Author Topic: How much do you pay for book covers?  (Read 5606 times)

Avdal

How much do you pay for book covers?
« on: February 13, 2020, 07:23:52 AM »
How much do you pay for book covers?

I’m going to be finally updating my cover design website next month and along with that I’m re-evaluating how much I charge for my work. It would be very helpful if anyone here is willing to share how much they typically pay for a cover design? I’m going to be asking here and on a number of different sites. If you feel up to sharing your cover and its price that’s great, or otherwise how about just the price and general genre ala PNR, UF, thriller, etc? Did that include the print wrap or just ebook? Were you happy with what you paid and the resulting product? Any and all comments are very much appreciated!!!
 

B. Anés Paz

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2020, 12:06:26 PM »
Premades tend to range 40-100, and "originals" using stock imagery and some photoshop work  $60-~$250 I've seen depending on how much work is done. From what I hear, a ton of people get good deals from creators/artists for various reasons (ongoing work, friendship, whatever).

Original illustrations on the other hand jack everything up considerably. I mostly read and write fantasy, and for the non-symbolic stuff (like the art used on ASOIAF or First Law) we're talking $250-600 on average and yes easily up to $1000 or more for covers that can and do easily double as elaborate hangable works of art. I've seen some pretty darn good artists on DeviantArt charge far less, but they're definitely undercharging. Most of them are in countries where the US and UK currencies goes further and many of them don't understand the idea of a commercial license; in fact, a ton of them just give you full rights to whatever they create for you. Not sure what the legality of all that is between countries, but the point is it's a tangle already.

I guess it really ultimately depends on the genre... I freaking despise the standard romance cover with all my soul. I struggle to understand how anyone likes them, especially since they're so generic. But it's what romance expects, so it's what everyone does. Meanwhile, fantasy has a very strong cover aesthetic; your covers need to basically be pieces of art. If they aren't, many people won't even look at your blurb. I find myself that way too more often than not.

I mean, just look at this: https://bookriot.com/2019/06/26/2019-fantasy-book-covers/

In my very humble opinion, I think a lot of indie fantasy authors lose right from the start because of their covers. Granted, I'm only just readying to launch my very first novel soon, so take my words with a grain of salt. This comes from a few years of researching the indie life, purchasing artwork for other projects and looking for a cover artist for my novel, talking to some of the more successful indie fantasy authors, and my general opinion as a voracious reader of hard fantasy.
 
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dgcasey

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2020, 01:40:00 PM »
I freaking despise the standard romance cover with all my soul. I struggle to understand how anyone likes them, especially since they're so generic. But it's what romance expects, so it's what everyone does.

Yeah, I've been thinking about doing a cookbook with some muscle-bound, shirtless dude on the cover. I'll sell millions of them.   grint
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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2020, 02:01:14 PM »
I freaking despise the standard romance cover with all my soul. I struggle to understand how anyone likes them, especially since they're so generic. But it's what romance expects, so it's what everyone does.

Yeah, I've been thinking about doing a cookbook with some muscle-bound, shirtless dude on the cover. I'll sell millions of them.   grint

The thing which I didn't understand was, The Naked Chef, didn't actually have a naked dude on the cover. That just isn't right!  :icon_rofl:

I mean, just look at this: https://bookriot.com/2019/06/26/2019-fantasy-book-covers/

None of those do a thing for me. I find them bland and boring. They definitely don't entice me into looking at the blurbs.

They look like Trad covers to me.

Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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LilyBLily

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2020, 02:05:31 PM »
[I get tired of people knocking romance.]

Romance covers vary widely in an attempt to indicate the many subgenres. In ebook or paperback, they usually have people on them; that's about the only constant.

The bare male torso look is for particular subgenres and probably is not the style most used. Depending on the cost and number of photos used on a cover, and on the amount of manipulation involved, the cover could start around $50-100 for ebook and another $100 for print and go up into several hundreds of dollars. Pre-mades at the low end, custom at the higher. But the same photos show up on cover after cover and the same models. A private photo shoot is the dream of many authors, but for most of us it's not a practical expense.

 
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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2020, 02:11:12 PM »
A private photo shoot is the dream of many authors, but for most of us it's not a practical expense.

It's not a practical expense. Period.

Michael Anderle talked once about his. He still uses the photos, but doesn't recommend doing the shoots. Even with his budget, the cost hurts.

