Terms and Conditions

The client acknowledges they have obtained all rights and permissions to publish materials used in the project and shall be solely responsible for the materials and the validity of copyrights, trademarks and ownership claimed by the client. Client agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and defend Artful Cover and its employees from any and all libel and copyright and permission infringement action resulting from materials client provides. The book material client provides must not be a public domain work (unless client is the original author).

All client information and materials are considered confidential and only for use by Artful Cover to provide a quote or complete a project. Client information and project materials will not be given out or shared with any third party, unless otherwise requested by the client.

Artful Cover retains the right to use client’s name and book title on the Artful Cover website and to market and promote our services.

Artful Cover does not liaise or negotiate with third parties (such as printers, publishers, or editors) on our clients’ behalf, and ask that clients do not provide our details or email addresses to any third parties without our request or permission.

Upon receipt of full payment, Artful Cover grants the client exclusive license to use the final cover design artwork (PDF, JPEG or other publishing-ready format) for their book and/or e-book cover and associated promotional materials. Raw layered files or blank files (graphic images without text) will not be provided under any circumstances.

The client understands that they have no right to alter the final cover design in any way except to change size for printing or digital display. If the client desires any alterations, they will consult Artful Cover. The client understands that additional payments may be required to make these alterations.

The client agrees to abide by the terms of any license agreement for any images purchased by Artful Cover through a third-party image provider for use in client’s book cover design. Images used for client’s cover are royalty-free; however, the photographer owns the copyright to those images and they cannot be distributed in any manner other than in the book cover design.

Artful Cover retains the right to use client’s final book cover design, name, and book title in our portfolio and to market and promote our services. Artful Cover retains copyright and ownership of all design and draft materials.

If the client supplies Artful Cover with materials subject to intellectual property rights by a third-party, the client will secure the appropriate rights to use the materials and provide proof of rights before directing the designer to incorporate them into their project. Signed releases for any models depicted may also be required. Should any intellectual property dispute arise involving materials the client provides, the client assumes full legal and financial responsibility.

Design credit to appear in client’s book (on back cover and/or copyright page) as:
Book cover design by Mich Fisher of Artful Cover

By submitting a completed order inquiry form, the client agrees to Artful Cover’s Terms and Conditions.

Client will supply all assets, information, materials, and payments—and provide feedback and approvals necessary to complete the project—in a timely manner and in formats requested by Artful Cover.

Client is fully responsible for proofing the book cover design provided by Artful Cover. It is strongly suggested that client requests a proof from the printer before publishing or ordering any copies of the book. At no time will Artful Cover be held financially or legally responsible for any problems, costs, fees or expenses incurred by client as a result of using the book cover design.

For print cover orders, the client must provide an actual size template from their printer or publisher for Artful Cover to produce the print-ready file. Though Artful Cover may produce such templates by client’s request with client-provided printer/publisher specifications, they will do so only with prior agreement, and an additional charge may apply.

When ordering a print cover, client agrees to supply an ISBN bar code to be placed on the back cover, if needed.

The client agrees to abide by the terms of any license agreement for any images purchased by Artful Cover through a third-party image provider for use in client’s book cover design. Images used for client’s cover are royalty-free; however, standard license agreements may cover only limited print runs, with extended licensing required for greater numbers of print reproduction and distribution. Fees associated with these extended licenses are the sole responsibility of the client. Applicable license agreement(s) will be provided by Artful Cover upon delivery of project assets.

Artful Cover is not liable for incidental, indirect, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind, including loss of revenues or profits, loss of business or reputation, or loss of data, in any way related to our services. Artful Cover is not responsible for any claim, loss, or injury based on errors or any other inaccuracies appearing on our site or in our clients’ written documents, including without limitation as a result of any breach of the terms and conditions of this agreement.

Client agrees to pay a non-refundable initial deposit of half the total cost of the project at booking to hold a scheduled time slot in Artful Cover’s project calendar. Deposits are taken on a first-come, first-served basis and project slots scheduled at the discretion of Artful Cover.

