Lindsey Cleworth

Lindsey Cleworth - Designer

Chicago, IL, USA

Cover designer, illustrator, editor, and longtime publishing pro

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Overview

I'm a book cover designer and illustrator who has been in the book biz in various roles for a decade. With years of experience working in house at real book publishers, I deliver covers and art that look anything but self-published. My services include:
- Book cover design
- Illustration

I understand the constraints of book budgets, so I like to be up front about my rates.
- Book cover designs are $500-$1,500
- Interior illustrations are $75-$500

I pride myself on being responsive and easy to work with. My goal is for you to love your book cover or illustrations, and I will work hard to ensure that you do.

Be sure to check out my portfolio at to ensure that my work fits your desired aesthetic.
Languages
English
Non-Fiction
Art
Biographies & Memoirs
Children’s Non-Fiction
Entertainment
Fiction
Humor & Comedy
Literary Fiction
Mystery & Crime
Women's Fiction

Work experience

Book designer and illustrator

Self-employed
August, 2018 – Present (over 4 years)

Designer / illustrator

Chicago Review Press
August, 2015 – March, 2019 (over 3 years)

Design and illustrate book covers, web and print ads, and other marketing materials. Illustrate kids’ activity book interiors. Create publisher branding guides. Preflight files for printer.

Portfolio (22 selected works)

This Is Really War: The Incredible True Story of a Navy Nurse POW in the Occupied Philippines

Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi

In January 1940, navy nurse Dorothy Still eagerly anticipated her new assignment at a military hospital in the Philippines. Her first year abroad was an adventure. She dated sailors, attended dances and watched the sparkling evening lights from her balcony. But as 1941 progressed, signs of war became imminent. Military wives and children were shipped home to the states, and the sailors increas... read more

In January 1940, navy nurse Dorothy Still eagerly anticipated her new assignment at a military hospital in the Philippines. Her first year abroad was an adventure. She dated sailors, attended dances and watched the sparkling evening lights from her balcony. But as 1941 progressed, signs of war became imminent. Military wives and children were shipped home to the states, and the sailors increas... read more

Wally Funk's Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer

Sue Nelson

Wally Funk was among the Mercury 13, the first group of American pilots to complete NASA’s 1961 Women in Space program. Funk breezed through the rigorous physical and mental tests, her scores beating those of many of the male candidates—even John Glenn. Just one week before Funk was to enter the final phase of training, the entire program was abruptly cancelled. Politics and prejudice meant th... read more

Wally Funk was among the Mercury 13, the first group of American pilots to complete NASA’s 1961 Women in Space program. Funk breezed through the rigorous physical and mental tests, her scores beating those of many of the male candidates—even John Glenn. Just one week before Funk was to enter the final phase of training, the entire program was abruptly cancelled. Politics and prejudice meant th... read more

Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of the Great American Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning)

MaryAnn F. Kohl, Kim Solga

Fun and easy art-appreciation activities abound in this resource that features 75 American artists from colonial times to the present. A brief biography for each artist tells why his or her work is important, and a kid-tested art activity tries out the artist’s approach. For Georgia O’Keeffe, the activity is a desert painting; for Frederic Remington, a face cast; for Leroy Nieman, a sketch of ... read more

Fun and easy art-appreciation activities abound in this resource that features 75 American artists from colonial times to the present. A brief biography for each artist tells why his or her work is important, and a kid-tested art activity tries out the artist’s approach. For Georgia O’Keeffe, the activity is a desert painting; for Frederic Remington, a face cast; for Leroy Nieman, a sketch of ... read more

Women and Madness

Phyllis Chesler

Feminist icon Phyllis Chesler’s pioneering work, Women and Madness, remains startlingly relevant today, nearly fifty years since its first publication in 1972. With over 2.5 million copies sold, this landmark book is unanimously regarded as the definitive work on the subject of women’s psychology. Now back in print, this completely revised and updated edition adds perspectives on eating disord... read more

