Hi. I’m Kami, and I do interior and cover design for print books.
I became interested in graphic design after I had a couple of short stories published in magazines.
I know that sounds odd, but bear with me.
Those publishing credits gave me the crazy idea that I might have enough writing skill that people would prefer to read my work rather than gouge their eyes out.
Thus began my journey to self-publish. Like many indie authors, I got into the business of designing book interiors and exteriors because I couldn’t afford to hire a cover artist or book designer. That turned out to be a big mistake.
My early attempts at covers were atrocious. Some of them still exist on the web. Feel free to find them and mock them. I just cringe and try to pretend that no one sees those covers anymore. And really, even legacy published books have bad covers, dated covers, and covers that make you wonder what exactly is inside the book because you can’t even find a title. This is why all publishers update book covers for books that have remained in print a long time. Fashions change. And sometimes a book cover never worked for the book in the first place.
I probably should have quit, but instead I got ‘serious’ and started studying graphic design. It took a lot of work, lots of feedback, lots of practice and study and all the things that it takes to learn any skill. Fortunately I studied art, and so I had somewhat of a foundation to work from.
I have clients now. They’re happy. And when they’re happy, I’m happy.
If you have questions, comments, or you’d like to accomplish something book-related and would like some free advice, I’m here for you. I ask that you please look over the website or Google before you email me for free advice, in case your question can be easily answered by a faq or wikipedia. It’ll be faster and easier for both of us that way. But not everything can be answered by the interwebs. Sometimes you just need a person to chat with. I’m willing to be that person.
If working with InDesign or Word on a level that most people don’t like to think about makes you squeamish …
If Photoshop gives you hives or GIMP makes your head hurt …
If you hate formatting ebooks and want someone else to deal with it …
If you need a book cover and your experience with art and design amount to drawing stick figures with swords poking out of their chests …
I’ll be happy to discuss my style and rates with you. I charge by the hour, which is unusual for the book design world but it’s been working well for me and my clients. Most work comes in under $500 for a print book cover and interior, depending on things like whether or not you have bulleted lists, sidebars, footnotes or other time-consuming elements that require lots of time. I can help you reduce costs by instructing you on how to format your work to save on labor when you work with me. I will be happy to crop an ebook cover from the print cover free of charge. I don’t generally do ebook formatting. My specialty is print.
About style: I may not be your gal. If I can’t help, chances are I know someone who can do a great job for you. References on request.
I also have some great friends in the book business that might help you with your project. For example, I don’t copy edit, but I know a fantastic copy editor that I trust absolutely. So feel free to use the contact form with anything book-related. And check out my website. It’s always growing, because I’m always learning.
Thanks for reading, and I hope I’ll hear from some of you soon.