The remaining balance of project fees is due upon approval of the final design. Artful Cover will not release finished files to the client or other parties until final payment has been received. The final payment is also final approval of the project, and this contract will be considered fulfilled and thus, terminated.

Payment is due within 7 days of an invoice being sent. Deposit or premade cover payment invoices not paid within 7 days will result in loss of reserved time slot or premade cover design. Final payments not made within 7 days of balance invoice without prior agreement from Artful Cover will incur a 10% late fee for each week payment has not been received. Invoices not paid within 30 days without prior agreement from Artful Cover will result in suspension of the project and loss of any deposit fees paid.

Artful Cover retains the right to discontinue, withhold, or suspend services for any account should payments not be paid for a contracted job as specified in this agreement.

Premade book cover designs are held (pending completion) and sold on a first-come, first-served basis and will never be resold. All sales are considered final at payment and will not be refunded.

Upon the client’s submitted order inquiry, Artful Cover will consider the premade book cover design held for the client under a good-faith promise to provide feedback and approval for completed work within a reasonable time-frame and payment for that design with any requested adds and edits to the existing layout. By submitting a completed order inquiry, the client agrees to pay the resulting project invoice in full within 7 days of issue or risk forfeiting the design to the next interested inquiry.

Whether the client’s requested image manipulation and retouching work are included in a design package is determined at the discretion of Artful Cover. Advanced image manipulation and retouching services are available to all Artful Cover clients at a reduced per-hour rate.

Artful Cover endeavors to never limit revisions on book cover design projects; however, reasonable limits will be enforced. The schedule of revisions is based upon the budget of the selected package or product and will be determined at the discretion of Artful Cover.

Should the client exceed reasonable revisions for the budget range of their contracted project, Artful Cover will provide ample advance notice and a guideline of allowable edits under the original quoted project cost, as well as a firm rate for any desired additional work.

Rush orders will be accepted based on current workflow, and additional project fees will apply. Rush fees will be applied at the discretion of Artful Cover and determined by the urgency of the desired turnaround time as follows: one week $250, two weeks $200, three weeks $150, and one month $100.

The client or Artful Cover may cancel this agreement at any time by providing written notice to the other party. If either the client or Artful Cover cancels a project before work has started, neither the client nor Artful Cover is under further obligation to the other, and this contract will be considered cancelled.

If the client should stop or cancel a project once it has started, the client agrees to forfeit the 50% non-refundable deposit. The client will have no rights to any mockups or design concepts sent to the client and agrees to destroy them.

If Artful Cover doesn’t send promised files by the agreed date, the client is entitled to cancel the project and will be refunded the 50% deposit. The client will have no rights to any mockups or design concepts sent to the client and agrees to destroy them.

We take pride in our craft, and will not put our names on work we are not proud to have created, so sincerely request that our clients trust us to do the job they’re paying us to do. We ask that clients take on board suggestions and ideas to be in their best interests. We expect our clients to extend professional consideration as independent creators and collaborators, not employees; therefore, any form of micro-managing, abusive or demeaning communications, or forced art direction during the development of the project will not be tolerated.

We reserve the right to suspend any project if a client: interferes with excessive micromanaging, demonstrates a continued lack of trust and inability to move forward after showing more than a reasonable number of unique book cover concepts, behaves or communicates to or about Artful Cover in an abusive or demeaning manner, and/or shows reluctance in paying the final payment.

Notice will be given with ample opportunity to remedy the situation before Artful Cover will resort to project suspension or termination. Any suspension or termination will not result in any refunds, and all designs, concepts, and work developed remain under the full ownership of Artful Cover. Client will forfeit any rights to share/use the works created in any phase of the development and agrees to destroy any provided drafts/files.

This agreement is the entire agreement of all parties. No additional promises or conditions, written or oral, apply to this agreement that are not included herein.

Modification of any provisions of this agreement is not valid and enforceable unless confirmed in writing and signed by all parties either in hardcopy or by e‐signature. Neither party is permitted to assign its rights, duties, or obligations under this agreement to any other party without prior written consent from the other party.

The finding of any provision of this agreement to be invalid or unenforceable does not render the remaining provisions invalid or unenforceable.