Custom book cover design that stands out
Your words aren’t generic. Your book cover shouldn’t be, either. Whether you’ve written a page-turning thriller, a self-help sensation or the next great scientific tome, we make it easy for you to get a professionally designed book cover worthy of a bestseller.
- 100% money-back guarantee
- Fixed-price packages to suit your budget
- Fun and easy process
- Dozens of design concepts to choose from
- All designers vetted for quality
How a design contest works
1. Tell us what you need
Our brief makes it easy to describe the book cover design you’re looking for, from style to specs.
2. Get dozens of design concepts
Professional designers submit their concepts, then you can give feedback to create your ideal book cover design.
3. Pick a winning design
Choose your favorite design, and we’ll send you the final digital and/or print files.
Illustration by Chameleonstudio74
From mysteries to memoirs, our designers have covered ‘em all
Pulp™
Boja
Mila.
goopanic
semnitz™
Pulp™
magnificent 7&co
green in blue
kostis Pavlou
Boja
FilipaM
paganus
Ian Douglas
IsaDesignNet
Mila.
Artrocity
sala_ud_din
PANG3STU
Llywellyn
RAJANEESH.TR
Mila.
_BOB_
jestyr37
Boja
Why 99designs for custom book cover design?
Our tried-and-true process means you’ll get a stunning book cover design you won’t find anywhere else. No templates. No apps. Just super-talented freelance creatives making design magic.
We're a trusted design leader
We’ve got a 4.8/5 star rating from 37,560+ customer reviews. That means you’re in good hands.
by Cross the Lime
You get more ideas
Vetted freelance designers will see your brief and create dozens of concepts just for you.
by Martis Lupus
Great design, guaranteed
Get a book cover design you love or 100% of your money back. It’s that simple.
by pmo
Professional book cover design at great prices
We offer four fixed-price options on contests, so you can pick a package that suits your needs. You’ll get a great book cover design, no matter which package you choose — guaranteed. Prices exclude Sales Tax.
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Bronze
US$299
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Silver
US$499
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Gold
US$799
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Platinum
US$1,199
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Full copyright ownership
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Full copyright ownership
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Mid & Top Level designers only
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Top Level designers only
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Top Level designers only
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Dedicated manager
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You can also work directly with a designer!
We’ve got two rad ways of working on 99designs. If a contest isn’t for you, review our designer portfolios and start a 1-to-1 project with a freelance creative whose style is absolutely perfect for your book.
design by Boja
Your burning book cover design FAQs, answered
Everything you need to move to production. Your cover design will be uploaded in the correct formats to send to a printer or be submitted to an online publishing platform (or both).
Specifically, your winning designer will deliver a production-ready Adobe Illustrator file, Adobe Photoshop file, PDF file or EPS file. They will also supply visual mockups in PNG or JPG format for use on the web.
Plus, you’ll get the full legal copyright, so the design will be all yours.
Specifically, your winning designer will deliver a production-ready Adobe Illustrator file, Adobe Photoshop file, PDF file or EPS file. They will also supply visual mockups in PNG or JPG format for use on the web.
Plus, you’ll get the full legal copyright, so the design will be all yours.
Yes. If you have any specific photography or images that need to be included on your book cover design, please submit them to designers with your brief.
Unless you request otherwise, your designer may also use stock images (purchased from a third party) in your design. If a designer uses stock art in a design, they’ll tell you which images they are and use watermarked versions of them in their entries. Once you choose the winning design, you’ll need to purchase the stock art and provide it to the winning designer so they can complete the design.
Unless you request otherwise, your designer may also use stock images (purchased from a third party) in your design. If a designer uses stock art in a design, they’ll tell you which images they are and use watermarked versions of them in their entries. Once you choose the winning design, you’ll need to purchase the stock art and provide it to the winning designer so they can complete the design.
A lot of author’s publish their ebooks for Amazon kindle, Apple ibooks, Google books or Book baby. You’ll be asked to choose an ebook publisher as part of the brief building process so designers know what specifications to work from. If you don’t know which one you’re using upfront, you can always add more detail to your brief later.
Title, author’s name, subtitle, tagline, imagery and a quote all typically appear on the front cover of a paperback book.
