A Cover That Sells The Book Before It Is Read
Your cover is a two-centimetre image in a scrolling list of hundreds. It has one job at that size: signal the genre and look professional enough to click. Everything else about the design is secondary to surviving the thumbnail.
- Thumbnail-tested at real size
- Full print wrap with spine
- Every platform size included
If any of this is true right now, this page is for you
It disappears at thumbnail size
Beautiful at full resolution, invisible in the store listing. The title cannot be read and the image is mush at the only size that matters.
It signals the wrong genre
A thriller that looks like a memoir. Readers browsing a category skip it instantly because it is not making the promise they are looking for.
The print wrap is wrong
The spine text is off-centre, the barcode sits over artwork, or the back cover bleeds wrong. The proof copy arrives and it is unusable.
Cover Design, delivered properly
Not a vague scope and a surprise invoice. This is exactly what is produced and handed over.
Front Cover
Designed to genre conventions — because conventions are what tell a browsing reader this book is for them — then made distinctive within those rules.
Full Print Wrap
Front, spine and back laid out to your exact page count and paper stock, with bleed, barcode zone and blurb typesetting correct for the printer.
Thumbnail Test
Every concept reviewed at Amazon thumbnail size on a phone. If the title is not instantly readable there, it is redesigned.
All Platform Sizes
Kindle, KDP print, IngramSpark, ACX square audiobook, Goodreads, and social announcement graphics — exported from the same design.
Concept Options
Multiple distinct directions presented in a real store listing mockup, so you choose in context rather than in isolation.
Source Files
Layered files handed over so future editions, box sets or format changes do not mean starting again.
No hidden extras
Everything listed here is part of the base engagement — not an upsell discovered halfway through the project.
- Three cover concepts
- Unlimited refinement of chosen route
- Full print wrap with spine
- eBook and audiobook sizes
- Thumbnail legibility testing
- 3D mockup images for marketing
- Social announcement graphics
- Layered source files
Four steps, no mystery
You always know what stage we are at, what is next, and what I need from you.
Genre & comp research
We look at the current bestsellers in your exact category. The design starts from what that reader already recognises as their kind of book.
Three concepts
Three directions presented at full size and at thumbnail size, inside a mock store listing.
Refine the winner
Unlimited refinement on your chosen direction until it is right, including typography and colour alternatives.
Produce every format
Print wrap built to your final page count, plus every digital size and marketing mockup.
A closer look at the service
A visual example of the service. Actual project samples are available during your consultation.
What makes this different
Thumbnail first, always
The thumbnail is the actual product. Designing for the full-size view and hoping it scales down is the most common way covers fail.
Genre research, not guesswork
I study the current bestsellers in your category before designing, because the reader's expectation is the brief.
Print wrap done right
Spine width calculated from your real page count and paper, so the proof copy arrives correct the first time.
Audiobook sizes included
ACX square covers come as standard, which matters if your book is heading to Audible.
Pick the scope that fits
Every project is quoted after a short conversation, so you pay for the scope you need and nothing you do not.
eBook Cover
Best for: Digital-only releases
- Three concepts
- Front cover only
- All digital sizes
- 3D mockup
Print + eBook
Best for: Full self-publishing releases
- Everything in eBook Cover
- Full print wrap with spine
- Barcode-ready back cover
- Audiobook square cover
Series Branding
Best for: Multi-book series
- Everything in Print + eBook
- Consistent series template
- Per-book series rate
- Box set cover included
Not sure which fits? Tell me the problem on a free 30-minute call and I will tell you the smallest thing that solves it.
What you should actually end up with
A cover that gets clicked in a crowded category
Readers who recognise the genre instantly
A proof copy that prints correctly first time
Every size you need, ready to upload
Answered honestly
Sometimes, as a starting point for custom illustration, and always disclosed. Where a cover needs photography or illustration that must be licensed cleanly, I use properly licensed sources and tell you exactly what was used.
Your title, subtitle, author name, genre, a short blurb, three covers you admire in your category, and your final page count and trim size if the print wrap is included.
Fine — I design the front cover first and build the print wrap once typesetting is finished and the count is final. That is a normal sequence, not a delay.
Yes. If the book is selling poorly, the cover is the first thing to test. I will give you an honest read on whether yours is the problem before you spend anything.
Unlimited on your chosen direction. The three initial concepts are where the big decisions happen; after that we refine until it is right.
Often booked together
Let's talk about your project
A free 30-minute call. You describe the problem, I tell you what it takes, what it costs and whether I am the right person for it.