What Does A Book Cover Cost?
Spoiler: I don't know.
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What does a book cover cost?
To be honest, I don’t really know. I used to not know because of a lack of experience. Now, I don’t know because of my experience.
Over the last six years of designing book covers, here is a sampling of what I have been paid for various book cover design projects:1
$300 USD for a sub-contracted, university press casewrap hardcover2
$550 USD for a university press paperback
$600 USD for a self-published paperback
$750 USD for a small, independent press paperback
$850 USD for a university press front cover and paperback spine
$1,000 USD for a self-published paperback
$1,000 USD for a hybrid publisher paperback + hardcover jacket
$1,200 USD for a university press paperback
$1,500 USD for a university press paperback
$2,450 USD for a large publisher hardcover jacket3
$2,700 USD for a hybrid publisher paperback and hardcover jacket
Woah. That’s quite the range, isn’t it?
Is this normal? Am I overpaid or underpaid? Are there no professional standards? Let’s talk about it.
Book design is a unique sector of the graphic design industry in at least two specific ways:
Cover designers are (usually) credited on, or in, the designed object itself.
Cover designers may have their own rates, but so do publishers. Often times a press has a set number that they can and will pay a designer, and the designer must then take it or leave it.4
This is the case for both the highest and lowest numbers on the above list. A publisher said “I can pay you this.” And I said yes.
Why is there such a vast range? Different publishers have different budgets. These budgets are influenced by things like funding and sales. University presses are usually nonprofits and publishing books that will not become bestsellers. Larger presses will make more money from their book and can afford to invest more in the design process. Hybrid publishers are paid by authors.
Moreover, not every book cover, or book designer, is the same. How complex is the project? What is the timeline? How experienced is the designer? How nice is the designer? How difficult will the client be?5 How much do I trust them to pick good work? How many options are expected? How may rounds of revision are expected? How many formats are required? How much value does this book cover represent for the publisher or author? What year is it?6
To be abundantly clear, $500–600 for a book cover is low. I just so happen to be a sucker for good and interesting books. I am extremely human in deciding which projects to take on and I am influenced by subject matter, excitement about ideas, and how smooth the process will be. I also recognize that when it comes to self-published books, that sometimes that is all—or maybe even more than— an author might have to spend.7
Some designers, like Jordan Wannemacher, try to maintain a $1,000 minimum—if not actually per book, then as an average. I think this is wise. It protects their time and values their work. But everyone has a different philosophy. In a recent post on Goodtype’s Instagram about their pricing guide, they shared a recommended book cover design rate of $5,000. Among some peers on Instagram, the consensus was, essentially, “what publisher is paying that?” It’s certainly possible, depending on the publisher, the deliverables, the scope, and how big the designer is, but in my experience, that number is not common.
A few months ago, I asked some book design peers to fill out a survey telling me the lowest and the highest rates they have been paid for a book cover. At the moment there are only 13 responses, and I’d love to build this database out further, but I think it is still instructive. You’ll see that these designers have similarly large—if not larger—ranges than my own.
As always, context is everything. If you’re interested, you can read the context behind some of these prices here.
And if you weren’t already confused, here is what Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, 16th Edition: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines has to say about book cover pricing:
When would-be self-publishers ask me what my rates are, I always stumble a bit. I know what I’d like to make on average, what I’ve been paid before, and I am confident in my ability to design a good book cover. But I am almost always unsure, and feel a little bit like I’m guessing. I want to value my time, yet respect their budget. I want to work on books I like, and not on ones I don’t. But I also want to feed my family. So I charge the smallest amount that I am willing to do a particular project for. But I can’t tell you that I’m charging you more because I am not that interested in your book, can I?
In truth, what I charge changes based on a kaleidoscope of variables, and one of which may be my mood that day. I’m not a good businessperson; I’m like a businesscat. This is, in part, why I have scaled back on self-published projects. Budgets are often low, scopes tend to creep, I am picky, busy, and always, always, uncertain about what I should charge. I am likely to undercharge. I like being presented with a number and saying yes or no based on the factors in play.
So what does a book cover cost? What should a book cover cost? I don’t know! It depends. I’m sorry if you were hoping for a concrete number, or an otherwise useful guide to finding a concrete number. Another designer might have one, but I don’t.
At any rate, I hope this was instructive (if also a little maddening).8
Tell me: What have you paid for a book cover design? What have you been paid for a book cover design? Add to the madness with an anecdote of your own and leave a comment below.
News
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Book Covers of Substack
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’ new book (Vine Leaves Press). Cover designed by Jessica Bell.
What I’m Reading (books)
Abbott Awaits by Chris Bachelder (thanks Adam!)
What I’m Reading (links)
The New Yorker reviewed my self-published novella by
andCopyright, Piracy, Tariffs, and... Patriotism? by
Joan Didion’s Notes From Her Former Selves by
P.S. Process Notes from Joan Didion's Archive & the Question of Privacy by
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Thank you for reading! I mean it.
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Until next time,
—Nathaniel
Not talking interiors here. That’s a whole other equation.
I think the total budget for this one was $500. I did this cover for another designer.
If this publisher uses my design for the paperback, I will get another $1100. Good work if you can get it.
There are exceptions to this, of course, and occasionally room for negotiation, as there is in every industry. Big names are going to get big checks.
With enough experience, you start to develop a sense on these things.
Anecdotally, it seems that budgets have gone down over the years.
One of my lower paying clients consistently send me good books, picks great work, and makes the process easy.
Pun very much intended.
To keep is simple, for myself, it all comes down to this:
Is it a photo based cover, a text based cover, or a hybrid of the two?
Based on those three simple criteria, I decide the quote on the composition. What they want in the layout, where, and how "busy" they want it. I then give about 3-6 options based on their parameters, as I have a very overactive imagination, and often take a weird para-social ownership while I'm doing my part. So I do a little extra to keep myself, until the ideas are filed in my mind, then I destroy them. Move on to the next project.
No gods, no masters, no contracts.
I work weird like that. 😆 🤣 😂
Timely! ;-)
Two things make this a really great article—your transparency and your candid honesty. This is extremely informative for designers just starting out in this space (i.e. me!).
And honestly, Nathaniel, you could swap out [book cover design] with just about any sector for the purposes of your discussion. Pricing design is sooo nebulous. I am co-founder of a design studio which is now in its 8th year of doing business, and we STILL stumble on pricing. As you brilliantly outlined, there are so many factors at play. And it's all the same things, really: Is the work complex? Will the client be challenging to work with? Is it the type of work we want to do? (this is a big one for us, too). All the same things, man, including the need to make a living and provide for our families, which, depending on how slow things are, can be a very loud voice in the decision-making process.
If I were to look back on our pricing for similar projects over the years, I'm positive it would look like a theme park roller coaster, with a range you could drive a bus through.
I am thankful for the information you have so generously shared here. Your seeming uncertainty has actually provided a lot of solid ground. Good stuff, as always.