I posted the job of book cover design on Upwork and 9+ people responded. One designer offered to do it for $5 in exchange to write him a recommendation afterwards. He calmed he has done many book covers yet new to Upwork so he wants to “fast-track” establishing himself. The cost is tempting and I’m happy to give a recommendation for good works yet I’d not like a promise before seeing the work. Another designer, Joe wrote that he was very interested in this project because he hasn’t done book design. He said he has 14 years’ experience and showed his website of mostly T-shirt designs. Well, how hard can a book cover design be? Especially I envisioned a simple cover for “UncoverSpecial” that is bright and hopeful, no image but typography.
I hired Peter to design my book cover. He and I both thought it’d be a quick project,
maybe an hour work and it’d be plenty of time to complete in a week. Yet it took 3 weeks, more than 15 tweaks, mostly/ simply on the title and description font, layout, and proportion.
Would it be faster if I hired a more experienced book cover designer? Perhaps; Could it reduce a few rounds of back ‘n forth if details were followed? Likely; Yet throughout the course, Peter was calm and responsive. He apologized that it took longer and never argued the originally agreed flat rate (now seemed underpriced). He was so grateful that I asked how he and family were after reading the super storm hit his country.
In the end, we created a book cover that we both were proud of and a friendship forward. I thank Peter and gave a bonus that made the final price more than three times of the original agreement, not only to make the compensation fair to the efforts but also recognize his positive attitude. Even better, from now on, Peter could confidently include book cover design in his portfolio/ experience. 🙂
Note: name changed to protect the person’s privacy.