DW/ Book Cover Design

Book cover design — former publishing art director

A cover that sells your book in one second.

You spent years writing it. Readers decide in a glance whether to look closer. I was an in-house art director at Health Communications, Inc., the publisher behind Chicken Soup for the Soul, designing covers that had to compete on real shelves. Now I do the same for independent authors and small presses.

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Spirit Recovery Medicine Bag cover The Undefeated Mind cover Soul Food cover

Selected covers

Published, shelved and selling.

Self-help, memoir, relationships, cookbooks and reference, each designed to read in its genre at a glance.

  • The Undefeated Mind cover

    The Undefeated Mind

    Alex Lickerman, MD

  • Spirit Recovery Medicine Bag cover

    Spirit Recovery Medicine Bag

    Lee McCormick & Mary Faulkner

  • I Love You But You Always Put Me Last cover

    I Love You But You Always Put Me Last

    Andrew G. Marshall

  • Soul Food cover

    Soul Food

    Dan Clark

  • Connecting with Coincidence cover

    Connecting with Coincidence

    Bernard D. Beitman, MD

  • Taste of Beirut cover

    Taste of Beirut

    Joumana Accad

  • The Complete A to Z Dictionary of Dreams cover

    The Complete A to Z Dictionary of Dreams

    Ian Wallace

  • The Girly Thoughts 10-Day Detox Plan cover

    The Girly Thoughts 10-Day Detox Plan

    Patricia A. O'Gorman, PhD

Also: Stopping the Noise in Your Head (Reid Wilson, PhD) · ASHPE Bronze, Best Cover Illustration, for Counselor magazine.

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Why it matters

Readers decide in a thumbnail. Most indie covers lose there.

A weak cover doesn't get a bad review. It gets scrolled past, and you never find out why sales stalled. Here's what I fix.

Full size
100px

  • Genre signals

    A cover has to say "this is your kind of book" before it says anything clever. I design to the shelf you're selling on.

  • Type that holds at 100px

    Titles get tested at Amazon search size, not just full screen. If it can't be read small, it doesn't ship.

  • Print-ready, first time

    Spine math, bleed, barcode space and CMYK handled to KDP and IngramSpark specs, so your proof isn't a surprise.

  • A real art director

    You work directly with me: concept, type, image sourcing and production, without a template mill in between.

Series design

One system. Every book instantly part of the set.

The Tracks trilogy by J. Gabriel Gates and Charlene Keel: three covers built on one framework, so readers who finish book one spot book two on sight.

  • Ghost Crown, The Tracks book 1, cover

    Ghost Crown

    Book 01

  • Dark Territory, The Tracks book 2, cover

    Dark Territory

    Book 02

  • Shadow Train, The Tracks book 3, cover

    Shadow Train

    Book 03

  • Fixed framework

    Same title lettering, series badge and author block in the same positions on every volume.

  • A color per volume

    Blue, red and green tell the books apart at thumbnail size while keeping them a set.

  • One hero object

    Each cover centers a single image from its story: the crown, the tunnel, the train.

  • Built to extend

    Book four slots in with no redesign. You get the template and style guide.

Packages

Flat fees. No surprises.

Every package includes full commercial rights and layered source files. Stock image licensing is billed separately, based on the cost of each image.

Digital-first launches

Ebook Cover

$650

  • 2 initial concepts
  • 2 rounds of revisions
  • Kindle, Apple and Kobo exports
  • Thumbnail legibility check
  • Delivery in up to 15 days
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Recommended

Full Wrap

$1,100

  • Ebook, paperback and hardcover
  • 3 initial concepts, 3 revision rounds
  • Front, spine and back cover copy layout
  • KDP and IngramSpark print files
  • 3D mockups for launch marketing
  • Delivery in up to 15 days
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Multi-book & small presses

Series & Publisher

From $1,800

  • Series system built to scale (see 03)
  • Template + style guide for future volumes
  • Custom illustration or photo direction
  • Audiobook and ad-size variants
  • Per-title rate for 3+ books
  • Priority scheduling
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Add-ons: rush delivery +25% · extra revision round $150 · audiobook square $200 · interior formatting from $500

Process

The in-house workflow, minus the committee.

  1. Day 1

    Brief

    A short questionnaire plus a 30-minute call on your book, reader and comparable titles.

  2. Days 2–7

    Concepts

    Distinct directions, each shown full size and at thumbnail size beside real competitors.

  3. Days 8–12

    Refine

    We pick one and tighten type, image and color through your revision rounds.

  4. Days 13–15

    Deliver

    Print and digital files, mockups and source files, checked against your printer's template.

Questions

Do I own the cover?

Yes. You get full commercial rights to the final design for your book in every format. Stock images are licensed in your name where the license allows.

How do payments work?

50% deposit to book your slot, 50% on approval of final files.

What do you need from me?

A short questionnaire and a 30-minute call on your book, your reader and comparable titles.

Do you use AI-generated art?

Rarely. Covers are built from licensed photography, illustration and original type work. If AI imagery is the right tool for a specific concept, I'll tell you up front and we'll decide together, so you always know what's on your cover and that it's cleared for commercial use.

Do you work with publishers?

Yes. The Series & Publisher package covers multi-book work and small presses, with a per-title rate for 3+ books.

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Let's make the cover your book deserves.

Tell me about your book. You'll get a quote and an available start date within 24 hours.

Prefer email? danewesolko@gmail.com

No commitment. Reply within 24 hours.