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Book Cover Design

Book Cover Pricing, Interior Book Design Pricing, & Book Layout Production Pricing

CUSTOM ESTIMATES
Please email for a free custom estimate. Your project will be reviewed and/or your manuscript will be examined in order to provide an accurate estimate of services and fees. We also write proposals for all our prospective clients once the estimate is accepted. This ensures you get what you expect. The proposal will detail editorial and creative direction and all the processes and services required to produce your book. Email Terry to get started.

Pricing Method for Design & Production

Design is consultation, conceptualization, uploading or mailing proofs, and then approval.

Production is the actual layout of the book and cover page by page.

Design and production is priced individually so you know exactly what you are being charged for.

Design Method

1. Understanding your desires for the appearance and concept of your book's cover and interior layout
2. refining that mutual understanding into a creative conceptual solution
3. creating the actual cover design and interior design template

Many designers charge clients a large fee for several concepts. One concept should be enough -- as long as it is the right one. That is why I spend extra time in steps 1 and 2 of the design process. To craft a design that is exactly what you want, establishing a mutual understanding of "the idea" is key.

Design Prices
Design involves conceptualizing the theme based on client desires, subject matter, industry trends, market trends, audience expectation, and competitor approaches. It includes market research, client consultation, format suggestions, image concepts, type suggstions, color suggestions, proofing processes, and template preparation. Two reasonable revisions to the concept are available. The design approach will be set forth in for your project in a Pneuma Books proposal.
Cover Design There are three levels

* $600 per simple concept
* $700 per complex concept
* $800+ per difficult

To include

* consultation & conceptualization
* type and color selection
* textures and imagery (if a specific photo image is desired, it might need to be set-up and photographed or purchased additionally)
* two reasonable revisions to the concept

Production Prices 

Production is the layout and prepress process. This includes flowing the edited, prepared, and tagged content into the designed template. It also includes coordinating the aspects of the job, client communication, piecing together the different elements on the page, proofing processes, preparing files for the printer, interfacing with the printer and shepherding the job through production. Per page production fees depend on the complexity of the content.

Cover Production Fees

Two types

* $300 for soft cover;  (3 panels @ $100 per panel)
* $500 for dustjacket.  (5 panels @ $100 per panel)

Project Consultation
Throughout the editing, design, or production your book, if you have questions regarding aspects of the publishing processes, I am happy to share my experience with you on matters of logistics, fulfillment, and some marketing, to help you have a successful project. Please understand that this is professional consultation. In order to keep our rates low, we must cap the amount of free guidance we offer so we can focus our labor on contracted services. As an incentive, we will provide you with one half-hour of free consultation on these matters throughout the project. Additional consultation can be given at our hourly rate of $100 per hour in 15 minute increments. We offer several free and low-cost consultation solutions to your questions on publishing issues. Please call for details or visit the website.

