Book Covers

We offer both premade covers and custom work. Premade covers are designed by us and put on the market as is with ability to change the title, author, add a tagline, and in certain occasions, if noted, change colors of certain elements (hair, skin, body armor, etc.) Once premade covers are sold, they are taken off the market and are solely yours.

Custom covers are directed by a combination of the essence of your story, what you’re looking to portray, and what we think will best sell. If your focus is to create a book that is the epitome of your creation, and you are not as interested in how well it sells, we will create to your specs and final approval. If you want a furry squid in love with a rock monster, you’ll get a furry squid in love with a rock monster. If your focus is on attracting readers and selling, we will guide you in creating the most compelling and eye-catching work that follows the current indie trends (which are different than traditional publishing cover trends and can change from year to year. In fact, if you’re seeing slow sales on an old book, a new cover may attract a new audience.)

What kind of book covers do we create? We run the gamut, but mostly are geared toward fantasy/sci-fi. Covers can be:

• Fully Illustrated – The cover is drawn and painted without the use of stock materials. This is the most expensive but also the most flexible, allowing you to show off your imaginative creatures in whatever form they may take. These covers can take a few months to produce and are generally not a good idea for strict deadlines. You can select from realistic, painterly, or comic style.
• Combo Illustration/Stock – This cover may use a combination of stock photos, 3D rendered stock, and illustration. This method is a little more economical and quicker than the fully illustrated method, and there exists potential for a lot of creativity. Depending on what is requested, these covers can take from a few weeks to a few months based on how much custom illustration and 3D work is required. 3D models will generally have a lot of illustrative painting added to prevent that doll-like look, so while this is a quicker option than full illustration, there’s still a lot of work that goes into making all the elements jive with each other.
• Mainly Stock – While we generally focus our efforts on illustration and combos, if you need something simple or quick, we can help. Creation time will depend on any added painterly techniques that are requested. For example, a cabin in the woods with some fonts will be a simple and quick process. Same cabin with ghosts doing tequila shots will require some painting. Stock covers are usually the most economical, but that also depends on what is requested (more fantastical or painterly elements, the more time and expense is required.

How much do book covers cost? This is entirely dependent on the factors that go into it and the author’s request. Most economical are premade covers – covers that are designed in advance by the artist with options to change the name of the title and author name. These are offered as-is with options to make changes at an additional cost. Premades can range from $75 to $300+ depending on elements. Fully painted covers that use no stock or 3D assets can cost several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on what is requested. A cartoon character with a simple background will take far less hours to complete than a realistic fantasy war scene. Combos of paint/stock/3D will generally range in the middle. Complexity increases the cost.