How Much Does a Book Cover Design Cost?

Even though these days I’m mostly known as an illustration artist I’ve also worked as an art director and in an advertising agency for years. So after having illustrated and designed multiple book covers myself I’ve got plenty of experience in the market prices, how they form and what they depend upon.

So allow me to provide you with an up-to-date information on book cover pricing, as well explain the nuances of hows and whys. I hope this will help the authors to be informed on how much they should expect to pay when they hire a designer/illustrator.

Also if you’re wondering where to look for a specialist, I’ve covered this question separately in this guide: Where to find the designer/illustrator for your book cover.

Breakdown of Prices & Fees

Let’s start with the main question: How Much Does a Book Cover Design Cost?

Today in 2025 you can pay for the book cover anywhere from $15 to a couple thousands dollars. The price depends on WHO you hire, and WHAT this artist is going to do for you.

These are the typical price ranges for the book cover design market:

• Low Budget ($15 – $150): For this amount of money you can expect to get generic designs from Fiverr, Upwork, pre-made covers, hire beginner designers, and get access to AI “art”.
• Mid-range Budget ($250 – $450): In this price range you can find more experienced freelancers, buy designs with custom elements.
• Higher Budget ($600 – $3000): This budget opens the doors for artworks and designs made by established professional illustrators, design agencies, and you get highly customized original style.

It’s not super concrete – there can be some overlap within these budgets. For example, you might get lucky and find a professional illustrator who agrees to a mid-range budget (even if they usually take on high budget projects). This might happen if the illustrator/designer really loves your book cover idea and concept. Or if your schedule fits perfectly with theirs.

In general, these budget tiers reflect the quality and flexibility you can expect when purchasing cover design services. Naturally, each tier comes with its pros and cons, which you should carefully consider before choosing how much to spend.

Take the low-budget tier, for example. At this level you’ll most likely see a lot of AI-generated “art.” I use quotes because, in reality, it’s not true artwork. No, it’s just a machine copying the work of real artists. And while AI can produce images with bold colors and decent forms, its style is easily recognizable. AI often makes mistakes (say hello to six-fingered hands and distorted body parts, wrong perspectives, and lack of consistency in artistic style). It also raises concerns about copyright and licensing. And I doubt anyone publishing their book wants issues with legal ownership of AI-generated images.

Also, readers who see and recognize AI-generated image on a book cover might actually suspect that the book itself was also written by AI. Don’t know about you, but that would be a turn-off for me.

So if you want to avoid these issues, you will need to take an extra step and make sure the designer/illustrator you hire doesn’t use AI, regardless of your budget. This may increase the commission fee, but at least you’ll be safe from potential troubles.

That’s just one example, though. Let me explain what else influences the pricing.

What Factors Determine Book Cover Prices

I’ve mentioned that the cost depends on who you hire and what exactly you want your cover to look like. However, there are other important factors that directly impact the final commission fee. Let’s go through the all major ones.

Complexity of the design

This is a pretty obvious one. The more complex design you want – the harder it is to create it, and the more time it will take for the artist to do it. This usually means the increase of the overall book cover price.

Here’s an example: you may want a cover that consists of simple big font that takes 70% of the whole cover space, and the only non-font element is going to be a desk lamp on background. Well, this is a pretty simple design, especially if the font is not custom made or hand-drawn. In this case you should expect the cover to cost less than a highly detailed illustration.

And here’s the opposite example: Suppose you want a book cover with multiple characters, each with their individual unique features, and a busy background (like a city with detailed buildings), and a title that is integrated into this complex illustration. Well, this is much harder to create as it’s a much more complex design – so the price will go up drastically.

Type of book cover

The type of book cover you need also dictates how it should be designed and what standard it must adhere to. For example, if it’s a cover for a physical book, then the artist will need to create a spine and back cover too. Unlike the ebook-only cover which only needs a front side. So a physical cover obviously requires more design work, which comes at a higher cost.

Licensing and Copyright terms

Licensing and copyright terms affect cost based on image rights. First you should know that some freelancers might be using stock images, which are cheaper but may be used by others. It means that if you purchase design with this kind of images, you might stumble upon someone else’s that will have the same stock imagery elements as yours.

You can, of course, choose to pay for exclusive or custom artwork (drawn or photographed by the artist just for your cover), which isn’t available on stock markets, to have a completely unique cover. In this case, the author and the artist typically negotiate what rights to the custom artwork each will have. The agreement is usually signed, that confirms these terms.

