Book Cover Costs

[Dresdenus Prime]

Anyone know what the average price would be for a custom book cover by a graphic artist?

I did some investigating last night and found one person who would do it for $30 and hour, roughly taking 2-4 hours to complete the work. So at most the price would be $120. Is that a reasonable price?

Thanks!

[trboturtle]

I've seen quotes for anywhere between $200-$300, some higher than that. You have to make sure there's enough room for everything else (title, your name, any taglines) on the cover.

Craig

[Wordmaker]

$120 sounds like a good price for a freelancer. I'd be surprised if you found anyone willing to do it for less.

[Shecky]

In fact, that's really low for a professional artist; it's on the low end of a day's wages for regularly-employed people.

[Dresdenus Prime]

Thanks for the input guys. I did some research and found that covers can be pretty expensive if you want a good one. Heck I even saw some expensive covers that weren't good!

It's a pretty important part of the book though, seeing as how it's the first thing people will see.