A cover that earns the click
Your cover has about half a second at 80 pixels wide to make someone stop scrolling. We design for that moment first, and for the printed jacket second.
What makes a book cover sell?
A cover must work at 80 pixels wide, because that is how readers first see it. That means hard contrast, three to five title words set large, one focal element and a palette of two or three colours. Arkedia designs three original concepts from £199, presented at thumbnail size first.
- From£199
- Concepts3 original routes
- RevisionsUnlimited on chosen route
- IncludesPrint wrap + eBook + audio
Readers genuinely do judge books by their covers, and they do it in a thumbnail grid on a phone. A cover that looks beautiful at A4 and turns to mud at thumbnail size has failed at the only test that matters commercially.
Our designers work category-first: we look at what the top forty titles in your Amazon sub-category look like, identify the visual conventions readers use to recognise the genre, and then design something that belongs on that shelf while still standing out on it.
Fixed price, quoted in GBP before you commit. Milestone payments.
- Free 1,500-word sample first
- Mutual NDA signed before we start
- Two revision rounds included
- Full rights and royalties stay yours
Everything in the Cover Design service
Three original concepts
Three genuinely different routes, not one idea in three colourways. Presented as thumbnails first, because that is how readers see them.
Unlimited refinement
Once you pick a direction, we refine it until it is right. No per-revision charges.
Full print wrap
Front, spine and back cover built to the exact spine width for your page count, paper stock and printer.
eBook and audiobook versions
Correctly sized files for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Audible's square format.
Typography and licensing
Commercially licensed fonts and imagery, with the licences documented and handed over to you.
All source files
Layered working files plus print-ready PDF/X and web-ready formats. You own everything.
How cover design works, step by step
You approve before we proceed. Every time. No stage begins until you have signed off the one before it.
Brief and research
You complete a visual brief. We analyse the top titles in your exact sub-category.
Three concepts
Three distinct routes, shown at full size and at thumbnail size side by side.
Direction chosen
You pick one. We explain what we would change and why, then refine.
Refinement
Unlimited rounds on the chosen concept until you are genuinely happy.
Print wrap build
Spine width calculated from final page count and stock; back cover copy laid out.
Files delivered
Print PDF, eBook JPG, audiobook square, social crops and layered source files.
The range we design in
Eight original concepts, one per genre, made to show how differently a cover has to behave depending on who is meant to pick it up.
Design concepts created for this page — not published titles.
Cover Design — your questions answered
How many revisions do I get?
Unlimited, on the concept you choose. We would rather spend another week getting it right than hand over something you are quietly unhappy with.
Do you design the back cover and spine too?
Yes, as standard for print. We lay out the back-cover blurb, author bio, barcode area and spine text to the exact dimensions your printer requires.
What if I do not like any of the three concepts?
It is rare, because the brief and research stage does the heavy lifting. If it happens, we go back to the brief and present a fresh set at no extra cost.
Can you match a series style?
Yes. If you have existing titles we will build a system — shared typography, layout grid and treatment — so the series reads as a set from the thumbnail.
Services that pair with this one
Formatting
Print interiors typeset by a human and reflowable eBooks tested on real devices — not an automatic conversion.
Learn moreBook Publishing
Print, eBook and global distribution set up properly — in your name, with your ISBN, and 100% of royalties paid to you.
Learn moreAuthor Websites
A fast, search-optimised author site that captures email addresses instead of just existing.
Learn moreTell us about your book
A 45-minute call, no charge and no pressure. You will leave with a realistic timeline, a fixed price and an honest view of whether the book is worth writing.