Background and Setting

Please be as specific as possible when describing the setting or landscape you would like in the background. Simply writing “medieval” does not provide enough direction. Consider specifying: Village, city, or countryside? Castle or no castle? Forest, mountains, plains, desert, or another landscape? Season? Weather? Time of day?  If these details are not specified, the designer will assume that they are open to interpretation. 

 

For example, a general request for a medieval landscape could result in snow-covered hills, even if your story actually takes place in a hot desert environment. The same applies to important objects, symbols, and weapons. If a particular item must or must not appear on the cover, please tell us. If your thriller's killer only uses a kitchen knife, for example, please specify this so the designer does not choose a gun or an axe instead. Likewise, if your fantasy protagonist carries a particular weapon, or never carries a weapon at all, this should be included in the brief. However, please do not copy and paste several pages from your manuscript to describe the setting. A few clear sentences summarizing the possible background and environment are much more useful to the designer.

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Revisions required because information in the brief was missing, incorrect, or inconsistent will incur additional charges starting at $50.

 

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Characters

The standard cover design price includes up to two characters on the cover. If you would like more than two characters featured, each additional character is charged at $60 per character. 

If several books in your series will feature the same main character, please mention this in the brief. This allows the designer to select a stock model with multiple suitable photographs and poses available for future covers. If we are not told that the same character will be needed for additional books, the designer may select a model with only one or two usable photographs available.

 

Please be specific about any character details that are important to you, including: race, hair color and length, clothing, pose, and direction the character is facing. Other important physical or visual details should also be included. If your character description is vague or incomplete, we will assume that you are leaving those choices to the designer. 

•  If the setting is extremely cold and the character must be wearing a jacket, please specify this. The same applies to things you do not want. If the character should not wear elegant clothing, jeans, a dress, or another particular type of outfit, please tell us. 

•  If you want the main character to have their back to the reader, please specify this in advance. Otherwise, the designer will assume that the direction is flexible and select the pose that works best for the composition. Requesting a back-facing pose only after the initial design has been created may require us to find a completely different model or stock image and would therefore incur an additional revision fee. 

 

If you prefer, you may select a stock model yourself and send us the link. You can search: 

• Shutterstock.com: Stock images are included in the cover package price

• PeriodImages.com: Additional $12 per photo. Period Images is particularly useful for epic fantasy, historical costumes, and historical romance.

 

Short Plot Description

Please provide either a 10 to 15 sentence summary of your book or the blurb you plan to use on Amazon or on the back cover. We do not need a detailed multi-page synopsis. Please avoid lengthy descriptions of politics, worldbuilding, minor characters, or other plot details that do not directly affect the cover design. Too much unrelated information can make it harder for the designer to identify the visual elements that matter most.

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General Composition Requests

Please keep in mind that we specialize in photo manipulation using licensed stock photography; we are not illustrators. Because of this, the final design is dependent on the availability and limitations of suitable stock images.

If your concept requires a very specific scene from your book to be recreated exactly, a custom illustrator or photographer may be a better fit. This is particularly important for concepts involving highly specific mythical creatures or monsters, complex battle scenes, space battles, or other detailed action sequences. If suitable photographic material does not exist, we may not be able to accurately feature that element on the cover.

Stock photography can also limit how precisely we can match a character or pose. It may not be possible to find a model who simultaneously matches an exact physical description, body position, hand placement, facial expression, clothing, and action.

For example, a request for a scene like this one would be extremely unlikely to be created using stock photography:

"MC is sobbing uncontrollably in the rain, reaching toward a kneeling woman with one hand, clutching a mysterious bloodstained letter between two fingers, while using the other hand to frantically flag down a taxi that is somehow speeding past in the background; ideally while their coat is blowing dramatically in the wind. Bonus points if the model can also look heartbroken, terrified, determined, and mildly inconvenienced at the exact same time." :D 

We are happy to work toward the overall mood, character type, composition, and atmosphere you envision, but some flexibility may be required when selecting models, poses, clothing, and scene details. If an exact pose, creature, action, or scene is essential to your concept, custom illustration or photography is likely the better solution.

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