Question 1

Why does the cover matter so much?

Accepted Answer

The cover does roughly 60 percent of the conversion work on Amazon. Readers spend about six seconds deciding whether to keep reading or click away. The title pulls them in, the cover stops them, the blurb closes the sale. A weak cover does not just look weak, it actively pulls money out of every other channel.

Question 2

How does cover design vary by genre?

Accepted Answer

Every genre has visual conventions readers have been trained to recognize for decades. Thrillers use high contrast and bold sans serif. Romance uses figures and emotional cues. Cozy mystery uses illustrated style with warm palette. Literary fiction uses negative space and abstract imagery. A cover that does not match its genre signals the wrong book to readers and they click away.

Question 3

How many cover concepts will I see?

Accepted Answer

Three. Each is a distinct creative direction grounded in genre research and your creative brief. After you pick a direction, two rounds of revision are included before the cover is final. If none of the three concepts work, we do a free brief reset and another concept round.

Question 4

What deliverables come with the cover?

Accepted Answer

Print ready full wrap (front, spine, back) at the trim size you selected, ebook front cover at Amazon and Apple Books spec, thumbnail optimized version, social media cuts (1080x1080 square, 1200x630 landscape), audiobook square (3000x3000), hardcover dust jacket if applicable, and the editable source file (PSD or AI).

Question 5

How is the spine width calculated for paperback?

Accepted Answer

Spine width is determined by page count multiplied by paper thickness. Cream paper at 60 pound runs about 0.0025 inches per page. A 280 page paperback in 60 pound cream is about 0.7 inches spine. KDP and IngramSpark provide spine calculators. We always calculate from the final approved interior PDF, not from the manuscript word count, because page count can shift in formatting.

Question 6

Can you redesign a cover for an existing self published book?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Cover redesign is one of the most common projects, especially for authors whose first DIY cover did not convert. We use the existing book interior, refresh the cover, and re upload to KDP and IngramSpark. Many authors see 30 to 80 percent sales lift from a strong cover refresh, especially if the original cover was outside genre conventions.

Question 7

Should I use stock photography or commission original art?

Accepted Answer

Either works when handled well. Stock photography needs to be combined, masked, or treated so it does not read as off the shelf. Original illustration is usually higher quality but costs more (1,500 to 5,000 dollars on top of design fees). Most successful indie covers in 2026 use illustration over stock for exactly this reason.

Question 8

Can I A/B test the cover before committing?

Accepted Answer

Yes through tools like PickFu (50 to 200 dollars per test) which run the cover by 50 to 200 demographically targeted test readers. The feedback is qualitative and quantitative. Worth doing on the final two cover candidates if the budget allows. We help interpret the results, since some PickFu reactions are genre savvy and others are noise.

Professional Book Cover Design