99 Designs for Book Covers - How to Get The Most Out of Your Order

About this video

Sean explains how he got 276 designs from a single 99designs order using the cheapest package. He argues self-publishers should stop using $5–$10 Fiverr covers and instead spend at least $100–$200 per book cover across formats, because people judge a book by its cover. His method: choose the ebook-only design option for $199 rather than paying an extra $100 for the physical book version, pick the bronze (cheapest) package, fill out the brief in as much detail as possible, and select the ‘guaranteed’ option so designers see a commitment to pay and choose a winner. During the contest, he says to rate and comment on every submitted design so designers revise, and to invite new designers daily — he notes you get 50 invites per day and that he copy-pasted the same generic invite message 50 times a day, which is how submissions climbed to 276. After picking a winner, he negotiates cheap paperback and ACX conversions with the designer, or uses a Fiverr gig he names, Arcade Design, at $5 per conversion ($10 total for both formats). He also advises messaging a favorite designer afterward to work one-on-one at cheaper rates for future books.

Key takeaways

• Sean says he got 276 designs from one 99designs order by using only the cheapest bronze package with the guaranteed option
• Buy the ebook-only option for $199 and skip the extra $100 physical-book add-on
• Budget at least $100–$200 per cover instead of $5–$10 Fiverr covers, because the cover drives sales
• Rate and comment on every design, and send the maximum 50 designer invites per day using a copy-pasted message to flood the contest with entries
• Get paperback and ACX versions converted afterward for about $5 each, and hire a favorite contest designer one-on-one for cheaper future work

Episode details: published August 2, 2021 · 8:21 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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