Ready to launch your next book but not sure how to create the picture that’s worth your 50,000-plus words? Authors looking to create professional ads and social media images have many options for creating graphics. Canva, Adobe Express, Pixlr, and Photoshop may be some of the best known, but one online design software company was built specifically for authors. Book Brush offers user-friendly tools to provide authors with quality marketing materials that are customized for a book business.
Like Canva, Book Brush provides users a selection of royalty-free stock images from Pixabay, videos, and graphics to design images to be used in ads, social media posts, and elsewhere. What sets it apart is the ability to put your cover onto a 3D book or other mockup quickly and easily. There are two hundred-plus 3D cover templates to choose from, including paperbacks, hardbacks, ereaders, and cover reveal graphics. Book Brush’s Custom Creator provides over three thousand book-specific templates, covering every genre, and one thousand fonts. You can also upload your own fonts and images.
Kathleen Sweeney, Book Brush’s customer service representative, says, "Users can also select a custom size and create anything they need."
The platform’s blog posts provide helpful tips and step-by-step instructions if you need guidance in creating marketing images, choosing font pairings, or deciding how best to use images at different phases of a book launch.
Pricing
Book Brush has a lot to offer at the free level, but they also have a thirty-day money-back guarantee and no subscription commitments, if you want to try a higher level.
- Users of the free version of the platform have access to:
- fifteen image downloads,
- 1.5 million-plus photos,
- book-specific stamps,
- two hundred-plus 3D cover templates, and
- more than three thousand book-specific templates.
Book Brush Plus, at $8.25 per month, extends these features to include unlimited image downloads, as well as:
- custom font upload,
- access to animation tools,
- priority support,
- cover creator access, and
- a reader hub page.
Book Brush offers two other paid tiers: the Gold tier, at $12.25 per month, and the Platinum tier, at $20.50 per month. Both include the same list of features as Book Brush Plus, but Gold tier members have access to an additional reader hub page, instant mockups, and box set creator tools. The instant mockup tool allows authors to put their book cover design into a realistic setting, whether that’s on a 3D book, tablet, or phone. Customizable templates let you put the virtual book into genre- and brand-specific promotional images. Similarly, the box set creator lets you build a realistic image of a box set for ebook marketing.
Platinum tier members receive the same, as well as a third reader hub page, access to Platinum Academy, access to a book trailer creator, and ten background removal credits per month. In the Platinum Academy, marketing assistant and coach Mel Jolly leads quarterly workshops on topics like Kickstarter, direct sales, TikTok, and ads.
Custom Designs and Marketing Management
Book Brush also offers custom book cover design. Authors work with a project manager to discuss expectations, their book’s genre, their target audience, and trends. After completing a questionnaire, authors then receive drafts via email with a checklist of things to consider before moving forward. The project manager acts as a go-between for you and the designer to deliver any concerns or requests you may have, "which eliminates any guilt you may feel giving your feedback directly to the designer," according to the marketing copy on their website.
A Basic Package ($497) includes:
- one high-quality ebook cover with up to three revisions (only one major revision allowed),
- professional typography accurate to your genre,
- one matching social media banner (Facebook or Twitter),
- one matching cover reveal teaser image,
- a high-resolution JPG ebook cover file, and
- one transparent title or author name file.
Stock images from Depositphotos are included in the price.
There are optional add-ons to the basic package, which include an audiobook cover for $50, a matching bookmark design for $50, and a print paperback wrap for $75. Authors can request an illustrated cover for an additional $150.
In 2023, Book Brush added graphic design and social media services. Authors can hire graphic designers through Book Brush’s Hourly Concepts for a flat monthly rate or an hourly fee. They have an extensive design menu, including Amazon A+ Content, book trailers, newsletter headers, logo design, and world-building maps. Each has estimated hours listed. Pricing is flexible, with the ability to cancel at any time, and hours purchased do not expire.
- À la carte ($35 per hour)
- Five-hour plan ($150 per month)
- Ten-hour plan ($240 per month)
- Twenty-hour plan ($399 per month)
- Thirty-hour plan ($599 per month)
Both the cover design and Hourly Concepts services have portfolios posted.
For authors who prefer to pass their social media marketing to a professional, Book Brush offers social media management at two price points: the Meta Plan for Facebook and Instagram, and the Video Plan for TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
The Meta Plan launched in 2023. It costs $597 a month and provides you with about twenty-five posts, averaging six posts per week. You get a minimum of one Reel per week. Your dedicated project manager then promises engagement for an hour a week, hashtag management, caption writing, and a monthly report. A monthly strategy call is optional.
The newer Video Plan will run you $797 per month. This plan gets you fifteen Reels created and posted, video testimonials from your readers, and professional interview/content creation. Engagement on these is the same as the Meta Plan: engagement for an hour a week, hashtag management, caption writing, and a monthly report, plus the optional strategy call.
Both plans require a six-month contract. The bundle price for both services is $1,297 a month. Clients under these contracts can purchase any of the other subscriptions for Book Brush at 50 percent off, but you may not need your own access to the Custom Creator software if you’re satisfied with the posts you receive from the marketing management plans.
Integration
Although Book Brush does not directly integrate with other author platforms, the Custom Creator contains templates set to the required dimensions and file formats for many of them. If you use Atticus to format your novel, Book Brush has compatible templates for chapter themes and ornamental breaks. Other templates allow you to create graphics for things like Amazon A+ Content, Facebook Ads, and StoryOrigin landing pages, as well as general use graphics like newsletter headers, bookmarks, and business cards. If you don’t find the template you need, the Custom Creator lets you build graphics to any dimensions you specify.
Updates
Book Brush’s newest ventures are in author education. Their Knowledge Base FAQ section and YouTube channel are "packed with bite-size tips for using the Book Brush tools," Sweeney says. There are over 450 videos and shorts on the YouTube channel at the time of writing.
In the spring, Book Brush will host their third annual BookMARCon, a three-day private virtual event focused on marketing and other author business concerns. The conference will take place April 4-6, 2025, and will be free to members on a paid plan.
Strengths and Limitations
Book Brush has added several new features in just the past year, bringing it closer than ever to being a one-stop shop for authors’ graphic design needs. Templates for cover reveals, Kindle Vella cover designs, book reviews, giveaways, and ad content are time savers. The DIY tools are user friendly, and if you get stuck, you can choose between using their help resources or hiring a pro to take over through their Hourly Concepts services.
Most of the limitations on Book Brush fall under their free plan, as Canva’s free plan offers unlimited downloads of images and additional services that are limited under Book Brush’s free tier. However, once you move into the paid plans, Book Brush has a lead on Canva Pro, which charges $15 a month or $120 a year for individuals and $10 a month or $100 per year per person for teams.
The graphics authors use, from book covers to ad images, are the face of their business. Book Brush, with its author-friendly templates and extensive help services, might be the resource you need to create the one that launches (at least) a thousand sales.
Jenn Lessmann
