Zoe Norvell
Book Cover Designer / Book Interior Designer / Founder of INABC and INABI
Washington DC, Washington
www.zoenorvell.com
www.ineedabookcover.com
www.ineedabookinterior.com
instagram @zoenorvell
Q What do you do?
“I design book covers and book interiors for major publishing houses and small presses across the US, Canada, and the UK.”
I specifically design books of the adult trade genres (adult, meaning not children’s nor YA books). I most enjoy designing book covers for genres such as memoirs, essay/story collections, poetry books, nonfiction books, and works of 'weird' fiction. When it comes to book interiors, I do any kind.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
Against the advice of my professors at the Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY), I focused my entire senior design thesis on book covers. I was warned that having a portfolio that was too narrow would limit my job opportunities–but I knew exactly what I wanted to do so I stuck to my guns. That same year, I had an internship with an established cover designer, so I knew that it was indeed possible to have a thriving career as a designer in the publishing world.
Upon graduation, I was offered a job as a Junior Designer in the Atria art department at Simon & Schuster. After 2 years at S&S, I moved over to the art department at Penguin (before it became Penguin RandomHouse). In 2015, after a couple of years at Penguin, I left to pursue a career as a freelancer.
In 2022, I created a website called I Need a Book Interior (.com) as an aid to my typesetting clients. In 2023, I launched a sister site called I Need a Book Cover (.com) which serves as a searchable directory of the industry’s top talent as well as an archive of incredible, contemporary book cover designs.
Since entering the industry in 2011, I have designed over 900 book covers to date.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
A lot of my clients come knocking when they want an “all-type cover,” which works great for me because I love creating dynamic, poster-like book covers using big, bold, typography. Hand-lettering, too.
Q What are you working on right now?
Right now I’m working on a memoir written by an American, female, sex worker. Her manuscript is amazing so the pressure is ON for me to create a cover that I believe is worthy of her writing and of her story. The brief specifically asked for something “simple without being boring–a tall order!” It's still in progress.
Q What’s your style?
I don’t have a specific design style and it’s taken me a while to both admit and be proud of that. Every book I’ve worked on is different from the next, and each jacket I design reflects those differences.
My personal taste is for book covers that “don’t look like book covers.” I can’t always get away with designs like that, but a good example would be the cover of 'You Will Love What You Have Killed,' a book of dark humor about teens revolting against and killing the adults in their small town. I love how odd and disjointed this cover is.
ineedabookcover.com/book-covers
biblioasis.com/shop
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I’d like to improve my still life photography skills. Sometimes I have a certain idea for a cover and would prefer to execute the idea myself, exactly the way I want…but I feel limited by my photography skills and must resort to using stock imagery instead. If I had more time, I would learn to do tabletop photography like a pro.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I recently hired someone to help me tag book covers on the INABC site. The thing about that website is that the task of adding covers is never ending! So she's been a big help.
If I could hire someone else for $20/hour, I would ask them to track down all of my unpaid invoices. If every open invoice was paid tomorrow, I could go out and buy myself a brand new car.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
Back in 2015 when I was still working in-house, I wish I could have told myself how important it is to get enough sleep. I knew it at the time, and yet, I wasn’t getting enough of it. I was young and juggling too much and the lack of sleep took a real toll on my job performance and my day-to-day happiness.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I would love to speak with someone who’s been designing covers twice as long as me for some insight on how to continuously grow as a designer and stay fresh. I also wouldn’t mind having my very own Adobe Illustrator tutor.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I’m looking for small presses who want to outsource their typesetting work completely.
I'm looking for self-publishing authors who find the process of transitioning their manuscript from a WordDoc to a printed book overwhelming--that's where I come in!
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My ideal client for a book interior is a small press who publishes dozens of books each season. They work with a printer and have an established editing process, they're only looking to outsource the typesetting. My best small press clients return to me with new books each season which allows us to develop a rhythm and leaves very little room for error.
Q What is your rate?
My rates for interior design/typesetting are based on a manuscript’s word count. I offer 3 different packages ($500, $1,000, $2,000) which increase according to the length of a book. These packages are outlined in detail on my INABI website.
My rates for cover designs start at $1,500 and increase depending on a, the size of the client and print run; b, the number of unique designs expected in the first round; and c, the complexity of the client’s vision.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
For interior work, email me at info@ineedabookinterior.com. I am always accepting interior work.
For cover work, email me at zoenorvell@gmail.com. In order to figure out if I’m a good fit for a cover, I need a brief summary of the work, the client’s timeline and budget, the stock imagery budget, and, cover comps (at least 5 book covers or graphics that exemplify the look and feel we’re going for). The cover comps are key. I have sent clients elsewhere if they send me comps that look nothing like the work I typically do.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
I have way too many people to recommend in my industry–that’s why I created the I Need a Book Cover website! So I could easily share these names (ineedabookcover.com/designers) anytime someone asked me for a referral.
Specifically, though, I would recommend Luisa Dias out of Portugal. She’s fully freelance at the moment, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she landed herself an in-house position sometime soon. I would also recommend Dominique Jones, a Designer at Dutton and the Founder of Blk + Brwn Book Designers. Lastly, Amanda Hudson, over at Faceout Books. Her work is fresh and unique.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Paint-by-numbers is my respite.
This member profile was originally published in September 2023