Carlos Esparza

Carlos Esparza – Designer

Book cover and interior designer who has worked on hundreds of titles for a wide range of genres; including several national bestsellers.

Overview

Carlos Esparza is a graphic designer with over 15 years experience in the industry. He has designed for world-renowned artists and art museums and worked in sectors ranging from education to fine dining. Through it all he maintained a love of reading and books, finally deciding to combine these with his professional career and start designing books! He has been designing covers, jackets, and the occasional interior for publishers in New York City and beyond since 2011, working on 100s of titles so far.
He was worked in-house with 2 of the world's major publishers (Random House and Hachette Book Group), and is well versed in the full process of book production, as well as print production and printing methods.
Services
Fiction
Classics Historical Fiction Humor & Comedy Literary Fiction Short Story
Non-Fiction
Economics History Music Psychology Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Languages
English
Awards
  • LitHub—The 11 Best Book Covers of November (2021)
  • LitHub—The 13 Best Book Covers of August (2020)
  • Paste Magazine—The Best Book Covers of January (2020)

Work experience

Callisto Media

Sep, 2019 — Jul, 2022 (almost 3 years)

Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers

Feb, 2016 — Nov, 2017 (over 1 year)

Hachette Book Group

Oct, 2015 — Oct, 2018 (about 3 years)

Random House, W. W. Norton, Hachette Books, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, Coffee House Press, McGill Queen University Press, Berghahn Books,

Jun, 2012 — Present

Portfolio

A diverse collection of uncensored, confessional, and at times outrageously funny essays about coming of age, coming out, and the wildest experiences that define us.Collecting the most celebrated stories from the hit podcast RISK!, along with all-new true tale... read more
This modern manual for the meat lover reveals the best-kept secrets of the world's best breeders and butchers along with the latest culinary and scientific research on how to select, butcher, prepare, and cook every kind of meat including beef, pork, lamb, pou... read more
For anyone curious about the nuts and bolts of human ingenuity, How Things Are Made is a fascinating exploration of the process behind the manufacture of everyday items.What are bulletproof vests made of? How do manufacturers get lipstick into the tube? How ma... read more
For the curious and the creators, Ingenious Patents tells the fascinating history of the inventors and their creations that have changed our world.Discover some of the most innovative of the 6.5 million patents that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has gra... read more
A novel about a woman writing a novel about a woman who writes―Eleanor, or, The Rejection of the Progress of Love is a sexy, earthy, bracingly intelligent examination of the vicissitudes of grief, ambition, aging, information overload, compassion fatigue, and ... read more
Based on his TEDx talk "Everyday Leadership (the Lollipop Moment)"--voted one of the 15 most inspirational TED talks of all time--This Is Day One is leadership expert Drew Dudley's guide to cultivating the behaviors that will help you to succeed and empower th... read more
How does an underdog become a champion? One of the most innovative, gutsy, and dynamic head coaches in the NFL reveals the strategies behind building the Eagles team that shocked the world by winning the Super Bowl. Doug Pederson is the very definition of an u... read more
On the eve of his wedding comes the most intimate and informative portrait yet of Prince Harry, from royal expert Katie Nicholl, author of the bestselling William and Harry and Kate.From his earliest public appearances as a mischievous redheaded toddler, Princ... read more
From the creator of the sensation Postmodern Jukebox--with millions of fans globally--comes an inspirational memoir about discovering what you love and turning it into a creative movement. With student loan debt piling up and no lucrative gigs around the corne... read more
After the Winter

Guadalupe N.

