Book Cover Design & Illustration

Your book cover is the first thing a reader sees and it is a great opportunity to make a lasting impression. Though we all would like to think that we don’t judge books by their covers, the truth is that we respond differently to visuals than we do words. The wrong cover art can be a major turn-off to potential buyers. In a growing market with self-publishers and small publishing houses on the rise, a great cover design gives you the competitive edge you need and guarantees that your book will be taken seriously.

I am a conceptual designer and illustrator. I thrive on developing concepts that match the theme and feel of a book. Working with publishers and authors is a perfect marriage for me. I love the feeling of creating cover art that makes the publisher and author feel that the spirit of the work is captured and gives the genre audience something new and interesting to enjoy.

I spoke about cover design recently at a self-publishing conference in New Jersey. I got to meet a lot of self-published authors as well as showcase my own work.  As I walked around the tables of the participating authors, I couldn’t help but notice the quality of their cover designs. On more occasions than not, I wasn’t even interested in picking up the book because of the cover. What they told me was that the quality of the story matched the poor design, so why bother. Please don’t let this be you!!

There were over one million self-published books released in 2018, a rise of over 300,000 from the year before. Despite this fact however, there is still a stigma regarding self-publishing. I hear comments like “well, it’s not a real book if a publisher didn’t want it.” A trick to having your book being taken seriously is to have a professional cover that looks like a publisher did it. Amazon searches do not distinguish between traditionally published and self-published titles. Use this to your advantage! So much can be conveyed by a cover design.

I get it, self-publishing can get expensive. There is a reason traditional publishers take such a large cut of book sales; it costs a lot to create them. They handle the costs for editing, proofing, formatting, cover design, marketing, advertising and distribution. Or do they? In fact, traditional publishers are asking their authors to market their own books more and more these days. So what’s the advantage? For the well-known author who sells all the time, they are obvious. But for the unknown author the cards (or books) might be stacked against them. Self-publishing offers authors the chance to reap all of the profits from their book sales, but it takes work and commitment!

One advantage to traditional publishing is that big publishers have teams producing their books and if you decide to self-publish, so should you. Let me be a key member of your team by helping you develop your book’s cover and marketing materials. I offer free consultations to discuss your ideas, help shape your plan and make professional recommendations that serve your publishing goals.

Together we can make your dream of publishing a book a reality. Check out what these authors had to say:

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a well-designed book cover is worth 100,000! It has been a pleasure to work with Eric on the design of my new book, “Finding Kate:The Unlikely Journey of 20th Century Healthcare Advocate Kate Macy Ladd.” Eric is a passionate designer; he eagerly immersed himself in my work which made it possible for us to establish a unified artistic vision. Thrilled to say that response to my book cover has been fantastic: the elegant design draws people to the book which is what every author hopes for. I cannot recommend Eric highly enough!!!

– Meryl Carmel

Having self-published my 2nd book, I was looking for something much better than what my publisher had to offer. I was introduced to Eric by my editor and in a short time he created a magnificent cover…one that has received numerous accolades and positive comments. People LOVE it. Since then I had him design my wife’s logo for her business and referred him to several other authors..all have been blown away with his handiwork. If your looking for help with most any kind of project…look no further.

-Tom Ziemann