Best Book Cover Designers

What a good book cover package includes

Book cover gigs are usually sold as ebook only, or ebook plus print. Check that the package states:

• Formats: ebook front cover, print wrap, or both.
• Concepts and revision rounds.
• Print specifications: built to your printer's template, spine width and bleed.
• Image sources: licensed stock, custom illustration or photography.
• Typography: title, author name, series name and back-cover text.
• Extras: 3D mockups, social media images or an audiobook cover.
• Rights and source files.

How to brief a book cover designer

1. Title, subtitle and author name, spelled exactly as they should appear.
2. Genre and sub-genre, and who the typical reader is.
3. A short summary, plus key images, settings or moods from the book.
4. Covers you like from bestsellers in your genre, with notes on why.
5. Series plans, if the cover should start a consistent look.
6. For print: printer, trim size, paper type and final page count.
7. Back-cover text, final and proofread.

Before approving, view the cover as a small thumbnail next to other books in your genre on a phone. The title should be readable and the genre obvious even at that size.

If you plan a series, say so from the start. A designer can set a layout, font and color system that makes every book recognizable as part of the series, which saves time and money on later covers.

What drives the price

• ebook only versus full print wrap
• custom illustration versus licensed stock images
• number of concepts and revisions
• series design and extra formats such as audiobook or hardcover
• marketing extras like mockups and social images
• the designer's experience in your genre

Red flags

• No information on where images come from or how they are licensed.
• Premade covers sold to you as exclusive when they may be sold again.
• A print cover made before the page count is final.
• A portfolio that does not include your genre.
• Titles that are unreadable at thumbnail size.

For a book description that makes readers click "buy", see our sales copy guide. For an audiobook version, our voice over guide covers hiring a narrator.

Order the cover early enough for marketing. You will want it for pre-order pages, social media and advertising well before launch day. Starting the front cover while the book is being edited gives you time for revisions, and you can order the full print wrap once the page count is confirmed, without holding up the launch.

Quick pre-order checklist

• I know whether I need ebook, print or both.
• For print, I have the final page count and printer specifications.
• Every image is licensed for book covers and my planned sales.
• I have checked the draft as a thumbnail on a phone.
• I will receive rights and source files.