These days, there are some photography places which are doing photo shoots specifically for use on book covers. As they identify needs, they do more shoots. So the ability to find the right model/pose is getting easier.
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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2020, 02:22:40 PM »
I don't like having people on my covers. I think it undermines the readers visualization and locks the author into one description. Shadowy silhouettes are okay.

I tried it as well, and found the same. I used a person on my book 1's second cover, and it really didn't work. I went back to a ship.

I do have 2 covers still with a person on them, but they are shadowy.

In Space Opera, I find ships work much better.

I do have an urban fantasy cover waiting for me to catch up, and that does have a person on it. Have to wait and see if it works or not.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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B. Anés Paz

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2020, 02:36:45 PM »

None of those do a thing for me. I find them bland and boring. They definitely don't entice me into looking at the blurbs.

They look like Trad covers to me.

Well... they are trad covers. Some of them could be hangable pieces of art without the text or cropping, so I'm not sure what you find so bland about them (or what an alternative, "non-trad" cover that would get you to read the blurb even looks like). Maybe fantasy just isn't your genre, I guess, but this is pretty standard and pretty close to what fans of the genre expect. Many successful fantasy indies follow right along with this trend. Some that have been picked up for trad publication and get new covers also get complaints about how the old ones look better, i.e. the Rage of Dragons cover before and after. I liked the old one better imo, same for Grey Bastards, but that's just me.
 

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #8 on: February 13, 2020, 02:38:43 PM »
I thought they were really nice. Nice enough to make me wish I could have something like that.

I think you're already doing better.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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Lynn

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2020, 03:20:50 PM »

I guess it really ultimately depends on the genre... I freaking despise the standard romance cover with all my soul. I struggle to understand how anyone likes them, especially since they're so generic. But it's what romance expects, so it's what everyone does. Meanwhile, fantasy has a very strong cover aesthetic; your covers need to basically be pieces of art. If they aren't, many people won't even look at your blurb. I find myself that way too more often than not.


You'll never understand me, then. I love a good romance cover, and frankly, I expect to see skin. If I don't, I usually assume the book is puritanical and not for me. ;D

I would say I don't understand what drives so many people to put down romance covers (and often the people who like them), but actually I do. Sorry to say my imagination doesn't come up with charitable things about those people. :D

I paid $100 for a custom cover and $300 each for two (total $600) about 4 years ago. Never used any of them. I just prefer doing my own, and unfortunately, I couldn't get past that even after buying custom covers. I released with my own creations made of stock I licensed.
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MaxDaemon

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #10 on: February 13, 2020, 03:31:21 PM »
I do my own. Took a lot of time and effort to learn enough about Daz3d and Gimp to do a somewhat decent job of it, but I can't justify (Amazon tells me they sent me $160 last year) the cost of even pre-made covers, and I can't find a pre-made cover that makes me happy anyhow.

I keep working at the covers and I keep getting better. I'm finally releasing the final of my first trilogy in the next few weeks and I have an advertising budget. Perhaps we'll see how lousy my covers are. :-)

It should be noted that I DO have several hundred dollars in Daz3d, which is only free if you only use what it comes with, which is completely impossible in reality. I figure the more covers I do, the cheaper it gets.



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JRTomlin

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #11 on: February 13, 2020, 04:15:06 PM »
More than I probably should? I'd rather not go into detail but I'll just say from $400 to a lot more. The only exception is my four historical mystery covers. I just haven't found anyone who could do ones I like so I use fairly simple covers I did myself that are at best okay.

I guess it really ultimately depends on the genre... I freaking despise the standard romance cover with all my soul. I struggle to understand how anyone likes them, especially since they're so generic. But it's what romance expects, so it's what everyone does. Meanwhile, fantasy has a very strong cover aesthetic; your covers need to basically be pieces of art. If they aren't, many people won't even look at your blurb. I find myself that way too more often than not.