Free Info and Resources About Book Cover Design, Interior Book Design, Book Layout & Book Printing
""Typography is to literature as musical performance is to composition: an essential act of interpretation, full of endless opportunities for insight or obtuseness" -Robert Bringhurst from The Elements of Typographic Style
"Remember, the music is not in the piano." -Clement Mok, Clement Mok Designs
Why Pay for Design?
In this age of desktop computers and page layout software, what is the benefit of contracting a professional designer to produce the interior or cover of your book?
The answer has everything to do with your book's sales. A professionally designed book is far more persuasive in the marketplace. You may be the foremost authority in your field, and have written the best book available on the subject but if your book appears amateur or difficult to read (readability) your book will be passed over by many. We understand a self-publisher's need to cut costs; but, do-it-yourself-design is the number one mistake of many unfortunate self-publishers. In an attempt to save money, you can lose future earnings as well as the actual investment in time and money. An unattractive or "homemade" book does not sell well in commercial markets -- if it makes it to those markets at all. Many reviewers scoff at such a product andrefuse to review it. Distributors won't carry it if it is not commercial. And, retailers surely won't buy it. Don't risk your print and time investment -- let us design a commercial book for you.
We understand and appreciate the need to save money in production. That is why we have priced our book design and production services so affordably. It is our desire to make this professional service feasible for self-publishers.
Typography
As the quote above implies, professional design lends credibility to the subject matter and presents it in a way that is not only appealing and enjoyable but easily interpreted. Just as good typography and design enhance content, poor typography and design destroy its power. Distracting type, ugly or cheap clip art, and typesetting inconsistencies detract from the message of the writing. Levels of information (heads, subheads, bullets, numbers, etc.) can get confused if not formatted with consistency of style. A professional designer / typographer understands the process of translating information into appropriate typestyles and is skillful at dressing the content for performance. If you do not understand these theories and processes, please do not do the typesetting or book design yourself. A poorly designed or homemade book does the self-publishing world an injustice by perpetuating the idea that self-publishers are only capable of producing less-than-commercial quality books.
Book Design
Designers know the idiosyncrasies of book design -- standard sizes; acceptable gutters and margins; ink tolerance; treatment for elements such as footnotes, endnotes, sidebars, pull quotes, titling, bulleting, and features page counts and signatures; folios; and front and back matter. Book production is a craft requiring great skill. Why are there standards for these things? Because, as readers, we subconsciously expect books to appear a certain way -- a way that enables our brain to easily process the information we are looking at.

Yes, you could probably buy a book on book design and learn how to produce a book. But, trust me, it is a slow and painful process. And, if you are not good at it, you'll produce a disaster. You are gambling with the success of your book -- and that means sales dollars. Leave it to a professional while you concentrate your efforts on marketing your book.
Beware of Printers!
Many small printers who service self-publishing authors advertise "one-stop shopping" by offering "art and design services" at amazingly low prices in addition to printing. This is a marketing ploy to entice an author to use the print services. Usually, the printer has several "styles" to choose from for the book's interior and cover. Why on earth would any author want their book to look like other books? Obviously this method of design is not customized to a book's content. Printers print; designers design; in many cases, a printer has purchased page layout software and hired someone who knows how to use it. But very little "design" goes into the development of the book. This is especially critical when it comes to your book's cover. Most of the cover "styles" available are merely a typestyled title and a piece of clip art. In addition, these "styles" offer no marketing expertise pertaining to your subject. Good designers familiarize themselves with the content they are designing and employ their commercial know-how and marketing skills in conceptualizing and sculpting the product -- at least Pneuma Books does.
Your Cover
The cover of your book has only two to four seconds to make an impression on the buyer. The spine of your book has even less time. This is true for both catalogs and bookstore venues. Approximately 50,000 new titles are introduced every year. Need we say more about the validity of expert design on the cover of your book?
The PC Is Not a Typewriter
If you are still convinced you need to typeset your book yourself, then please purchase the fun and easy-to-read book, The PC Is Not a Typewriter: A Style Manual for Creating Professional- Level Type on Your PC, by Robin Williams (no, not "Garp") Actually, get it even if you aren't going to typeset your book yourself. It is mostly typography theory and valuable advice about word processing for the novice. This book covers the basics: don't double spacebar between sentences; don't underline things; use correct dashes and real quotation marks. $9.99 from Peachpit Press. (Note: the rules are different for web design because certain typographical characters are not accepted in HTML language. Please don't think we're violating our own rules -- indeed we are very much saddened by the fact we cannot correctly typeset our web pages!).
The Design & Production Process
We thought it prudent to explain the editing, design and production process to you. Additional information is also provided in the design pricing sections of this website.
Conceptualization
While your writing is being edited, Pneuma will conceptualize your design. We will review the content and select the appropriate structure, fonts, folios, feature or element treatment, etc. We will submit to you our idea for your approval. During this process we also consider printing. It is important to have a designer conceptualize the structure of your book because a book designer is familiar with the book printing process. Please see "The Printing Process" below for further explanation.
Templating