Book Cover & Editorial Illustration

Readers really do judge books by their covers — usually at the size of a postage stamp on a store page. An illustrated cover gives your book a personality that stock photos rarely can: a specific character, a moment from the story, a world that feels like it belongs only to your pages. We create original cover art and interior illustration for authors and small publishers, prepared so it works in print, in ebook stores and in your marketing.

Who this service is for

• Self-publishing authors releasing fantasy, science fiction, romance, middle grade, young adult or literary fiction.
• Small presses and independent publishers who need an illustrator who can work to a brief and a printer’s template.
• Anthology and zine editors looking for a unifying cover and interior pieces.
• Magazines, newsletters and blogs that need editorial illustrations for features or recurring columns.

Illustrated covers are especially strong in genres where readers expect art — fantasy, cozy mysteries, romantasy and children’s fiction — but a painted or graphic approach can also set a literary title apart.

What you get

Every cover project starts with a reading of your brief and synopsis, followed by three thumbnail concepts. Each thumbnail explores a different idea — a character moment, a symbolic object, a sweeping setting — and is composed with real space for the title and author name, not as an afterthought.

Once a concept is chosen, we develop it into a detailed sketch and color study, then a fully rendered illustration. The finished cover is checked at full size and at the tiny thumbnail size where most online readers will first see it. You receive print-resolution artwork, an ebook front cover sized for online retailers and a layered source file with the illustration and any text on separate layers.

Formats and options

Front cover art

A single illustration for the front panel. This is the right choice for ebook-first releases or when your designer will handle the spine and back cover separately.

Full wraparound

For paperbacks and hardcovers, the artwork can continue across the spine and onto the back cover, with quieter areas left for the blurb, barcode and publisher logo. We build the wraparound to your printer’s exact dimensions, including trim size, bleed and the spine width calculated from your page count and paper stock.

Chapter headers and interior art

Black-and-white chapter headers, scene-break ornaments, map-style vignettes and frontispieces give a book a finished, collectible feel. Interior art is drawn to print cleanly in grayscale on standard book papers.

Typography collaboration

Typography is half of a cover. We can lay out the title and author name ourselves, or work alongside your cover designer, providing the art with planned negative space and adjusting it once the type is placed. What we will not do is hand over art and hope the title fits.

Usage rights: personal vs commercial

Cover art is commercial by nature, so every cover comes with a commercial licence to use the artwork on the book in all print and digital editions, and in advertising, social media, author websites and press materials that promote it. A purely personal licence — for example, a cover for a family history printed for relatives — can be quoted at a lower rate. Merchandise for sale, audiobook editions with new crops, translated editions or film and game use can be added. For a broader explanation of how copyright works for commissioned and derivative art, see our copyright guide.

This is general information, not legal advice; the specific terms for your book are agreed in writing.

What we need from you

• Title, subtitle, author name and genre.
• A one-page synopsis and descriptions of main characters and settings.
• Two or three comparable titles whose covers you admire, and why.
• Format plans: ebook only, paperback, hardcover, and which printer or platform.
• Trim size, estimated page count and paper type for wraparounds.
• Your launch date and any pre-order or cover-reveal deadlines.

Timeline

A front cover typically takes three to four weeks, and a full wraparound with interior art four to six weeks. Cover reveals are often scheduled weeks before launch, so we recommend booking at least two months ahead of your release date. If you are unsure how to prepare your brief, our guide on how to commission an illustration will help, and the commissions FAQ covers deposits and payment schedules. When you are ready, send your project details through the request form.