Quick answer
Before paying for a book cover, check ten things: the licence terms, exclusivity, the exact file set, print readiness, personalisation scope, the revision policy, the AI question, image sourcing, refund terms, and whether the price is published. Any seller who cannot answer all ten in writing is telling you something.
Buying a cover is a small purchase with long consequences: the file you pay for today is the face of your book for years. The checklist below is the gate we would want a buyer to run on any seller, including us. It works on a marketplace listing and a $350 custom commission alike. If you are still deciding between the two routes, read our premade versus custom guide first, then come back with your shortlist. For a catalogue-shopping workflow before this pre-payment check, use our six-step guide to book covers for sale.
Prices in this article are our live ladder as of this update. Premade ebook covers run $24.99 (AI-assisted, labelled) or $49.99 (designer-created); print tiers go to $149.99. Both covers shown were in stock at this update, and every design in our catalogue sells once, then retires.
1. What licence are you actually buying?
Most cover purchases are a licence, not a copyright transfer. That is normal and fine, but the wording matters. You want, in writing: commercial use, unlimited print runs, no royalty owed to the designer, and permission to use the artwork in your marketing (ads, social posts, your website). If a listing says “personal use” anywhere, walk away; a published book is a commercial product. Ask for the licence text before you pay, not after.
2. Will this design be sold again?
Exclusivity is the single biggest difference between sellers, and the least visible one on a product page. Marketplaces aggregate independent designers, so the marketplace name alone does not tell you whether a specific listing retires after sale; read that seller’s terms. Ask the question in exactly these words: “after I buy this, can anyone else buy it?” A serious shop answers in one sentence. Ours is: every cover is sold once, then retired from the catalogue.
When Thrones Burn
When Thrones Burn, from our epic fantasy shelf: a single burning crown against a black field, orange title capitals picking up the flame colour. Designer-created at $49.99 for the ebook cover. When it sells, the listing comes down and no other fantasy novel will wear it. That retirement is what the exclusivity question buys you.
3. Which files arrive, exactly?
A finished cover is a set of files, not one image. The minimum for an ebook release is a high-resolution JPG at Amazon’s recommended 1600 x 2560 pixels. Ask what you get beyond that: a print-ready PDF if you paid for print, a 3D mockup for promotion, and the dimensions of each file. Also ask whether layered source files are available and at what price; most shops (ours included) deliver flattened finals by default. The point is not to demand everything. It is to know what you are holding before you upload it anywhere.
4. Is the print version a real wrap?
A front image scaled up is not a paperback cover. Print needs a full wrap: back cover, spine sized to your exact page count and paper stock, front cover, bleed, all built on your printer’s template. If a seller offers “print” without asking for your trim size and page count, they are selling you a front image. The maths behind spine width lives in our book cover size guide; read it once and you will never be caught by this again. Our paperback tiers ($59.99 AI-assisted, $99.99 designer-created) include the wrap built to your specs.
5. What personalisation is included in the price?
Every premade needs at least a title and author name swap. Confirm that is included, then confirm the edges: subtitle, series line, a tagline, a back-cover blurb for print. Some sellers charge per text change; some include one pass and bill the rest. Neither policy is wrong, but you want the number before you pay, not on the invoice.
6. How many revisions, and what counts as one?
Premades usually include minor adjustments after the name swap: nudging title size, tweaking placement. Ask how many rounds are included and what counts as a round. On custom work this question matters even more, because “revision” can mean anything from a font change to a new concept. A seller with a clear revision policy has had this conversation before. That is what you are paying for.
7. Was AI used, and does the listing say so?
You are entitled to a straight answer here. Ask whether AI was used anywhere in the artwork and whether the shop labels it. We publish the answer on every product: our catalogue carries a separately labelled AI-assisted tier, priced lower ($24.99 ebook against $49.99 for designer-created), because the two are different products and honest pricing should say so. A shop that uses AI and prices it as hand-made work is answering your other nine questions dishonestly too.
Crown of Shadows
Crown of Shadows, from the fantasy shelf: a spike-crowned armoured figure lit from the front against near-black, gold serif title underneath. This one is AI-assisted, labelled as such on the listing, and priced at $24.99 for the ebook tier. The label is the point: you know what you are buying and the price reflects it.
8. Where did the imagery come from?
Premades are usually built from licensed stock, custom photography, or original illustration. A quick reverse image search on the cover art costs you two minutes and tells you a lot: if the exact composite appears on other books, keep scrolling. Finding the underlying stock photo elsewhere is normal (stock is stock); finding the finished cover elsewhere is not. Ask the seller whether the stock licences extend to you as the end user, and get a yes in writing.
9. What are the refund terms on a digital file?
Digital goods are commonly non-refundable once delivered, and that is defensible: a file cannot be returned. What you are checking is the failure path before delivery. If the seller cannot personalise the cover as promised, or the print wrap fails your printer’s preflight, what happens? A reasonable answer is free correction until the file passes. No answer at all is your cue to leave.
10. Is the price published, and does it move?
A published price list is a small integrity test. Permanent “70% off” countdown timers tell you the sticker price was fiction. Compare quotes against a real market baseline: our cover design cost guide maps the whole market from template DIY to agency custom. Our own ladder, for calibration:
| Tier | Ebook | Ebook + paperback wrap | Ebook + paperback + hardback |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-assisted premade (labelled) | $24.99 | $59.99 | $99.99 |
| Designer-created premade | $49.99 | $99.99 | $149.99 |
| Custom design | $120 | $250 | $350 |
No sale prices, ever. Current premades on the largest specialist marketplace commonly run about $45 to $170; cheaper is not wrong, but run checks 1 to 9 twice as hard at the bottom of the market.
Run the checklist on us
We wrote this gate because we pass it, and most of the sellers we compete with pass most of it too; the market is not a minefield, it is just uneven. Browse the romance shelf (279 covers in stock at this update) or any other genre and put the questions to any listing you like. If nothing premade fits the book you actually wrote, custom design starts at $120 and the same ten answers apply.
FAQ
1,619 premade covers in stock, each sold once, then retired. Ebook covers from $24.99, full print coverage to $149.99, custom design from $120.
Five things cover most of the risk: the licence wording (commercial use, marketing rights), whether the design is retired after sale or resold, the exact file set and dimensions, whether print means a full wrap built to your page count, and what personalisation is included in the price. Get each answer in writing.
Usually no, and that is standard. The designer keeps copyright and grants you a licence covering commercial use, print runs, and marketing. What matters in practice is exclusivity: whether the design can be sold to another author after you. Ask for both the licence text and the exclusivity policy before paying.
Premade prices vary widely; current listings on the largest specialist marketplace commonly sit around $45 to $170. Ours are $24.99 (AI-assisted, labelled) to $49.99 (designer-created) for ebook, up to $149.99 with full print coverage. Custom design runs $120 to $350 here and into four figures at agencies. Pay for the checks, not the sticker.
Yes, if the seller builds a real print wrap: back cover, spine sized to your page count and paper, front, and bleed on your printer’s template. A front image alone cannot be printed as a paperback. Confirm the seller asks for trim size and page count; that question is the tell.