How Much Does a Book Cover Design Cost?
Brand new self-published authors are going into business for themselves, and that business is selling books. Mediocre covers cost you money in sales, that’s a fact. While it’s hard to overstate the importance of a cover, it’s also hard to overstate the value of each dollar when you’re starting a new business.
A professional book cover can influence readers’ first impressions and determine if they’ll purchase the book. But how much should you expect to pay for a high-quality book cover?
Factors Affecting Book Cover Design Costs
Book cover design involves various factors that can impact the price:
1. Design complexity
A simple, minimalist cover with basic typography and a single image will generally be less expensive than a cover that requires intricate designs, multiple layers, and detailed illustrations. Complex designs require more time and effort from the designer, increasing the overall cost.
2. Designer’s experience and reputation
Established designers with a comprehensive portfolio and a proven track record typically charge more for their services, especially if previous designs helped a book reach bestseller status. Their expertise and ability to create a high-quality, marketable cover justify the higher rates. On the other hand, newer or less experienced designers may offer more affordable rates, but the quality and impact of the design might vary.
3. Cover type (ebook, audiobook, paperback, hardcover)
Ebook covers are generally less expensive than paperback or hardcover designs because they only involve a front cover design. If you need to create an audiobook cover image, you can simply resize the digital image from your ebook cover image. Cover images for physical books like paperbacks and hardcovers, require additional design work for the spine and back cover, and hardcover designs may need dust jackets. If you publish a print-on-demand (POD) paperback book through D2D Print, our cover image generator can automatically create a full wraparound image—front, back, and spine—from your ebook cover image for free and within minutes.
4. Use of stock images vs. custom illustrations
You’ll have to decide whether your book will use stock photography or an original illustration. If you don’t have strong feelings already, take a look at other books in your genre. Some genres gravitate to one option or the other. For instance, traditional fantasy covers tend to lean toward original illustration whereas urban fantasy covers tend toward stock photography.
5. Number of concepts and revisions included
More expensive book cover designs often offer multiple concepts to choose from and include several rounds of revisions to fine-tune the final cover. Lower-cost options may provide fewer initial concepts and limited revisions.
DIY Book Cover Design
Your book cover is likely the first impression your potential readers—your potential fans—will have with your book and with you as a brand, and you only have seconds to capture their attention. For authors on a tight budget, designing your own cover can be cost-effective but comes with risks. A DIY cover could take hours to create and can still appear unprofessional.
If you choose this route, free tools like Canva or GIMP can help. Budget for stock images ($1-$15 each) and fonts ($10-$50 for commercial use). Remember to factor in the time investment, which could be substantial if you’re new to design. Pro tip: Before you work on your DIY cover design, check out cover images for bestsellers in your category to get a sense of what’s resonating with readers and causing these books to jump off the shelves.
Premade Book Covers
Premade covers offer a middle ground between DIY and custom design. They’re affordable, look professional, and can be completed with a short turnaround. The downside is they can lack customization and could end up looking similar to other book covers, depending on the book cover marketplace you use.
SelfPubBookCovers.com, which will soon be relaunched as BookCovers.com, offers over 60,000 premade covers by professional designers. Authors can customize the text on the covers (title, author name, tagline) in multiple ways including fonts, sizes, colors, and location. While there’s a wide price range, most sell between $69-$149.
Custom Book Cover Design
Budget-Friendly Options ($50-300)
These are best for authors on a tight budget who are okay with simple designs. You can search for a designer on a site like Upwork, where rates can start from as little as $20/hour. Authors should expect basic designs, limited revisions, and potential quality variations.
Mid-Range Options ($300-$800)
If you hire a professional book cover designer or small agency, you can expect multiple professional designs and several rounds of revisions. This can cost $300 to $800 and is a good choice for authors looking for quality and customization.
High-End Options ($800-$2000+)
For authors with larger budgets or complex design needs, working with top-tier design services will give you premium designs, custom illustrations, and unlimited revisions. Some even include custom typography. This can cost upwards of $800.
The Love of Art May Be Free, but Art Ain’t
This should be obvious to a self-published author, but let’s state it anyway: Pay the other artists who help you publish your book.
Do not go looking for an illustrator with a promise of “great exposure.” Think about how that would sound to you if somebody asked you to ghostwrite their novel for the same payment. Great exposure is great, but it’s not as good as money.
You can feel free to bargain shop, though! Just know going in that this is one of those areas where you’re likely to get what you pay for.
How to Choose the Right Book Cover Design Option for You
If you’re money-conscious, then stock photography is the way to go. You’re still going to want a professional designer to take that photo and add the right kind of magic that’ll turn it into a cover, as we covered in a previous post about covers.
If you don’t mind giving away some of your creative control, then premade covers could be a good choice.
If you want to print covers designed specifically for you and your novel to your exacting specifications or requests, that’s going to cost you significantly more.
To Sum Up
So depending on your various wants and needs based on genre and creative control, you have a wide range of prices to choose from. You can have a professionally designed and beautiful cover for as little as $69 or for as much as, well, infinity dollars. To be honest, though, if you’re paying more than a grand (and that’s for a professionally designed cover that includes a high-level illustration), you’re almost certainly wasting your money.
That’s a pretty wide range. But now you have a floor to start from and a ceiling to keep in mind while budgeting for your cover.