You'll never understand me, then. I love a good romance cover, and frankly, I expect to see skin. If I don't, I usually assume the book is puritanical and not for me. ;D

I would say I don't understand what drives so many people to put down romance covers (and often the people who like them), but actually I do. Sorry to say my imagination doesn't come up with charitable things about those people. :D

I paid $100 for a custom cover and $300 each for two (total $600) about 4 years ago. Never used any of them. I just prefer doing my own, and unfortunately, I couldn't get past that even after buying custom covers. I released with my own creations made of stock I licensed.
While if I see a lot of skin on a romance cover, I assume it is really erotic rather than romance. If you can't feel charitable about my opinion, that's okay. It's my opinion anyway and you're mistaken that it is 'putting down people who buy them' since I do buy romances, so dismissing that opinion quite so scornfully... *shrug* Whatever.
 

dgcasey

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #12 on: February 13, 2020, 07:38:47 PM »
I would say I don't understand what drives so many people to put down romance covers (and often the people who like them), but actually I do. Sorry to say my imagination doesn't come up with charitable things about those people. :D

We've been putting down romance covers since the days of Fabio.   grint
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Avdal

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #13 on: February 13, 2020, 08:02:37 PM »
I've gotten some very interesting answers so far! There really hasn't been any sort of consistent amount with everything ranging from $50-$700 plus. Interesting that the different sites where I've asked this (here, on two other writing sites, instagram, twitter, FB) have all given me different answers too. Basically I'm not sure what to make of the results!

I focus my designs mostly on romance, though fantasy as well. I picked romance for the pretty simple reason that it is by far the biggest and most popular genre. I think I read somewhere that 70% of all books sold are some form of romance. Romance readers are absolutely voracious so there's always a high demand for covers.

When I look at what's trending I usually stick with the top 100 of each category on amazon since this represents what's selling best. I personally don't find sites like that bookriot very helpful because a lot of the covers are either traditional pubbed or very old. Like pre-kindle-selfpubbing era old.

Here are some of the current best sellers
fantasy:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Fantasy/zgbs/books/16190

paranormal
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Paranormal-Urban-Fantasy/zgbs/digital-text/6157853011

sci fi
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Science-Fiction/zgbs/digital-text/158591011

general romance
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Romance/zgbs/books/23

Sci fi covers are all over the map. Some are painted, some are sexy, some are abstract. General romance is also similarly broad, probably because its such a huge genre that you have to look into the smaller subsets to actual identify the trends. Also Harry Potter is taking up 6 out of the top 12 spots in fantasy! C'mon JK Rowling, save some for the rest of us, lol!

Er, what was my point? Right, so in general I think I'm heading in the right direction with my designs. I'm probably going to increase my prices somewhat when i remake my website. I may also experiment with a few much more expensive premium style covers to see if there's an audience for them or not.

 

Jeff Tanyard

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #14 on: February 13, 2020, 09:03:16 PM »
I would say I don't understand what drives so many people to put down romance covers (and often the people who like them), but actually I do. Sorry to say my imagination doesn't come up with charitable things about those people. :D

We've been putting down romance covers since the days of Fabio.   grint


While we're on the subject of Fabio, he's actually a pretty interesting dude.

https://doyouremember.com/58787/35-surprising-things-fans-dont-know-fabio-lanzoni


You can buy his (ghostwritten) books on Amazon, though it looks like there aren't any digital versions.

https://www.amazon.com/Fabio/e/B000APHD64/


And he's my favorite pope.   :icon_mrgreen:


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Lynn

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #15 on: February 13, 2020, 10:41:29 PM »
I have a whole pile of Fabio covers from back in the day. Some of them are beautiful works of art. :D

It's easy to take shots at what you don't understand. Or maybe it's just that the things women like aren't worthy.
Don't rush me.
 
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LilyBLily

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #16 on: February 14, 2020, 12:22:33 AM »
I specifically would buy a book because of the handsome man or beautifully garbed woman on the cover. Back in the day, I also would devour the hottest available romances. This was a long time ago, and my tastes have changed, but I still expect and want people on the covers of a romance.

A lot of the books Avdal referenced on the Amazon site are not romances; they are women's fiction and those covers mostly do NOT have grown people on their covers and certainly never a close-up.

And, guys, stop putting down romance covers because you're scandalized that some women are willing to objectify men as we women have been objectified forever. Just stop laughing at us because we are women and have our own tastes that are different from yours. Chacun a son gout and a little respect go a long way. There's not enough respect in this thread. 

(I was nice about it last night, but this morning I'm angry that you're still laughing.)
 

