Book cover options for every budget
Let’s face it, a book cover is what opens the door to gaining new readers. Behind editing, book covers are very important and can be what makes or breaks an indie author. What does your book cover say about you as an author? Can a reader tell what to expect from your cover? Does it grab the right kind of attention from the right target market?
Here at Alt 19 Creative, we offer several options for your book cover needs. From single image, typography-only covers to custom covers with custom characters, we have levels for every budget.
Although we can create just about any cover in any genre, we specialize in romance, young adult, middle grade, cozy mystery, and nonfiction.
Have questions? Review our FAQ or contact us if you need a custom quote for a multi-book series.
Typography Only
You’ve found that perfect image for your book cover. Problem? You don’t know anything about typography.
Highlights:
- Front cover only (full wrap additional).
- You provide the image or choose one from Deposit Photos or Shutterstock.
- We add the typography that is suitable for your genre.
- We provide 2 concepts to choose from.
- You receive 3 sizes of the cover.
DOES NOT include:
- Full wrap (available for an additional fee).
- Title PNG (available for an additional fee).
- 3D mockups (available for an additional fee).
- Background removal or any photo manipulation.
- Overlays, gradients, or color correction.
$50
Typography Plus
You’ve found that almost perfect image but want a little pizazz added to make your title stand out.
Highlights:
- Front cover only (full wrap additional).
- You provide the image or choose one from Deposit Photos or Shutterstock.
- We add the typography as well as overlays and gradients that are suitable for your genre. We may change coloring of the image as well.
- We provide 2 concepts to choose from.
- You receive 3 sizes of the cover.
DOES NOT include:
- Full wrap (available for an additional fee).
- Title PNG (available for an additional fee).
- 3D mockups (available for an additional fee).
- Background removal or any photo manipulation.
$75
Premade Covers
Premade covers are a great way to have a custom cover without a custom price tag, as long as the genre is right!
Highlights:
- Front cover only (full wrap additional).
- We change the title of the premade to your title. You can keep the title if you want!
- We add additional text such as the author name, author tagline, series information, book tagline, and more as needed.
- You receive 3 sizes of the cover.
- Title PNG and 3D mockups.
DOES NOT include:
- Full wrap (available for an additional fee).
- Customization (available for an additional fee).
Prices vary
Custom Covers
Have an idea in mind? Let us execute it with a custom cover. We offer three options: a custom cover, a custom single character cover, and a custom two character cover.
Highlights:
- Front cover only (full wrap additional).
- Complete customization including background removal, head swaps, hair color changes, and other photo manipulation (or vector manipulation).
- Custom characters (if you order one of the custom character options).
- We provide up to 3 concepts.
- Up to 5 revisions once the cover is in draft stage.
- You receive 3 sizes of the cover., title PNG, 3D cover mockups.
- Additional graphics package for marketing (character(s), background, and more) for custom illustrated character covers.
DOES NOT include:
- Full wrap (available for an additional fee).
$200 and up
For original vector/illustrated characters. Want a cover with original characters created to the likeness of your characters that you won’t find on another cover? Want a specific pose that you can’t find with illustrated stock? Choose Alt 19 Creative’s custom character cover for complete character customization. We illustrate the characters based on a character brief you complete after ordering. With a custom character cover, you have merchandise rights to the characters. Pricing and samples of our custom characters and custom character covers are below.
Custom covers feature photo or vector manipulated stock. Our goal is to make the stock that is used not look like it originally did whether we do face swaps, color corrections, color changes (such as hair color change), background removal, and much more. We typically use 3 or more stock images (photo or vector). Examples of both photo and vector custom covers are below as well as before and after images of how we customize various pieces of stock.
Process
Scheduling and Planning
During the planning phase, we schedule a cover booking. To reserve a spot on our calendar, a deposit of 25% is required. You will complete a questionnaire that includes a character(s) brief (if you ordered the custom character cover).
Concepts
Sometime after your start date, we will provide potential (rough) renders or sketches of your character(s). Once you’ve approved the character(s), we will move on to the cover draft.
