Hack your way to the top of the bestseller lists with genius design

Hi, I’m Derek. Over the past ten years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with hundreds of bestselling authors and become an expert in every aspect of publishing – from book design to launching a bestseller. In 2016 I finished my PhD in Literature, got featured by CNN for organizing a writing retreat in a French castle, and started publishing my own fiction.

My book covers have adorned NYT bestselling books, been featured in Barnes & Noble, and even made it to Oprah magazine. If this is your first book, I strongly recommend going through my free materials first on cover design. Don’t forget to grab my free guide to book design and watch the the book design tutorials I’ve made – even if you hire a professional, you NEED to understand the basics of book cover design. 

On the other hand if you want someone who not only knows how to write books readers love, but also get your book in front of those readers, and are ready to invest in your book’s success… I’m your guy.

I help indie authors hack their way to the top of bestseller lists with genius book cover design – and I can do it for you, too.

There are lots of people who will take your money and make you an ugly cover. And there are plenty of people who will make you a very nice-looking, pretty cover that just isn’t enough to stand out.

I make book covers that sell books, even in over-saturated genres with lots of competition

That’s my one and only objective for every project I work on. My designs help my clients make money, attract publishers and get a lot of reviews. That’s why over 95% of my clients come back to me with repeat business for their next project.

Plus, I’m more than just a designer; I regularly publish books of my own that inevitably hit #1 in their category as soon as they launch. I’ve built such a reputation for book marketing that bigger companies have asked to writing conferences around the world.

Free yourself from the headache of worrying…

…about resolution, height-to-width ratio, thumbnails, pixel size requirements, ink bleed and margins, spine width… I’ve successfully designed hundreds of books for Lulu, Createspace, Lightning Source, and offset printers. Just tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen.

Take the guess work out of your cover design, before bad choices lead to lost sales. Authors are concerned with making the cover represent their story, as they envisage it. They tend to focus on tiny details and accuracy, rather than the aesthetics and the overall effect of the cover.

But a brilliant cover is like a genius headline: its only purpose is to hook interest and create an emotive response, so that people can’t resist reading the story. A book cover that fails to engage with your target readers (or even worse, attracts the wrong type of readers) can be disastrous in terms of sales and reviews.

As an indie author myself with almost a decade of self-publishing experience, I know how important your book is to you. I also know how frustrating – but also rewarding – the process can be. As a former fine artist with a background in classical oil painting, I bring a unique artistic vision and aesthetic style. As an entrepreneur with several thriving businesses, I know how little changes in design can make a big difference in sales. 

There are 3 kinds of designers…

#1 – The amateur, they’ll do what you want. It might be good, or it might not. Honestly the biggest challenge here will be YOU, because amateurs will let you take over instead of telling you what you need. Amateurs can be creative and talented, but they don’t have the business experience or confidence to tell you “that’s not going to work.”

#2 – The professional. They’ll make something clean and decent. It’ll look great, and pretty… but not terribly exciting. They’re probably cranking out covers. It’s good enough, and will avoid obvious design mistakes, but it’ll also look like everything else. TRUTH: you don’t WANT to stand out or look different, you want to fit in. But you also want to be better. You need to learn the rules so you can break them. But you don’t want to take TOO big a risk, or it won’t attract your readers. 

“The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

That leaves #3: The artisan. Someone who can tell you exactly why one cover will perform better than another, and how to use design to effortlessly attract your target audience – so your book marketing strategy is more than just “publish and hope.”

PS. I’m training a team of designers to help out with my workload, which means I may be drastically cutting costs for my cover design services in the near future (for the first time, ever). Make sure to sign up to my email list if you want to be notified when we’re open to new clients.

I don’t want to charge you money for a cover that won’t sell your book.

A great book cover alone won’t guarantee success if you’ve written a book with no market. If this is your first book, spending a lot of money to publish may not be the right move. I do my best work for authors whose books are already well reviewed and are already selling – but want a facelift or better branding; for such authors I can often double or triple sales. But if your book is unproven, I recommend you start with something cheap and simple: I built www.diybookcovers.com to help self-publishing authors get quality design at a much lower cost.

UPDATE: I worked for years as a developmental editor and recently started offering literary services… but after working with hundreds of authors, I figured out most books have basic core problems. I built a video course to help authors write, edit and publish better books – it’s SO important and I know it will help you, so this link will save you 91% (get now it for just $17),

You’re my IDEAL CLIENT if…

• You want to earn a return on your investment. Which means you’re ready to view your book as a product, and make it something other people will want to buy. That means marketing factors are more important than your opinions, every time.
• You’ll work with me on the process, but not take over. You won’t make samples in Word or Publisher of what you think your cover should look like, and expect me to follow your explicit instructions. You won’t tell me what fonts and colors to use (or at the very least, you’ll listen when I tell you it looks amateurish and homemade, and give me the freedom to choose better ones for you).
• You want a winning cover that has a solid, emotional, immediate impact. This is about the big picture, the first and only impression. You won’t fret and worry about the little details, or want to see one hundred variations while ignoring my recommendations.
• You’re not in a huge rush. While I tend to be pretty responsive and quick to make changes, we’ll get along much better if you understand designing a cover is a process.
• You’ve already published at least one book. Not a deal-breaker, but inexperienced authors often don’t know what they want and are harder to please. They are also less likely to listen to my advice or make smart cover design choices. The first book is almost always a learning process, and while I’m happy to hold your hand, be patient and walk you through the self-publishing process, being too concerned with your feelings and compromising my design standards can lead to a sub-standard cover, and I’m no longer willing to make anything less than amazing.