Avdal

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #17 on: February 14, 2020, 01:06:21 AM »
Yeah, I just pulled a bunch of different genre's to look at bestselling covers and see what's popular right now. For romance specifically there's always been an audience for the "sexy manchest" covers and I don't mind them! I think they're very effective at conveying the tropes so the audience can see immediately that "this book is probably going to be pretty high heat, it's likely to be funny (or sometimes dark, though if it's a mafia romance sexy manchest the rest of the composition will make that distinction clear), it's not intended to be some sort of really thought-provoking work with a deeper message" etc etc. NONE of these are bad things. It lets the audience immediately know what they're getting into and if this is something they want to read or not.
Another super popular trend is a variation of "pretty girl in a ballgown with magical effects". Lots of PNR  and RH uses this. Pure fantasy too though I suspect part of that may just be because finding male models can be very difficult but there are tons of good quality images of women available.
There's also been a strong trend for more and more heavily illustrated covers. Sometimes I personally think this can be taken a little too far, but it's been steadily popular. More recently have been the cartoon-style cutout covers. These are similar to the sexy manchest (IMHO) because they immediately tell the reader what to expect. In this case it's probably a sweeter, lower heat and usually contemporary romance. Being able to effectively convey these tropes at thumbnail size within a second or less glance is really where the tricky part comes in!

And, yeah, some people will always look down on romance. Just like some people will say "oh you're not a real writer if you're not writing literary/ trad published/ write with only the passion of your soul and you're a hack if you etc etc etc". I don't pay that any mind. Write what you like, read what you like, and just have fun with it.
 

Lorri Moulton

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #18 on: February 14, 2020, 01:19:38 AM »
Facebook groups for cover artists might give you an overall idea of what's being charged for different genres.  :smilie_zauber:

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

twicebitten

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #19 on: February 14, 2020, 01:54:49 AM »
$300, usually. I'm thrilled with them. I had original art covers from the same place that were a bit more, but honestly, not as much as they should have been.

But I have occasionally grabbed a nice-looking bargain premade cover for $10-15. All of the places I grabbed them from no longer do covers or no longer do them so cheaply, or I'd tell you about them.
 

alhawke

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #20 on: February 14, 2020, 02:21:22 AM »
From my research, good covers run from <$100 to $500 range. $500 are professional. <$100 you have to be careful, though there are some really great ones out there (usually artists starting out). But <$1000 really? You must be joking. Unless it's hand-drawn or professionally photographed, I would never pay more than $1000. Then there are lots of Indies who do covers themselves.

Judging from the avatar picture you chose or manipulated, Avdal, I'd guess your covers are really good. Don't charge too little or authors will think they can just do it themselves.
 

alhawke

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #21 on: February 14, 2020, 02:27:36 AM »
Outside of price stuff, I'm going to add, Avdal, that I checked out your website and your covers area really fantastic! Best of luck to you!
 

Avdal

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #22 on: February 14, 2020, 03:52:12 AM »
Outside of price stuff, I'm going to add, Avdal, that I checked out your website and your covers area really fantastic! Best of luck to you!

Oh thank you! I'm glad you liked my designs! Below is one of my latest premades. I sold it in my facebook group for $150 (group link: www.facebook.com/groups/avdaldesigns/ . Normally I charge a little more, that's just the group discount. I have been thinking about raising my prices somewhat because it seems like I'm charging on the lower end.

 

Lynn

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #23 on: February 14, 2020, 04:02:03 AM »
I would say I don't understand what drives so many people to put down romance covers (and often the people who like them), but actually I do. Sorry to say my imagination doesn't come up with charitable things about those people. :D

We've been putting down romance covers since the days of Fabio.   grint


While we're on the subject of Fabio, he's actually a pretty interesting dude.

https://doyouremember.com/58787/35-surprising-things-fans-dont-know-fabio-lanzoni


You can buy his (ghostwritten) books on Amazon, though it looks like there aren't any digital versions.

https://www.amazon.com/Fabio/e/B000APHD64/


And he's my favorite pope.   :icon_mrgreen:




I particularly love the covers he's in by Elaine Duillo. She created some truly beautiful pieces. They're distinctive enough that when I see them, I know the artist without even looking. She was even inducted into the Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2003. :D
Don't rush me.
 

Jeff Tanyard

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #24 on: February 14, 2020, 07:50:37 AM »
And, guys, stop putting down romance covers


Most of the best covers are in romance.  That's pretty easy to see at a glance.  The best cover designers usually have the most practice at romance covers, and that often means they're not as good at the other genres.  Plenty of romance covers are works of art worthy of being hung on the wall.  Not so many SF covers can say that.


