The cover problem
Reviewers love the prose. Amazon's preview thumbnail kills the click.
The cover came from a 99designs contest. Six designers, three rounds, an okay-looking cover that already feels dated. The audiobook square has the cover stretched. The Amazon ad creative is the cover with text slapped on top. The Instagram launch grid is the cover, eight times, with quotes. Your sales rank is mid because the thumbnail in search doesn't pull.
You don't have a designer on retainer. The boutique cover designer charges $1.5–4k per cover and weeks of back-and-forth. The covers you see on the bestseller list are doing something yours isn't, and you can't tell what.
Pick an artist. Their voice carries the cover, the audiobook, the ad creative, the OG, and the social rollout. One direction, every place the book shows up online.
Why it fits authors
Built for the launch and the long tail, not just the cover.
Cover, audiobook, ads — one voice
Front cover, spine, back cover, audiobook square, ad creative, social rollout, OG card. Same artist's voice across every surface readers encounter the book.
Built for ad-driven launches
Indie authors live and die by Amazon Ads, Facebook Ads, BookBub features. Fresh ad creative every week, in the cover's voice. The AB-test cycle stops being a Canva session.
Book 2 inherits Book 1's brand
Same artist for the next book. Series consistency without re-briefing. Backlist covers that match. Reads as one author's body of work.
Doesn't look like a stock cover
Artist-driven, not template-driven. Reads as a designed cover, not a 99designs middle-of-the-road. Genre-true without being generic.
From manuscript to launch
From a 99designs cover to a designed launch.
Tell us about the book
Open @slop. Genre, comp titles (three books in your sub-genre whose covers you'd kill for), the audience. The blurb if you have it. A paragraph works.
Pitches come back
Within a day, 4–8 artists pitch cover concepts. Pick the voice — that's the artist holding the launch.
Cover ships first
The chosen artist ships front, spine, back at every spec. KDP paperback, hardcover dust jacket, ebook. Audiobook square if briefed.
Launch surface follows
Ad creative for Amazon and Facebook (multiple variants for AB-testing), OG, social rollout. Same voice across the funnel.
Long tail shipped
Weekly fresh ad creative, social pushes for milestones (1k sales, BookBub feature, awards), sequel pre-order graphics. The launch becomes a year.
Project shapes
From cover-only to a launch surface.
Some authors need just the cover. Some want the artist running the launch. The brief flexes.
Front, spine, back
Print and ebook cover at every spec — KDP paperback, hardcover dust jacket, ebook square. Same artist's voice across all formats.
Print, ebook, audio square
Cover plus the audiobook square at Audible/ACX spec. Same voice, ready for distribution.
Cover + ads + social
The full launch surface. Cover, audiobook, ad creative for Amazon and Facebook, OG, social rollout. One direction across all of it.
Multi-book voice lock
Series with consistent cover treatment across books 1-N. Same artist holds the series voice; only the title and central image change.
Same artist across the launch year
Cover lands. Then weekly fresh ad creative, monthly social pushes, audiobook art, sequel pre-orders. Voice consistent across 12+ months.
The math for indie authors
What a cover costs. What a launch costs.
| Approach | Typical cost | Time per release | Coherence across the launch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boutique cover designer | $1.5k–$4k per cover | 4–8 weeks | Excellent cover — but doesn't ship ad creative or rollout |
| 99designs contest | $300–$1.5k | 1–3 weeks | Middle-of-the-road; you pick from many drafts |
| DIY (Canva, Bookbrush) | $15–$30 / month | Hours per asset | Looks like Canva — and Amazon thumbnails punish it |
| OKSLOP brief + retainer | Subscription — see plans | Days for cover, minutes per ad | Locked to one artist across cover, audiobook, ads, social |
Costs are rough market ranges, not quotes. A subscription covers cover, audiobook, ad creative, social, and the retained artist from one credit pool. See plans.
What ships per book
Every surface readers see. Same voice.
Print & ebook cover
Front, spine, back at every spec — KDP paperback, hardcover dust jacket, ebook square. Print-ready and high-res for Amazon thumbnails.
Audiobook art
ACX/Audible-spec square. Same voice as the cover, formatted for the audio listing.
Ad creative (Amazon, Facebook, BookBub)
Multiple variants per ad campaign for AB-testing. Cover with text overlays, lifestyle backgrounds, comp-title positioning. Fresh creative on the ad cycle.
Author website hero & OG
Site hero, OG card, banner for the about-the-book page. The marketing surface around the listing.
Social rollout
Launch-day post, quote cards, behind-the-scenes graphics, BookTok-friendly variants. Coordinated across Instagram, TikTok, X.
Newsletter & email rollout
Pre-order announce, launch-day broadcast, milestone updates. Same voice as the cover so the email feels like the same brand as the book.
Distribution considerations
Yours to publish. Yours to advertise.
- Full commercial license — KDP, IngramSpark, Audible, Amazon Ads, BookBub, social.
- No per-copy royalties, no revenue share, no surprise clauses.
- Privacy tier available — keep unreleased manuscripts and series materials off the public catalog.
- Credit pool covers cover, ads, social, audiobook, and the retained artist — one subscription, the launch and the long tail.
Author FAQ
Questions indie authors actually ask.
For illustrated children's books
Picture books and early readers need full interior illustration. Different workflow, same artist consistency.
See children's book kickoffFor comics and graphic novels
Sequential art with panel-by-panel storytelling. Same artist holds 22+ pages of interior art.
See comic book kickoffPlans & pricing
One subscription covers cover, ads, social, audiobook, and the retained artist. See what plan fits a launch.
See plansLet's get to work on the launch.
Tell us about the book. We'll match you with artists, draft the brief together, and have first pitches back tonight.