All Creative Services
Creative Services for Authors
A finished manuscript still needs a cover, an interior layout and often illustrations before it becomes a book readers will pick up. We handle all of the creative work in one place, so the cover, the pages and the marketing images look like they belong together.
- In-house designers and illustrators, never subcontracted
- Revisions included until the brief is met
- Each book quoted with its own timeline
- Print and ebook files prepared to platform specs
The problem
Why the creative side of a book causes so many delays
Self-published authors usually assemble a book from several freelancers: a cover designer from one site, a formatter from another, an illustrator found through a friend. Each works from different files and different assumptions. The cover is designed before the page count is known, so the spine is wrong. The illustrations arrive at the wrong resolution for print. The interior fonts clash with the cover.
None of these problems is hard to fix on its own, but each costs a round of emails and a few weeks. Having one team handle the creative work means the decisions are made in the right order: trim size and page count first, then interior, then a cover built to the exact final dimensions.
What we offer
Creative services for your book
Cover design
Front cover, spine and back cover designed for your genre and sized to your printer's template, plus an ebook cover that still reads at thumbnail size.
Interior layout and formatting
Typeset print interiors and reflowable ebook files, with chapter openings, headers and front and back matter set consistently.
Illustration
Children's book spreads, chapter art, maps and diagrams, drawn in a style agreed before work starts and supplied at print resolution.
Typography and styling
Font choices and a simple style guide that carry from the cover to the interior and on to your website and ads.
Print and ebook file delivery
Print-ready PDFs and ebook files checked against the requirements of the platforms you plan to publish on.
Trailers and marketing images
Book trailers, social graphics and ad images built from the same artwork, so your launch looks consistent.
Not sure which option fits?
Send us the brief. You will get a scope, a timeline and a fixed price within 24 hours — no obligation.
How it works
The order we work in
1. Book specs
We agree the trim size, interior type (black and white or colour), print and ebook formats and the platforms you will use.
2. Interior
Layout and any illustrations are completed and approved, which fixes the final page count.
3. Cover
The full wrap is designed to the exact spine width for that page count and paper, so nothing needs resizing later.
4. Files and assets
Final print and ebook files, then marketing images and trailers built from the approved artwork.
Before you start
What to have ready
You do not need all of this on day one, but the more of it is settled, the faster the creative work goes.
- A final, edited manuscript, so layout is not redone after late changes
- Your title, subtitle and author name exactly as they will appear
- A short description of the book and its intended readers
- Three to five covers in your genre that you like, and why
- Your ISBNs, or a decision on who will supply them
- Where you plan to publish, so files match those platforms
Honest limits
What creative services can and cannot do
A professional cover and interior remove the most obvious reasons readers pass on a self-published book. They do not, on their own, sell copies. A cover gets a reader to look; the description, reviews, price and the book itself decide whether they buy.
That is why we design covers to fit the conventions of your genre rather than our own taste. Readers browsing a category use covers as a signal of what kind of book they are looking at. A cover that is beautiful but looks like the wrong genre will attract the wrong readers.
Pricing
How creative services are priced
Creative work is quoted per book, because a 120-page novel with a typographic cover and a 32-page illustrated picture book are very different jobs. You can order a single service, such as a cover, or combine them; combined work is usually cheaper than ordering each piece separately.
Our publishing packages also include creative services. If you are planning to publish through us, a consultant can tell you which package already covers what you need.
Free proposal
Tell us the goal. We’ll send the plan.
Share your requirements and a strategist gets back to you within 24 hours with scope, timeline and a fixed price. No obligation, no sales pressure.
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Response within 24 hours
Usually much sooner during business hours.
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Talk to a strategist
Not a call centre — the person who scopes your work.
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Fixed pricing upfront
You approve the number before anything starts.
Prefer to talk?
[email protected]Questions
Questions about creative services for authors
Still unsure about something? Talk to a specialist — no script, no sales pitch.
You can order any creative service on its own. Many authors come to us for a cover only, or for formatting only, because they already have the rest. If you need several services, we quote them together, which is usually less than ordering each one separately and avoids file handover problems.
A print cover is one piece of artwork that wraps around the front, spine and back. The spine width depends on the final page count and paper type. If the cover is designed first and the page count changes, the spine has to be resized and the design often adjusted, which costs time.
Yes. The ebook cover is the front cover adapted for screens, with the title and author name checked at small thumbnail sizes, because that is how most online shoppers first see it. The print cover adds the spine and back cover with your description, author photo and barcode area.
Yes. We agree the illustration style, character designs and page plan with you first, then illustrate the spreads and lay out the text around them. Illustrated books take longer than text-only books, so they are quoted with their own timeline once we know the page count and number of illustrations.
Once the work is paid for, you receive the final files and the rights to use them for your book and its marketing. If any licensed stock images or fonts are used, we tell you which ones and what their licence allows, so there are no surprises later.
Works well with
Pair it with the rest of the stack
Ready when you are
Ready to work with the pros?
Get a free proposal in 24 hours — scope, timeline and fixed price. No obligation, no lock-in contract.
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