I particularly love the covers he's in by Elaine Duillo. She created some truly beautiful pieces. They're distinctive enough that when I see them, I know the artist without even looking. She was even inducted into the Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2003. :D


There are definitely some talented illustrators out there.  I wish there were more in my genre.  There's Jeff Brown, and, uh...  :icon_think:  Well, there's Jeff Brown.   :confused:
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Avdal

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #25 on: February 14, 2020, 08:33:45 AM »

Most of the best covers are in romance.  That's pretty easy to see at a glance.  The best cover designers usually have the most practice at romance covers, and that often means they're not as good at the other genres.  Plenty of romance covers are works of art worthy of being hung on the wall.  Not so many SF covers can say that.

Really?? I'm surprised! I would have thought that sci fi could have great covers! Like... its SF! The sky's literally not the limit! It's not exactly my genre but I really liked images like this one (just a 49cent image off depositphotos)



This one is also great if you want a more painterly look:



And this one needs some massaging but it's got great potential:



I'm just really surprised that SF doesn't have the best covers. Like in my mind that and pure fantasy should since literally anything's possible, just think of all the creativity you could express!
 

MaxDaemon

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #26 on: February 14, 2020, 08:44:38 AM »
Outside of price stuff, I'm going to add, Avdal, that I checked out your website and your covers area really fantastic! Best of luck to you!

Oh thank you! I'm glad you liked my designs! Below is one of my latest premades. I sold it in my facebook group for $150 (group link: www.facebook.com/groups/avdaldesigns/ . Normally I charge a little more, that's just the group discount. I have been thinking about raising my prices somewhat because it seems like I'm charging on the lower end.

Wow, that quality and that price - I'd probably have never started doing my own if I had been able to consider $150 or less for something that nice.


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Jeff Tanyard

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #27 on: February 14, 2020, 09:41:47 AM »
Really?? I'm surprised! I would have thought that sci fi could have great covers! Like... its SF! The sky's literally not the limit! It's not exactly my genre but I really liked images like this one (just a 49cent image off depositphotos)

...

I'm just really surprised that SF doesn't have the best covers. Like in my mind that and pure fantasy should since literally anything's possible, just think of all the creativity you could express!


There are indeed some awesome covers in SF.  There's just not as many of them.  In romance, mind-blowing covers are simply everywhere.  Gazillions of them.

Jason Gurley made breathtaking covers back when he was actually taking commissions.  Then he retired, then he sort of came out of retirement, but not really, and I'm not sure what his status is now.  His absence from the scene was a huge blow to the genre, though.

There are some other SF designers who do great work.  For example, our own member RBC (Rocking Book Covers) does pretty awesome work.  But when you browse the store and make mental estimates of this stuff, you'll realize you're more likely to find awesome covers in romance than anywhere else.  And it's no wonder; romance has more authors, more readers, and more money changing hands than any other genre.
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idontknowyet

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #28 on: February 14, 2020, 11:54:16 AM »
I would say I don't understand what drives so many people to put down romance covers (and often the people who like them), but actually I do. Sorry to say my imagination doesn't come up with charitable things about those people. :D

We've been putting down romance covers since the days of Fabio.   grint
Fabio covers are iconic!
 

Trioxin 245

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #29 on: February 14, 2020, 10:24:09 PM »
There are many people out there making clean, attractive covers. As a stand alone object of art they look fine. What I have found during research (I had thought my designer might leave the business at one point) that most of those covers are not to market. Usually the typography is off, the font makes your eyes bleed and so on.

Cost is not my main priority rather does the cover artist understand the market? Most don't.
 

Thorvald Meyers

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #30 on: February 15, 2020, 01:43:05 PM »
How much do you pay for book covers?

I've been working with Tatiana Vila for years. She charges between $125 and $150 for both an ebook cover and a full print wrap (for a normal perfect-bound paperback, not a dust jacket). Also, she allows "unlimited revisions," within reason. I know three different authors who pushed that "unlimited revisions" policy pretty hard, wanting lots of little tweaks and corrections, and she honored it with two of them; the third guy wanted her to stage additional original photography, which she did for what seemed to me a very reasonable additional sum (maybe $75? Not my bill to pay) plus of course the photoshopping to put the models into the cover.

I actually liked her earlier less-cluttered version of the cover better than the one the author insisted on. So she's good, I trust her eye for design. However, she is not Bryan Versteeg. ;-)  Fine artists like Versteeg will do commissioned art for book jackets, posters, etc. for either hundreds or thousands of dollars.