Praise for Guadalupe Nettel:"Nettel offers her keen attention and sympathy to any living thing struggling to get by." ―The New York Times"Nettel has brilliantly found a form to contain the multitudes of what one body can hold." ―Nick Flynn"The gaze [Nettel] tu... read more
A charming, comprehensive, and easy-to-use guide to cleaning your home naturally and organically, resulting in a toxin-free environment for you and your family. With THE NATURAL HOME, you'll discover how to clean everything in your house the healthy way with j... read more
First published in 2007, The Nanking Atrocity remains an essential resource for understanding the massacre committed by Japanese soldiers in Nanking, China during the winter of 1937-38. Through a series of deeply considered and empirically rigorous essays, it ... read more
For statesmen, friendship is the lingua franca of politics. Considering the connections between personal and political friendship, John von Heyking’s The Form of Politics interprets the texts of Plato and Aristotle and emphasizes the role that friendship has i... read more
An eminent Canadian man of letters, scholar, naval officer and secret intelligence agent, CBC scriptwriter, musician, biographer, and translator, George Whalley (1915-1983) was also a gifted poet whose work spans five decades. Along with his major critical wor... read more
From coast to coast, hockey is played, watched, loved, and detested, but it means something different in Quebec. Although much of English Canada believes that hockey is a fanatically followed social unifier in the French-speaking province, in reality it has al... read more
Praise for Karen Tei Yamashita:"It's a stylistically wild ride, but it's smart, funny and entrancing." ―NPR"Fluid and poetic as well as terrifying." ―New York Times Book ReviewWith delightful plays of voice and structure, this is literary fiction at an adventu... read more
A hilarious illustrated collection of tips for successfully navigating the dating world as a millennial. For single millennials, this situation is all too familiar: You're on a date. It's going well! Then suddenly your date looks at you like you're a f*cking i... read more
“Weird indeed, and not a little wonderful.”―Nature In the 1980s and 1990s, in places where no one thought it possible, scientists found organisms they called extremophiles: lovers of extremes. There were bacteria in volcanic hydrothermal vents on the ocean flo... read more
“In The History of the Future, McPherson explores America in all its beauty and strangeness. He is funny and searching—a joy to read.”—Elizabeth KolbertPraise for Edward McPherson:“Mr. McPherson is an intrepid traveler. . . a charming and literate companion, a... read more
Near the end of the Second World War, new ideas about citizenship, national identity, belonging, and rights emerged as the atrocities of the war – coupled with the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – spurred writers and citizens around the wor... read more
Extravagant, absurd, and self-aware, The Revolutionaries Try Again plays out against the lost decade of Ecuador's austerity and the stymied idealism of three childhood friends—an expat, a bureaucrat, and a playwright—who are as sure about the evils of dictator... read more
Public art is on the urban agenda. Given recent claims about the importance of creativity to urban prosperity, opportunities for installing or performing art in the city have multiplied. As cities strive to appear culturally dynamic, the stakes of artistic pro... read more
"This doll's eye view is a total delight and surveys a world awash with shadowy wit and exquisite collisions of beauty and the grotesque." —Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird"Down to its most particular details, The Doll's Alphabet creates an individual ... read more
Using various (and completely subjective) criteria including lifetime statistics, personal and professional contributions to the game at large, sportsmanship, character, popularity with the fans, and more, sports writer Derek Gentile ranks the best players of ... read more
There has never been a team like the New York Yankees. No team has won as many World Series titles. No team has hit as many home runs. No team has had as many great superstars playing for them: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Ford, Rivera, and Jeter to ... read more
This illustrated, first of its kind collection of excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt's newspaper columns, radio talks, speeches, and correspondence speaks directly to the challenges we face today.Acclaimed for her roles in politics and diplomacy, first lady Elean... read more
From the best-selling author of Skyscrapers comes the much-anticipated revised edition of her magnificent chronological tour of the world's most significant and eye-popping spans, now in color and bigger than ever. This visual history of the world''s landmark ... read more

Carlos has 1 review

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Erika S.

Erika S.

Dec, 2018

Such a fantastic experience working with Carlos. His creativity, attention to detail, timely communications, professionalism, and experience shine through in every aspect of the process and the product he provides. I cannot imagine working with anyone else on the design of future novels. Highly recommend!