A thriller cover and a cozy romance cover are supposed to look nothing alike, and that’s by design, genre conventions exist because readers use them to find books they’ll actually enjoy. Before any concept work starts, we look at what’s currently working in your specific category, not to copy it, but to understand what signals genre and quality to a reader scanning a search results page in two seconds. A cover that’s beautiful in isolation but doesn’t read as “thriller” or “children’s picture book” at a glance can actually hurt a book’s chances rather than help them.
Print Cover vs. Ebook CoverAn ebook cover only ever needs to work as a single front-facing image, usually viewed small, on a screen. A print cover has to work as a full wraparound: front, spine, and back, with back cover copy, barcode placement, and spine text that stays legible at a smaller trim size. We design both from the same creative direction so your print and digital editions feel like the same book, but each is built to its own technical requirements.
Common Cover Design Mistakes We Help Authors AvoidA few mistakes show up again and again on self-published covers: text that’s too small to read at thumbnail size, a design that doesn’t match genre conventions, low-resolution stock imagery, and too much visual clutter competing for attention. None of these are about talent, they’re about not knowing what a cover has to survive once it’s live: a tiny thumbnail, a crowded search results page, and a reader who decides whether to click in under two seconds. Our design process is built specifically around those constraints rather than treating your cover as standalone art.
What’s Included
Cover design pairs with interior design & formatting for a complete, cohesive final book, with book editing if your manuscript still needs a final pass, and with book publishing once your cover and files are ready to go live.
A strong cover signals genre, tone, and quality before a reader reads a single page. A cover that looks unprofessional, even with a well-written book behind it, can cost you that first impression. We design covers built to compete at the size and context readers actually encounter them: a thumbnail on a search results page.
01
We discuss your book, genre, and any design references you have.
02
Initial cover concepts based on that direction.
03
Refinements based on your feedback.
04
Print and ebook-ready cover files delivered for publishing.
"Every illustration reflected the mood of my story."
"Visual continuity stayed perfect from start to finish."
"Feedback updates were applied with great accuracy."
"Houston Book Publishers produced detailed and usable artwork."