However, Tatiana wants to raise her prices now. Expect her website-advertised rates to go up. I hope she'll honor her old rates for me. Maybe your own retail rate should go up a bit too, so you can offer discounted rates to insiders, pull in new business when you really need it, that sort of thing.

Here is Tatiana's site: https://www.viladesign.net/

 

Thorvald Meyers

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #31 on: February 15, 2020, 01:55:48 PM »
... I've seen some pretty darn good artists on DeviantArt charge far less, but they're definitely undercharging.

Yeah, DeviantArt is pretty amazing. I have found excellent fodder for book cover art just by browsing around on Pinterest. Begin a board or two of your own, choosing images that are kinda like what you want to find, and in a few days, Pinterest will be feeding you all kinds of similar but better stuff. Then you click through to the artist's site and see what they are charging, and what sort of license/rights they are willing to sell. A good number of them use a Creative Commons license instead of claiming a standard copyright and then selling you the right to use that image as your book cover and for other promotion related to you and your book.

Just a thought.
 

Trioxin 245

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #32 on: February 15, 2020, 09:11:25 PM »
How much do you pay for book covers?

I've been working with Tatiana Vila for years. She charges between $125 and $150 for both an ebook cover and a full print wrap (for a normal perfect-bound paperback, not a dust jacket). Also, she allows "unlimited revisions," within reason. I know three different authors who pushed that "unlimited revisions" policy pretty hard, wanting lots of little tweaks and corrections, and she honored it with two of them; the third guy wanted her to stage additional original photography, which she did for what seemed to me a very reasonable additional sum (maybe $75? Not my bill to pay) plus of course the photoshopping to put the models into the cover.

I actually liked her earlier less-cluttered version of the cover better than the one the author insisted on. So she's good, I trust her eye for design. However, she is not Bryan Versteeg. ;-)  Fine artists like Versteeg will do commissioned art for book jackets, posters, etc. for either hundreds or thousands of dollars.

However, Tatiana wants to raise her prices now. Expect her website-advertised rates to go up. I hope she'll honor her old rates for me. Maybe your own retail rate should go up a bit too, so you can offer discounted rates to insiders, pull in new business when you really need it, that sort of thing.

Here is Tatiana's site: https://www.viladesign.net/

        Just out of curiosity, what compelled her to share that information with you? That is concerning the person she worked with loads of revisions? To me that is a huge warning flag as I would want my information/transactions kept confidential.
 

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #33 on: February 15, 2020, 09:17:14 PM »
Just out of curiosity, what compelled her to share that information with you? That is concerning the person she worked with loads of revisions? To me that is a huge warning flag as I would want my information/transactions kept confidential.

Yes, but, I'd prefer to work with someone who does do as many revisions as is needed within the quoted price.

Getting a cover right needs lots of tweaks, and if you have to keep paying for each one, it can make a cover hellishly expensive. It's like issuing a blank cheque. It also forces people to accept something which isn't right, often not the author's fault, because you cant afford to pay for more revisions.

So knowing someone does allow 'loads of revisions' is a selling point for me.
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Trioxin 245

Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #34 on: February 16, 2020, 03:18:47 AM »
Just out of curiosity, what compelled her to share that information with you? That is concerning the person she worked with loads of revisions? To me that is a huge warning flag as I would want my information/transactions kept confidential.

Yes, but, I'd prefer to work with someone who does do as many revisions as is needed within the quoted price.

Getting a cover right needs lots of tweaks, and if you have to keep paying for each one, it can make a cover hellishly expensive. It's like issuing a blank cheque. It also forces people to accept something which isn't right, often not the author's fault, because you cant afford to pay for more revisions.

So knowing someone does allow 'loads of revisions' is a selling point for me.
Agreed.
 

Thorvald Meyers

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #35 on: February 16, 2020, 03:19:33 AM »
Sorry I didn't describe the situation in more detail: I'm a writing coach. I've been referring my trade-publication clients to Tatiana for years and then asking them about their experience working with her. Since the feedback has been almost universally positive, and often enthusiastic, she has become my go-to referral for book covers. Tatiana herself does not talk about her clients to me! Even though it could be appropriate if the need arose: I could serve as a mediator between her and one of my clients to resolve a dispute. But that has never happened.
 

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Re: How much do you pay for book covers?
« Reply #36 on: February 17, 2020, 05:21:19 PM »
The discussion of skin on covers and rape in books and tv, was moved here: https://writersanctum.com/index.php?topic=3384.0
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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