Graphic Artist Wants to Know...

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ACuriousGirl

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What kind of prices do you usually pay for covers? (I hope that's not too rude to ask! If so, tell me to bugger off, lol).

The reason I'm asking is because I'm a professional graphic designer/web developer, and have been wondering if I should make myself a place in the niche. But I don't really know how profitable it'd be? I wouldn't want to be super expensive, because I can appreciate the self-publisher's tight budget.

Is there any one out there who also does this? Is it worthwhile?

I'm usually hyper-critical of self-published book covers, tbqh. I was lamenting to a fellow pal how simply abysmal some covers were, and sometimes, just didn't do the story justice. I know we all say "don't judge a book by it's cover," but I mean... let's face it. We can't really stop ourselves. Well, she told me to stop whining and put my skills where my mouth is.

And here I am. :D

I don't have any examples of my work. :Shrug: I suppose I'd need to make some attractive discounts (free?) to get my first few covers, so that I can begin an online portfolio.

Anyway, thoughts on the book-cover market? Can I keep my rates attractive and still swing a profit?

Thanks in advance!
 

Carradee

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I've not bought any covers, myself, but I know I've seen some people mention what they paid for their covers. I've seen as low as $100 and as high as over $1000. If you search this forum, you should find some quotes of what folks charge. I think about $250 seems to be the norm, BUT bear in mind that I've only paid attention to such comments out of idle curiosity.
 

ACuriousGirl

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Oh wow, $250? Sheesh, that's almost what I charge for an entire website, lol. Maybe worthwhile after all! Thanks, Carradee.

In other news, I was able to do a cover for a couple friends who are collabing on a supernatural YA novel. It was mostly for fun on their parts (they're querying), but still good for a portfolio, so yay!

1.jpg
 
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izanobu

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From what I've found covers range from 20 to 300+ (the lower end for e-book only covers). There's multiple people doing nice covers in the 25-50 range. Of course, it also depends what kind of covers you are doing. Are you doing the art from scratch? Or are you using and manipulating stock images? Art from scratch generally costs more (I have an artist friend doing paintings for some of my covers and she's giving me a steep discount at 50 each, and that doesn't include the layout/fonts that I'm having someone else do).

I'd say start on the low end of that and maybe do some give-aways to build your portfolio if you want (pick writers who have a following or a blog etc perhaps to get the word out if they are happy with your work). A portfolio is key.

(btw, for an ebook cover, while that one is very pretty and nicely laid out, that text isn't going to show up at all in thumbnail size, and thumbnails are really important.)
 

ACuriousGirl

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I usually favor multimedia for my designs. I do use some stock, but I also paint and use vector, so it's a mixed bag. I couldn't imagine only charging $50-$100 for a painting, but then again, it's not my forte, so a decent painting would usually take me around 40 hours.

Are custom sites coveted in this arena at all? I don't think a package deal would go amiss, if so.

Thanks for the help! I'm off to bug more people for further cover examples. Maybe talk them into a matching blog/pay site.
 

shelleyo

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The cover's pretty at that size, but you really have to consider the text. The author names at the bottom are almost invisible now, so they won't show at all when it's shrunk.

When that's shrunk down to thumbnail size, as most ebook covers are when they're on pages with others, will any of those words, including the title, be big enough to be readable? Will it be far too dark to make out any detail in the image itself? I worry that it might.

You have to make sure your cover art/text is scalable and still clear when it's a thumbnail, and even the title which contrasts nicely now is pretty small. Clear words on those little covers help sell, and make someone more likely to click through than if the words are too small to read.

Shelley
 

ACuriousGirl

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The cover's pretty at that size, but you really have to consider the text. The author names at the bottom are almost invisible now, so they won't show at all when it's shrunk.

When that's shrunk down to thumbnail size, as most ebook covers are when they're on pages with others, will any of those words, including the title, be big enough to be readable? Will it be far too dark to make out any detail in the image itself? I worry that it might.

You have to make sure your cover art/text is scalable and still clear when it's a thumbnail, and even the title which contrasts nicely now is pretty small. Clear words on those little covers help sell, and make someone more likely to click through than if the words are too small to read.

