Like many other “workstreams” in the massive project that is publishing and launching a novel, I created a separate tab in my Excel “Infinitude Path to Publish” project plan (if you know me at all, I’m sure this last sentence comes as no surprise) and got to work on finding options for interfacing with cover artists. Below is a quick breakdown of the places I researched that, if you’re in the same boat, may help reduce some of the lift.

Site + Link	Cost	Details/Thoughts
Reedsy	$$-$$$	(+) Easy to navigate & research artists/designers (+) Offers other services like marketing, typesetting, interior design, etc. (+) Good messaging & payment platform (-) Limits on # of artists you can request for a project, though you can add more once you decline offers
Fiverr	$-$$	(+) Easy to navigate & research artists/designers (+) Inexpensive but… (-) Some designers are clearly using AI images w/ little actual effort (-) Handful of designers I came across had 2-3 month wait times
GetCovers	$	(+) Affordable + upfront pricing (+) Lots of package options (-) Doesn’t seem like you have a connection w/ artist. Goes to a team of “vetted in-house designers” (-) Quality, and likely collaboration, seem lesser
Upwork	$$-$$$$	(+) Upwork has good status overall, trustworthy for finding freelancers (-) Cost is $/hr which made me nervous. Cost could balloon quickly Admittedly, Upwork was my least researched option once I saw cost/hr pricing I decided to invest time in Reedsy

Once I was able to narrow in on Fiverr and Reedsy (after eliminating GetCovers and Upwork), I found 9 artists +1 from his site directly that I would decide across. Naturally, the nerd in me built a matrix that gave each artist a Price score and a Quality score, weighted heavier toward quality points (65/35 split). With Fiverr you can find price quotes easily, but with Reedsy you must create a project and then submit for proposal to up-to 5 artists. While it may sound cumbersome, I didn’t find this to be an issue at all, plus it has the added benefit of giving the designer/artist an understanding of the ask up front. Responses via Reedsy were very quick…the longest one took maybe 48 hours over a weekend and you can add more artists if you have some that “decline” your project or you reject their offer.

I will say that with the Reedsy format of: create project -> artist/designer -> offer back to you, be prepared for some sticker shock. My first quote back was $1,300 (taking exchange rate + Reedsy charge into consideration as they were using British Pounds) which was the lowest Price Score I gave someone. Others were disappointingly high and even had limits of “2 revisions” or social media graphics costing a decent chunk of change extra.

But that’s when I came across designer, Christian Storm. Admittedly, he wasn’t the lowest on my Price Score (that was a $30 Fiverr option), nor did I have him highest on Quality Score (but clearly the final cover blows this early rating out of the water). Combined however, he had the highest weighted score and after getting my wife’s opinion, I decided to begin the project with Christian.

To say it was a joy would be an understatement. Christian was a consistent professional and the eagerness to collaborate (and teach!) as opposed to just finishing my project ASAP was apparent. I was able to provide him an elongated timeline which is something I’d recommend, not because he needed it, but it gave the overall project and ideation more time to breathe. His early “concept” covers – of which he sent me 6 – were all incredible with 2-3 standouts. Over the course of a couple weeks, we went back and forth on design ideas and ultimately ended with the cover you see today (which I adore and has seemingly already made a splash). Christian was kind enough to build me a social media package too, which will come in handy for months to come and has already allowed me to have an exciting “Reveal” campaign on Instagram. The amount of value I received from Christian was completely worth it, no doubt in my mind.

As I go long on this blog post – what else is new? – I’ll summarize by iterating: if you’re looking for a cover designer/artist, put in the 3-5 hours of research to find your perfect balance of cost, quality, and freelance options (sites, artist direct, etc.) that work best for you. As someone who was very protective of my cover ideas, I can confidently say I 100% found the right person to design my cover and couldn’t be happier.

If you’d like to see more of Christian’s work, check out his site: https://stormhausen.com/ …and don’t forget that Infinitude releases on 6.7.2024!