Feminist icon Phyllis Chesler’s pioneering work, Women and Madness, remains startlingly relevant today, nearly fifty years since its first publication in 1972. With over 2.5 million copies sold, this landmark book is unanimously regarded as the definitive work on the subject of women’s psychology. Now back in print, this completely revised and updated edition adds perspectives on eating disord... read more

Neck and Neck: A Sergeant Beef Mystery (Sergeant Beef Series)

Leo Bruce

Lionel Townsend, Sergeant Beef's priggish biographer, has surprisingly found himself the prime suspect of a murder. When his aunt in Hastings is found poisoned, Townsend must turn to Beef for assistance. When an unpopular publisher is found hanged in the Cotswolds, it seems utterly unrelated. Beef, in his inimitable way, flatfoots his way to a stunning conclusion.

Lionel Townsend, Sergeant Beef's priggish biographer, has surprisingly found himself the prime suspect of a murder. When his aunt in Hastings is found poisoned, Townsend must turn to Beef for assistance. When an unpopular publisher is found hanged in the Cotswolds, it seems utterly unrelated. Beef, in his inimitable way, flatfoots his way to a stunning conclusion.

Cold Blood: A Sergeant Beef Mystery (Sergeant Beef Series)

Leo Bruce

When the police fail to arrest the seemingly obvious suspect in the murder of an eccentric millionaire with a croquet mallet, Sergeant Beef is called in to investigate

When the police fail to arrest the seemingly obvious suspect in the murder of an eccentric millionaire with a croquet mallet, Sergeant Beef is called in to investigate

Case with Ropes and Rings: A Sergeant Beef Mystery (Sergeant Beef Series)

Leo Bruce

The Coroner's Jury found that the boy hanged in the school gymnasium had killed himself, but Sgt. Beef disagrees. He takes a job as a temporary school caretaker, abetted by the reluctant Townsend, Beef's biographer, whose brother is a master at the school. Beef's methods are not to Townsend's liking, as they entail endless games of darts and beer all around in the local pub. When another remar... read more

The Coroner's Jury found that the boy hanged in the school gymnasium had killed himself, but Sgt. Beef disagrees. He takes a job as a temporary school caretaker, abetted by the reluctant Townsend, Beef's biographer, whose brother is a master at the school. Beef's methods are not to Townsend's liking, as they entail endless games of darts and beer all around in the local pub. When another remar... read more

Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock

Christina Lane

Phantom Lady chronicles the untold story of Hollywood’s most powerful female writer-producer of the 1940s. In 1933, Joan Harrison was a twenty-six-year-old former salesgirl with a dream of escaping her stodgy London suburb and the dreadful prospect of settling down with one of the local boys. A few short years later, she was Alfred Hitchcock's confidante and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of... read more

Phantom Lady chronicles the untold story of Hollywood’s most powerful female writer-producer of the 1940s. In 1933, Joan Harrison was a twenty-six-year-old former salesgirl with a dream of escaping her stodgy London suburb and the dreadful prospect of settling down with one of the local boys. A few short years later, she was Alfred Hitchcock's confidante and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of... read more

I Am Not Your Slave: A Memoir

Tupa Tjipombo, Chris Lockhart

I Am Not Your Slave is the true story of a young African girl who was abducted from southwestern Africa and funneled through an extensive yet almost completely unknown human trafficking network spanning the entire African continent. As she is transported from the point of her abduction on a remote farm and channeled to her ultimate destination in Dubai, her three-year odyssey exposes the bruta... read more

I Am Not Your Slave is the true story of a young African girl who was abducted from southwestern Africa and funneled through an extensive yet almost completely unknown human trafficking network spanning the entire African continent. As she is transported from the point of her abduction on a remote farm and channeled to her ultimate destination in Dubai, her three-year odyssey exposes the bruta... read more