Shelley

Yes, I have 7 years of experience with graphic design and have hundreds of album covers under my belt. This was just a case of "what the customer wanted" XD But thanks for the feedback!
 

izanobu

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50 is cheap for a painting. That's my "friend" discount and I'm not buying the original, just using the image (so she can sell the original and make prints of it, etc, I'm just licensing the rights for my books) :) I think if she were to do it for someone else, she'd charge in the 200-300 range (she sells her paintings for 250-600, so it would depend on if you were purchasing the original art or just licensing the use, which is what I'm doing).
 

Latersbra

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Seven years? Surely you have a portfolio of your work?

Personally I think you charge what your work merits. There are going to be people who will only pay $25 and then there will be people who will gladly pay a $1,000. If I could get Chip Kidd to do my cover, I'd pay the price. I imagine he is over a grand, maybe close to two. Well 2k might be a bit much but he's the best in the business.

I was actually surprised that some people charge as little as $25. It's a little low in my eyes. I've seen some of these cheap covers, I don't think they're very good. If you're just doing it for the money, charge a low price and keep the covers simple so as not to eat up your time. But if you value your work and your creative bar, charge more.
 

ACuriousGirl

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Seven years? Surely you have a portfolio of your work?
I have several portfolios (websites, logos, ad design, etc), but no book covers. The portfolio I have on the web is mostly for local work and gives my RL name, address, and phone number. I feel... kind of weird about linking that on a public forum, you know? Which is why I'm trying to build a new one :D

Personally I think you charge what your work merits
Yeah, that's always the most difficult part of this job. My logos are $60-$100, but I've been doing it long enough to have judged my work against competition, so I'm comfortable giving that price. It's really just finding the basis for comparison.

And I am doing it for the money, of course, but I'm also big on reputation and won't just throw something out that's simple. If I'm putting my name on a design, then it's representing my skill, which is something I definitely take seriously. :D

That cover is absolutely stunning. I wish I had a friend like you that would do something like this for me.
Aw, thanks!
 

quickreaver

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This is such a loaded question: what to charge. There just isn't any standard right now! You CAN find someone who will do it for as cheaply as $50, but that really is the low low end of the spectrum (which undercuts our market something fierce.)

I've heard through the grapevine the cover artists over at Tor, for instance (e-published or otherwise), make anywhere from $1500 on up. Most e-cover artists for the romance/erotica publishers make an average of $150 a cover, and I can vouch for the fact you usually put more than $150 worth of work into each offering (if you count buying stock photos and paying yourself a measley $10/hour.) You make your money in quantity, not necessarily quality (which is why a lot of those covers look very similar and formulaic.) But it's what that particular market bears, so that's what it gets. When I have to digitally paint a cover, I charge $250 on up, and that's still not much of a profit margain.

Additionally, some covers require only basic design...a stock photo or two and a smidge of fontwork...while others require all sorts of creative gymnastics, like a naked woman with angel wings and purple hair riding a dragon. Good luck finding a stock photo for THAT property! So you might want to give yourself some wiggle room in determining pricing.

When it all boils down to it, how much do you WANT to make? Is this a fun hobby for you, in which case profit isn't a huge motivator? Would you rather do fewer, higher earning projects, or do a ton of smaller, cheaper ones? Or maybe you want to pick and choose the books that really sing to your heart and work out individual pricing with each client? If you think you do a good job, and have the experience to back it up (clearly, with 7 years of graphic design under your belt, I would call that 'experience'), don't be afraid to value your worth. If you underprice yourself, you do us all a disservice. You undervalue the worth of the image that will represent the product, and with more and more digital books being released every day, something's gotta grab the browser's eye! All you have to do is figure out the parameters of an e-cover, such as legibility at thumbnails sizes and watching your edge bleeds.

I hope this has helped! If you have any questions, ask away. :D

~Cris
 

the bunny hugger

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Yes, I have 7 years of experience with graphic design and have hundreds of album covers under my belt. This was just a case of "what the customer wanted" XD But thanks for the feedback!

IMHO that means it may not be a good portfolio piece as potential customers may not realise the customer wanted something generally consider a design flaw for an ebook cover (won't display well in thumbnail, fonts too small).
 
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