Book Cover Design Service
BookSelf’s Book Cover Design Service is here to make the process as easy as possible. We will ensure your story is told on the cover before the customer opens the book by discussing with you the theme, plot, characters, settings etc. The key its to convey as much as possible at first glance.
When Mr Tulliver said; ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ he didn’t realise that every reader in the 21st century would be doing exactly that.
Metaphors aside, we all know the last book we bought probably had an awful lot to do with the cover. No doubt the cover design probably piqued our interest sufficiently to make us further explore its contents.
Book cover design separates genres and promotes themes, sometimes in a seemingly subliminal way and often with cues that subtly but clearly represent an era, location, character, theme or a feeling.
The Book Cover Design Process
The aims of a book cover designer are to ensure readers are drawn in the moment they see your book cover. Often, it’s not about cramming all of the characters or themes onto the cover (which would be messy) but of creating a feeling or concept for the overarching narrative. If, for example, it’s a romance book, there is a world of difference between images that convey meaning in books such as Wuthering Heights; sultry, desperate, and brooding vs. Bridget Jones, light-hearted, upbeat and funny.
Meaning, message and feeling are what the reader wants to connect with immediately, which is why imagery is so important, but equally important is the typography used.
Typography enhances themes, and you’ll often find certain typographies are only used for certain genres, thereby forcing subliminal messaging on the reader. For example, romance books use script fonts, and sci-fi books use sans-serif fonts.
Book cover designers pay attention to the subtle message as much as the greater theme. They work to ensure that your book cover is totally unique. By adding original elements, blending several images, using unique typography, and emphasising themes, your book cover will stand out from the crowd.
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Try searching for inspiration on one of these sites: Waterstones or Barnes & Noble that will help our graphic designer leap quickly to your vision.
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During the design process, we will keep you informed and work with you to ensure that your idea hasn’t already been done. We employ several steps to ensure that the theme of your book is clearly represented to ensure that the reader experience matches expectations; hence positive reviews etc.
Because every cover is unique, the pricing depends on the elements used and number of hours involved. However, to give you some idea of cost we have separated our design process into three categories:
Bronze Package
Tailored images/illustrations
Basic typography
Basic additional elements
2-3 **revisions
3 mock-ups
Proofread
Multiple file types
Help to upload
£145 – £195
Silver Package
Tailored images/illustrations
Unique typography
Unique additional elements
Up to 5 **revisions
5 mock-ups
Proofread
Multiple file types
Help to upload
£195-245
Gold Package
Tailored images/illustrations
One-off illustrations specific to your story
Premium additional elements
Up to 10 **revisions
Multiple mock-ups
Multiple file types
Copy edit of blurb etc.
10% off next purchase
Help to upload
£245-495
If you want BookSelf to write or edit a blurb or compose taglines front matter or back matter of the book this will be discussed at the time of booking and a fee agreed.
** revisions include changes to title, tagline, blurb, author name, or changes to the overall typography. Also, changes to certain elements such as adding or removing an image or smaller elements such as shadows, change of colours, rearranging elements. It does not include an entire rework of the cover, however all elements will be discussed before work commences, so be assured that we will adhere to the brief set out in advance.
*** Premium typography will be unique and tailored to the theme. If raised typography is required this might involve an additional fee.
