How to commission an illustrated book cover

Before you write to anyone

Have three things ready: the book's genre and a two-line pitch, the formats you'll publish in (ebook, paperback, hardback, audiobook), and your date. An illustrator can only quote properly when they know whether they're painting a front cover or a full wrap with spine and back.

What to put in the brief

• The scene or subject. One moment, one or two figures. Covers that try to show the whole plot rarely read at thumbnail size.
• Two or three covers you like in your genre, and what you like about each (the mood, the colour, the way the figure is lit). Not to copy — to show the shelf you belong on.
• Who does the title lettering. Many illustrators paint the art only; a cover designer adds type. Say which you need, or ask in the proposal.
• Sizes. For a Kindle ebook, Amazon recommends 2,560 × 1,600 pixels (height × width). For print, your printer's cover template gives the exact size including spine and bleed — send it once you know your page count.
• Budget and date. A real range gets you real proposals. Leave room for sketch rounds in your timeline.

Agree these before you pay

• How many sketch rounds are included, and what a change after that costs.
• The licence. Usually the illustrator keeps copyright and you get the right to use the art on the book in every format you list, plus marketing (ads, social posts, bookmarks). Merchandise or a series reuse should be named. If you need full ownership, ask for it up front — it usually costs more.
• What files you get. A full-resolution file at the size above, and ideally a version without type.

Paying safely

The common ways authors get burned: paying in full by bank transfer to someone they found in a DM, a traced or AI-generated image passed off as hand-made, or an artist going quiet halfway. On Sketchround you pay when you award the job, we hold the money, you see and approve sketches on your project page, and the illustrator is paid only when you approve the final files. Every illustrator's portfolio is checked by us before they can send a proposal.

Post a book cover brief How it works & fees