Finalize
Once you’ve approved the cover draft, we’ll request final payment and prepare several cover files. If you also ordered a print wrap, you do not need to finalize the print wrap until after your formatted document is complete.
Frequently Asked Questions
What files do I receive?
For a all covers, you’ll receive 3 different size front covers. 1) 6×9 at 300 dpi. 2) 1873 pixels wide (a standard size for most eBook retailers). 3) 600 pixels wide (for when you need a small file size such as embedding into your eBook file).
For custom character covers, you also receive character PNGs, title PNGs (grayscale and color), and an assortment of 3D mockups in two sizes.
For custom covers, you also receive title PNGs (grayscale and color) and an assortment of 3D mockups in two sizes.
For print wrap add-ons, you also receive a print-ready PDF that works for most print-on-demand retailers set to the PDFX1a standard as well as a 3D mockups of the front and back covers (two sizes).
How long does the process take?
For a custom character cover, the process takes approximately 1 month.
For a custom cover, the process takes approximately 2 weeks.
For typography only and typography plus covers, the process takes approximately 1 week.
We ask when your launch date or cover reveal date is during the planning phase. We create a timeline to work with your release plan as needed.
How long in advance should I order a custom character or custom cover?
We are usually booked out 2 to 3 months in advance. So, it’s best to order your custom character book design at least 3 months before you need the cover completed.
Do you prepare print wraps? What about audio book covers?
Yes! The base price for our covers is for eBook only. For any level of cover service, you can add a print wrap for $50 extra. If you also need two or more types of wraps, additional wraps are available for $25 each after the first one. If you are doing a case laminate with dust jacket, then that counts as two wraps as they require different templates. Audio book covers are an additional $25.
Can I wait to have the print wrap completed until later?
Yes! We need the EXACT final page count of your formatted document before we create the full wrap. We can complete the eBook cover weeks, months, or even years before completing the print wrap. Just give us a week’s notice when you need the print wrap. Additional information will be provided once we complete the eBook cover.
What if I dislike the first cover concept?
Don’t fret! Designing book covers is a process. We try to get an idea of what you like during the planning phase. Sometimes, we might not quite hit the mark, or you may decide you don’t like the direction you originally provided. Intially, we may give you 1 or 2 concepts to choose from. You then tell us what you like and don’t like and what you’d like different (and yes, you can request something 100% different). Ultimately, we are here to create a marketable cover for your genre that you can be proud of. We will design up to 3 completely different concepts. Usually, if we can’t hit what you need within 3 concepts, we may not be the designer for you. Minor tweaks to an existing concept does not count as a different concept. We will make up to 5 minor tweaks. Additional fees may apply once we surpass the 3 concepts and/or 5 minor tweaks.
Is the 25% deposit non-refundable?
If we’ve agreed/scheduled a start date but you need to cancel, the deposit is refundable. If we’ve begin the concept phase, then the deposit is nonrefundable.
Please note that the deposit option is not available for typography only and typography plus.
When is the final balance due?
Once you’ve approved the final draft, we will send you an invoice for the final balance. Upon receipt of payment, we will prepare the final files within 2 business days.
What happens if I need to make a change on the cover after we've finalized the file?
Contact us for a quote for any changes. Something as simple as changing your author name or the back cover blurb is a minimal fee of $15. For more extensive changes, we charge an hourly rate of $60.
Can I post cover concepts in Facebook groups or other social media outlets?
If it is in your own author group and you want to know what concept your readers prefer, then yes. If it is in a general cover critique group, then no. Feedback in these types of groups can take a professional-looking cover down several notches. And you will often get conflicting opinions as well as opinions from people who known nothing about cover design nor are experts in your genre.
Can I supply my own image for the cover?
Yes! This is one of the main reasons we offer typography only and typography plus covers. Searching for stock images is a time-consuming part of the process. If you’ve already done the work, we offer lower pricing with our typography covers.
What stock sites do you use?
We have memberships to many different stock sites, including Deposit Photos, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Envato Elements, Creative Fabrica, and Vecteezy. Upon request, we will provide information on the stock and fonts used in your cover design.