Publisher’s typically offer spine width calculators on their websites for self-publishers to use. If you know which publisher you’re using, we recommend heading to their website to learn more.
Typesetting—sometimes called book layout—describes how text and images are arranged on the interior pages of a book. It includes all of the headers, footers and main content of each page.
If you are interested in typesetting for your book, we recommend that you choose a professional designer from our expert designer list and ask for them to work on your project.
If you are interested in typesetting for your book, we recommend that you choose a professional designer from our expert designer list and ask for them to work on your project.
On 99designs, designers agree to upload only original artwork, so each designer owns the rights to their design submissions until you choose your contest’s winner. During the cover design handover stage, the designer agrees to transfer the rights, and you become the owner of the copyright of your winning book cover design.
Choose “Make your contest private” from the Contest options section before you launch your book cover design contest. This will prohibit designers from using their designs elsewhere, and your contest will be un-searchable on the web.
This will automatically attach a standard NDA template to your contest. If you prefer, you can also upload your own NDA.
This will automatically attach a standard NDA template to your contest. If you prefer, you can also upload your own NDA.
Lots of ideas! If you’re looking for inspiration, explore 99designs for fantastic examples of product labels created by our design community.
Bring as many specifics as you can, too, like book cover dimensions, printing requirements and the information that needs to go on the front and back covers of your book.
For the front cover this usually includes: title, author’s name, subtitle, tagline, imagery and a quote. For the back cover you may need an ISBN number, blurb, author’s biography and a quote.
The more you give the designers, the better they can design for you!
Bring as many specifics as you can, too, like book cover dimensions, printing requirements and the information that needs to go on the front and back covers of your book.
For the front cover this usually includes: title, author’s name, subtitle, tagline, imagery and a quote. For the back cover you may need an ISBN number, blurb, author’s biography and a quote.
The more you give the designers, the better they can design for you!
Yup! You can have a physical book cover designed, an ebook cover page designed or both. Be sure to let us know in the brief.
Absolutely. Our talented designers know how to produce book cover designs for all of the popular publishing services. Make sure you include this in your brief so designers know what specifications to work from. If you don’t know which one you’re using upfront, you can always add it into your brief later.
Blurb, author’s biography and a quote typically appear on the back cover of a paperback book.
Absolutely (and we love it when that happens)! When your book cover design contest has finished, you can start a 1-to-1 project with your winning designer.
Yes! We have designers who are professionally skilled in typesetting and book interiors. We recommend that you run a design contest to get your book cover designed first. Then, choose a skilled designer from our interior book design list and request for them to work on your project.
We guarantee that you’ll get a great book cover design at any pricing level, but our higher-priced packages give you more design options and better support.
Here’s how it works: When you pay more, the prize for the winning designer is bigger, too. More experienced designers participate in your contest, so you get more high-quality designs to choose from. More options means additional time that's needed to review your designs. That’s why our Gold and Platinum packages offer dedicated managers to help streamline that process by writing creative briefs and giving your designers feedback.
When selecting your book cover contest package, think about how much time you’ll have and what experience you have writing briefs and working with designers. If you're still unsure, contact us for a design consultation.
Here’s how it works: When you pay more, the prize for the winning designer is bigger, too. More experienced designers participate in your contest, so you get more high-quality designs to choose from. More options means additional time that's needed to review your designs. That’s why our Gold and Platinum packages offer dedicated managers to help streamline that process by writing creative briefs and giving your designers feedback.
When selecting your book cover contest package, think about how much time you’ll have and what experience you have writing briefs and working with designers. If you're still unsure, contact us for a design consultation.
We offer a 100% money-back guarantee within 60 days of payment on all Book Cover Design Contests, except those with a guaranteed prize and those that have entered the Final Round. You can also call us anytime to help you rewrite your brief, reopen your project to ensure you get a good result and help you pick a winning design. Remember, if we refund your contest, you aren’t legally entitled to use any of the designs submitted to your contest.
Let’s talk!
Our kind, happy and humble customer support team would love to answer your questions. Send us an email or call to speak with an actual human.
- 1 800 513 1678 1 800 513 1678
- Free design consultation