The agreement may include:

• Basic license (lowest costs) – The artist can resell or reuse that custom artwork.
• Exclusive rights (higher costs) – The artwork is only for the book author to use, and the artist can’t reuse it.
• Full copyright transfer (the most expensive variant) – The author owns the artwork completely, and the artist gives up all their rights.

Deadline

Another key factor is the deadline – a date by which the author wants to have the book cover ready. When someone contacts me regarding the potential book cover, this is one of the first questions I ask. Because the time-frame directly influences how much time I have to work on the project, and how intense my workload will be due to it.

If the deadline is very tight, let’s say a client wants the cover completed in just two weeks, but I already have other ongoing projects with their own schedules, I’d have to adjust everything, move things around, sacrifice my free time (which I already have so little of 😆 ), and work longer hours daily. Understandably such deadlines typically increase the commission fee.

On the other hand if the author is not in a hurry and their deadline is in six months or so, this can have almost a reverse effect on the costs. In that case I personally may even agree to a lower price.

Number of Revisions

As an author, you should know that the number of revisions should always be discussed and negotiated with the artists beforehand. Revisions = additional changes and extra time spent on the book cover, and therefore will increase the final pricing.

Typically artists agree to a set number of revisions that are included in the base price. If the author wants more revisions, an additional fee is applied.

Additional Cost-Influencing Elements

In addition to the major factors I’ve reviewed above, there are also less obvious elements that can change the final sum you’ll need to pay.

Designer’s experience & reputation

You might have two seemingly equally skilled specialists, but if one is a bigger name in the industry – expect to see different commission fee rates. Reputation can make a big difference, actually. Mainly because reputation is build on success. Meaning that a well-known artist has already proven that they can create top notch book covers that catch the eye and make a book stand out.

As an author it’s up to you if you want to pay premium for that established recognition.

Typography adjustments

Typography is one of the important factors, for sure. Many authors don’t realize that font selection, adjustment (and sometimes even creating it from scratch) are usually considered as a separate service.

There are designers who specialize specifically in fonts, they are called lettering artists. So if you want the person working on your book cover to handle the typography as well, always discuss this up front, as not all designers offer this service.

As for how typography correlates with cost, this is how it works:

• Basic typography is cheaper. It means the use of standard fonts with minimal tweaks.
• Custom typography is more expensive. That’s when the fonts are hand-drawn or significantly modified.

Multiple cover designs

If you are planning to have multiple book cover designs, get ready to pay a higher commission fee. For example, you might need different formats: separate designs for hardcover, paperback, audiobook, or special editions. Each one of these will likely require extra work, and theretofore will cost extra.

The same goes for multiple concepts. If the author wants to see many concepts to choose from, the artist will charge more. The number of concepts is discussed before the start of the project, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. At least, that’s how I always organize my work process.

Marketing materials

It’s no secret that getting the cover done is just a part of a successful book release. Sure, it’s a super important part that can’t be skipped 😎, but marketing is sometimes just as vital. And using marketing materials based on the cover design is the most natural way to promote the book.

However, these materials need to be adjusted to fit different formats, styles and purposes. For example you might need separate social media graphics, 3D mockups, or print materials. When additional design work is required that means the overall pricing increase.

How much should YOU pay for a book cover?

Now that you know the price ranges and how they form, you as an author can evaluate your personal situation and decide what price tier fits your needs best.

Because honestly, if you want a minimalist book cover with the main focus on the title (and therefore the font), you don’t necessarily need to hire the most expensive specialist. You can receive an adequate quality cover from a lesser-known freelancer who provides basic services. You might want to check this post for more information: Best Affordable Book Cover Design for Indie Authors.

But of course, if want to enjoy additional perks like copyright agreement and licensing, stable schedule and guaranteed results for paid services that come with working with artist represented by an agency – don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m always open for new projects 😊

Here are a couple of examples of the book covers that I’ve done recently

Conclusion

I can’t even remember how many authors have asked me this basic question over the years – “how much does a book cover design cost?” And I always try to explain it in the simplest and clearest way possible. There are many factors and nuances that influence the costs, and final number always comes down to each individual case.

I hope that this post will help both authors and aspiring artists to understand what is included in the pricing, and will make the commission fees transparent.