Design Policies
Timeline – Once the design or formatting process starts, jobs must be completed within 180 days. Please do not schedule cover design or formatting unless you are ready to finish all files within 180 days. Projects that take longer than this are subject to additional fees or cancelations without a refund.
Cover Design Process – Clients receive one cover draft at the end of their scheduled month. Clients are asked to give constructive feedback on the cover in order to create a final cover that the client is happy with.
Refunds – A lot of time and energy goes into designing each book cover, and therefore I cannot offer refunds on any deposits that are made. Refunds are also not granted under the following circumstances:
- You decide you no longer want to publish your book.
- You decide to cancel your design 30 days or less before your scheduled design slot.
- You cancel your design before you receive your design drafts.
Formatting and other services are also not eligible for refunds.
Scheduling Your Design – I am only able to reserve cover design slots for clients who have paid their 50% deposit. Formatting and other design services need to be paid in full. Do not consider yourself scheduled until I receive your deposit or full payment.
Re-Scheduling – If you need to reschedule your design slot, you must do so 30 days before your original scheduled design slot. You are only allowed to reschedule your design once. After that, you are subject to cancelation without a refund.
Cancelations – If you choose to cancel your design before you receive cover drafts, you forfeit your deposit.
Pausing Your Design – If at any point you’d like to put a pause on the design process, you may do so, but you are required to pay the remaining balance on your cover design fee. If you pause your design process and don’t pay your balance, I cannot work on your design again until your balance is paid. Do not pause your refund for more than 180 days.
Receiving Finished Files – During the design process, you will be sent drafts over email. Finished designs will be sent to you in a DropBox folder. You will be sent this folder after you have paid the remaining balance on your invoice. At this time, raw files such as Photoshop or Illustrator files are not available.
What Comes With Your Design? – Design packages are made clear on the main cover design and formatting page. You are subject to additional fees if you require material that is not included in your package.
Not Included – Please note that while I create YouTube videos on how to publish books, my job is as a designer, not a publishing coach. I am happy to occasionally answer questions you have about the publishing process, but I cannot walk you through everything. There is just not enough time or energy to do so. If you’d like publishing advice, please check out my YouTube channel where I cover a wide variety of topics.
Communication – All communication is done via email. I do not do phone calls, video chats, text messages, or voice memos. Email only.
Rush Fee – Clients receive draft versions of their designs at the end of the month they are scheduled for. To receive designs sooner than this, clients are subject to a rush fee, which is decided on a case-by-case scenario.
Payment – All payments are made securely via PayPal invoices.
Rights to Design – Clients do not own their designs until their invoice has been paid in full.
By paying for the design, you retain all rights to the design in accordance with the Standard Image Licenses purchased by Stone Ridge Books LLC from Depositphotos and Shutterstock. You do not need consent or permission to use the design as described above in the Standard Image License.
Stone Ridge Books LLC retains the right to display the design in their portfolio and to use it for marketing purposes only after the design has been revealed to the public by the client.
Stone Ridge Books LLC is not obligated to promote the design.
You have the right but are not obligated to use the design.
You also have the right to hire another designer for future books in the series.
Standard Image License – Further information regarding Standard Image Licenses and their terms can be found at https://depositphotos.com/license.html and https://www.shutterstock.com/license