What an Indie Author Should Spend on Cover Art

The good, the bad, the in-between!

After an author has written, edited, and formatted their work, the aspect of that project that has to do the real heavy lifting is not the title, the blurb, or even the price. The cover is one of the most important components that go into the product. Think about it this way. You’re browsing the grocery store aisles. You could buy the ketchup you always buy. The taste, color, and quality is always consistent. You may not be in love with ketchup, but it’s reliable and easy.

But one day, you’re scanning the aisles and you notice a couple of new brands you’ve never noticed before. One is organic and no added sugar. You know people who really care about whether their condiments are made with organic ingredients, but you…you’re not that worried. What you want is great flavor.  Something that’s going to give your food that something extra—even if you’re not sure what that something extra needs to be, you’re open to trying a new brand. But the organic thing doesn’t make the decision for you.

Next, you see a bottle that has an amazing brand name: Ketchup if You Can. You chuckle a little and look a little closer at the label. Looks okay, right? Here’s a sample of the label you might see:

You scan farther down the aisle and another bottle catches your eye:

Which would you choose to buy? On closer look, Ketchup if You Can looks a little wonky. A little DIY. The elements of the label may be cute, but the legs and eyes on the fry are not centered. The font is generic rather than branded, and there are a lot of colors without a cohesive flow to the design. Would you risk your money and your tummy on something that is intriguing but doesn’t look quite as professional as the bottle sitting next to it?

Authors have to work within budgets, and they have to make tough decisions about where to invest their resources. Editing and software, ISBN numbers and formatting, a website and a mailing list provider… The list of things an indie author needs to run their business is long. But one of the most critical investments is the cover.

I won’t go too deep into the topic of A.I. art on covers. Readers, authors, and artists have very strong opinions about using A.I. images on book covers. I will urge you to do you research and understand the risks involved with A.I. art, and move on to the focus of this post which is what you should spend on covers.

Now that we’ve established that the cover is a selling tool, a marketing opportunity, and a promise to the reader, let’s get into the weeds about what covers should cost.

Photomanipulation: a design technique that starts with an actual photographic image and applies techniques and effects to that image to create something that looks very different from the original picture. An example of photomanipulation would include giving a human female a mermaid tail or changing half the body of a human character on the cover to an animal.

Premades

A good premade cover can sell for as little as $75 and as much as $500 or even more, depending on the level of photomanipulation and design involved. Pro designers license not only the image or images on your cover, but fonts, and possibly special effects. The designer will have a subscription to a site so they are able to purchase those individual elements at a discount, but think about how much time it takes to design a beautifully composed, to-market cover. Premades are an exceptional value for authors because not only do you have the assurance that the cover elements are correctly licensed, but the final product will generally be market-ready and a competitive quality. I provide some samples of vendors below, but I don’t have a relationship with these vendors. This is not a testimonial, I'd just like to share those vendors that I’ve heard have done excellent work.

Check out price-conscious premades at:

Custom Covers

If you have the budget to hire a designer to create exactly what you’re hoping for, you can tell a designer exactly what scene you’re looking for, what color eyes, hair, or clothing you’d like on the characters who will be on your cover. Sometimes, it’s very easy to fulfill a custom request. But certain sub-genres don’t have as many options. Take this cover by fantasy romance author

Callie Chase

. She wanted characters dressed in fantasy-appropriate clothing. The male main character is a vampire in hiding. The female is a scrivener. Finding photos of characters who looked like the characters was not that difficult. But fin photos of characters who looked like the characters AND had clothes on that could work for the genre… That took a lot of time. After a lot of research, she sourced her images from a photographer and used a designer with a license to work with that photographer.

Callie completed a comprehensive creative brief that included everything from color scheme, mood and tone for the cover, character descriptions, how many characters would be on the cover. She purchased the $450 package, which included print, ebook, and an animation of the cover, and this is the final cover:

Many vendors such as the one Callie used, Deranged Doctor Designs, and Mibl Art offer custom covers. Custom ebook covers can cost as little as $150, which can be especially useful if you don’t plan to release a print or audio version of your book.

Illustrated covers involve the creation of a cover that combines elements designed in whole or in part by an artist. Sometimes the illustrations are simple such as basic outlines of drawn human forms, flowers, or thematic elements from the book. Complex illustrations may be painted from a sketch created completely from the imagination of the artist.

Illustrated Covers

Many readers (and authors) love the current trend of illustrated covers. Look at the stunning cover of the April 2024 release of When I Think Of You by Myah Ariel.

Now, this book is traditionally published, so the author did not have to pay the artist for the cover. But indie authors can hire artists and have completely original art/illustrated covers. There are a lot of questions to ask as you go through the process of hiring an artist. In general, an artist may not be a designer, so while your artist may be able to paint the images you want, can they add fonts and complete the full cover creation process? Or will you need to hire an artist first and then separately hire a designer to take the completed art and make a cover with it? Many artists have contracts that include commercial licenses or releases on their art, which gives the author clarity around how many copies of the book can be distributed in ebook and print for the amount that has been charged. An artist may charge an additional fee if the author wants the ability to use the art for other purposes, such as printing swag. If you plan to sell the art you’ve purchased in any format other than on the cover itself (so if you plan to sell stickers or swag with the art on it) make sure the contract clearly spells out any limitations or additional costs.

How much can a custom illustrated cover cost?  

Imagine you’re an artist… How much would you charge for a custom piece of artwork that brings an author’s story to life, will include a transfer of rights of your work to that author, and will also possibly grant merchandising rights to that author? One hundred dollars? One thousand?  While these are general estimates, authors who’d like to commission original cover art should expect to pay several hundred to several thousand dollars. The average I’ve found in working with authors is $1,000-$3,000 per cover.

DIY (do-it-yourself) Covers

DIY (do-it-yourself) covers can be low in cost, but they are not free. You’ll need to have the software and license the art and fonts. Some paid design software includes a limited commercial license for these items, but please read and understand the terms and conditions of use if you make a cover yourself. Nothing is really “free,” and litigation costs or other copyright/licenses violations can be costly for authors if and when mistakes are caught.

When you’re working to create an author brand, you need to make a lot of decisions: what to write, who to hire, how to market. When considering how much to invest in the cover, remember the ketchup question? Which would compel you to spend your hard-earned money on a new-to-you product?