull or over-saturating the paper.
6	Barcode Barcode: Generate barcode from 13-digit ISBN and place appropriately along with subject where required.
7	PDF PDF: Generate a print-ready cover to all the requirements of your chosen printer to ensure pages print without issue (bleed, crop marks, font embedding, transparency flattening).

some book cover designs

what's included in our service

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	From $400 The exact price depends on the binding type, printer specs and design work required. 3-piece (front, back, spine) perfectbound is the simplest, then 3-piece casebound with wrap, then 5-piece (front, back, spine, flaps) dustjackets. Designs based around reworked stock-imagery are cheapest with those requiring complex work in photoshop or custom illustrations being more expensive. We will always need to review your files before we can issue your quotation. We ask for 50% payment for our designers to start work and the balance once you are entirely happy. All credit and debit card payments are made by PayPal.
	Turnaround 5 – 15 business days The time we need to complete your job will be stated in your quotation. You will initially receive a sample file for review and feedback, followed by a final file for print. Please allow yourself extra time to review your files and request changes. If you have a tight deadline please ask for our express service. Express jobs are subject to a 30%, 50% or 100% fee depending on the speed required as our staff will often need to work on them outside normal business hours.
	Things to consider for your images When providing imagery it is important to confirm you are licensed to use this for a book cover. The majority of covers include reworked stock imagery. Where images are sourced they are licensed for printing up to half a million times on the cover but the underlying source jpg image cannot be shared. We can commission an artist to create entirely original artwork for your cover but this will increase both the cost and timescale.
	You receive a print-ready PDF When preparing your file for print we will set things like spreads, ink saturation, transparency flattening, font embedding, bleed and crop marks. We have years of experience producing book files for Createspace, Lightning Source and Ingram Spark. For all other printers please send us these specifications so we can prepare your file correctly. If you are using a third party printer we will always send files to you directly, we cannot send them to the printer on your behalf.
	Source files are available on request You need only a final-form PDF for printing. If you also wish to receive InDesign source files we are happy to provide these. There is a $48 USD admin fee for preparing this package and it will not contain any fonts or stock images which are licensed only for the PDF. You will also need to have the right software to open your file and knowledge of how to use it. If you require just the text from your book for future editing or translation please ask us about creating an editable Word file.
	Clear changes policy Up to one hour of changes included as standard. Edits are charged at a fixed £0.60 each if marked as pdf comments. Please see the following link for detail on how to add comments to your pdf. Please note a cover layout is specific to your choice of printer, paper, binding or page count. If you later need to change your choices then the file will require amendment. In the event you need to cancel a job please see our terms for details.

next steps

Got questions? Of course you do, there's so much to think about when producing a book! Luckily, after ten years in the business we're absolute experts. So whether you want to discuss typesetting, covers, images, printing, ebooks, pricing or timescales — get in touch and let's talk. Just don't forget to send us your files, they don't have to be finished but reviewing some of the material tells us more about your book than you can possibly imagine!

Got files ready to go? Have a look at the list below to see what else we need from you. Now visit our contact page to send everything through to us. Our designers will then review it all and issue a quotation with a full breakdown of price, turnaround and all design details.

what we need from you

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1	Concept Concept: Describe your idea for the book cover. Either in words, create a collage, provide a sketch, include links to other cover designs, attach images — whatever is easiest. If you do not have a clear idea, give us any input you can and we will create a concept board of research, brainstorming and proposed ideas for you to choose from before we get started.
2	Image Image: Most book covers have some sort of graphic as the focal point and there are a range of options for sourcing this. You may provide us with your own high-quality image (for which you own the rights), our designers can source suitable stock imagery, we can manipulate a selection of images into new composite artwork, or an entirely original piece of digital artwork can be commissioned to depict a scene specific to your book.
3	Printer Printer: We need to know your choice of printer in order to produce your cover layout correctly for their machines (crop marks, ink saturation, bleed).
4	Trim size Trim size: We need to know the size of the paper pages in your book so we can measure out the cover template correctly. Most printers offer a range of standard trim sizes to choose from.

5	Binding Binding: Tell us how your pages will be held together – paperback or hardback, sewn or glued. Each binding type has a different layout template.
6	Pages Pages: If we designed your book interior we will have this. If not, please provide it so your spine width can be calculated.
7	Paper Paper: State your paper choice. In particular the thickness (#, gsm) is required so the spine width can be calculated.
8	Back copy Back copy: Provide synopsis, author bio and testimonials of around 300 words. Send any author photo and publishing logo at highest possible quality.
9	ISBN ISBN: Include this 13-digit number and we will use it to generate a barcode for your back cover.
10	Instructions Instructions: Tell us anything else we need to know before we get started. For example maybe you want a specific typeface used or a book price next to the barcode.