You’re finally self-publishing your novel, congrats! Now, you need the perfect cover for your book. Without a publishing house, you need to arrange this yourself.
Read on to find out how it works and get answers to the most common questions for beginners.
How do premade book covers work?
A premade book cover is just what it sounds like – a book cover that is already designed. Authors purchase the premade cover from the designer, who then adds the author’s name, title, series, byline, and any other information to the cover.
The author then gets a final cover design file that can be dropped into their book setup on their self-publishing platform.
It’s important to know that you need different cover files for your eBook and printed book, so you have to arrange that with the designer as well. Designers may have different prices for including a print version of a cover, some include both in their package.
Why buy a premade book cover?
- Premade book covers are often less expensive than a custom designed cover.
- You can see how the cover will look right away.
- You can get the cover files quickly, usually within a day.
Are there any drawbacks to premade covers?
- You don’t get to customize much – usually just the title and author name.
Is the designer going to sell the same cover to someone else?
Most premade book cover designers only sell their designs only once, meaning that authors get a unique book cover. You should always check the fine print just to make sure.
There are some designers who sell templates for design software that you can customize yourself (instead of the designer adding the title for you). These are often sold to multiple customers, so read through the details before you buy if having a unique cover is important to you.
Where can you get a premade book cover?
There are many artists and designers online who sell covers! A quick search of Google, Etsy, or Instagram will net you thousands of portfolios and websites to look through. Artwork speaks for itself, especially with premade book covers.
Of course, I humbly recommend Magic Book Cover Design.
How much does a premade book cover cost?
The price of covers can vary based on the skill and effort of the designer or artist. I have seen premade covers anywhere from $20 all the way up to $600 for original artwork. You do get what you pay for, typically – a great cover will absolutely sell your book. You can get a really nice cover from a good independent designer in the $75 to $150 range.
What comes with a cover?
Check the designer’s details to see if you get anything else with your cover. You should get the finished cover file, but you may also want a black and white copy of the title for the inside page. Often, this is included – if not, you might want to request it.
Some designers also include a simple mockup of the book for your social media and advertising use.
What’s usually not included are alternative versions of the cover (such as a print cover if you only bought an eBook cover), and advertising materials such as banners. You can often request matching marketing materials from your designer though.
Here at Magic Book Cover Design, my standard package includes the eBook cover, a black and white version of the title for your title page, and a book mockup for your promotions.
If you hire a cover designer, do you own the rights to the cover?
It depends on the individual designer, but usually you only have permission to use the cover for a single project, without modifying it yourself, and you cannot resell the design.
Typically, you will only receive your final files, and cannot have the original design file or a copy of the cover without text on it.
Many book cover designers, both premade and custom, use some stock images in their covers. This is because it is incredibly time consuming to do a photo shoot or create original art for each customer – modifying or using stock photos as models is the thing that makes this process affordable.
However, this can mean that the designer cannot release the full rights to you, since they themself don’t own the rights.
Even a designer who makes an exclusive design may not sign over the full rights to their work – they don’t want you to modify it or sell it online as artwork.
This is not usually an issue though. Most authors do not need the full rights to a book cover, only the right to use it in their book. If you do want the full, complete ownership rights to a book cover, it can sometimes be negotiated, but be aware that it will most likely increase your costs.
Any tips?
- If you see a premade cover you love, the designer will often be able to make matching covers for a series, and can make other versions for paperback, hardcover, and audio book for an additional fee.
- Make sure you buy a cover that matches your genre – this is critical! Look at other books that are similar to yours and make sure you get something along the same lines. One of the fastest ways to lose readers is to have an ambiguous cover that doesn’t tell them what genre your book is, or to have a cover that doesn’t match their expectations. You want to stand out, but not like that!
- The designer is often able to change the font.
- If there is a small detail you don’t love, the designer can sometimes be willing to make a small change, such as making a character’s hair a different color.
- Make sure to zoom in on the cover to see if the details look nice up close. Some designers’ work looks okay from far away, but doesn’t hold up when you look at the details.
Feel free to reach out if you need help!
Did I miss anything you’re wondering about? I’m happy to answer questions about premade book covers, and the book marketing process, just get in touch.