The Capture of Black Bart: Gentleman Bandit of the Old West

Norman H. Finkelstein

Black Bart was not the Old West’s only stagecoach robber, but he was the most famous. To many people, he was a folk hero: a robber who didn’t threaten or harm passengers. He was a bandit with a sense of humor who wrote poetry. In robbing at least 28 Wells Fargo stagecoaches across Northern California between 1875 and 1883, he never fired a shot or injured anyone. His gun, it turned out, was ne... read more

Black Bart was not the Old West’s only stagecoach robber, but he was the most famous. To many people, he was a folk hero: a robber who didn’t threaten or harm passengers. He was a bandit with a sense of humor who wrote poetry. In robbing at least 28 Wells Fargo stagecoaches across Northern California between 1875 and 1883, he never fired a shot or injured anyone. His gun, it turned out, was ne... read more

Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sport

Matthew Algeo

Strange as it sounds, during the 1870s and 1880s, America’s most popular spectator sport wasn’t baseball, boxing, or horseracing—it was competitive walking. Inside sold-out arenas, competitors walked around dirt tracks almost nonstop for six straight days (never on Sunday), risking their health and sanity to see who could walk the farthest—500 miles, then 520 miles, and 565 miles! These walkin... read more

Strange as it sounds, during the 1870s and 1880s, America’s most popular spectator sport wasn’t baseball, boxing, or horseracing—it was competitive walking. Inside sold-out arenas, competitors walked around dirt tracks almost nonstop for six straight days (never on Sunday), risking their health and sanity to see who could walk the farthest—500 miles, then 520 miles, and 565 miles! These walkin... read more

Letters to a Young Feminist

Phyllis Chesler

LETTERS TO A YOUNG FEMINIST is a visionary message from a leading feminist to the next generation of feminists. Phyllis Chesler discusses basic aspects of feminism, explains feminism's relevance in a world that has taken it for granted and derided it, and helps the next generation reclaim feminism for itself. Chesler examines sisterhood, sex, families, motherhood, work, feminist heroism, and t... read more

LETTERS TO A YOUNG FEMINIST is a visionary message from a leading feminist to the next generation of feminists. Phyllis Chesler discusses basic aspects of feminism, explains feminism's relevance in a world that has taken it for granted and derided it, and helps the next generation reclaim feminism for itself. Chesler examines sisterhood, sex, families, motherhood, work, feminist heroism, and t... read more

A Pirate's Life for She: Swashbuckling Women Through the Ages

Laura Sook Duncombe

Pirates are a perennially popular subject, depicted often in songs, stories, and Halloween costumes. Yet the truth about pirates—who they were, why they went to sea, and what their lives were really like—is seldom a part of the conversation. In this Seven Seas history of the world’s female buccaneers, A Pirate's Life for She tells the story of sixteen women who through the ages sailed alongsid... read more

Pirates are a perennially popular subject, depicted often in songs, stories, and Halloween costumes. Yet the truth about pirates—who they were, why they went to sea, and what their lives were really like—is seldom a part of the conversation. In this Seven Seas history of the world’s female buccaneers, A Pirate's Life for She tells the story of sixteen women who through the ages sailed alongsid... read more

When The Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China in the 1980s

Dori Jones Yang

When China opened its doors in the 1980s, it shocked the world by allowing private enterprise and free markets. Dori Jones was among the first American correspondents to cover China under Deng Xiaoping, who dared to defy Maoist doctrine to try to catch up with richer nations. Though introverted, Dori used her fluency in Mandarin to get to know the ordinary people she met—people embracing oppor... read more

When China opened its doors in the 1980s, it shocked the world by allowing private enterprise and free markets. Dori Jones was among the first American correspondents to cover China under Deng Xiaoping, who dared to defy Maoist doctrine to try to catch up with richer nations. Though introverted, Dori used her fluency in Mandarin to get to know the ordinary people she met—people embracing oppor... read more

Life and Other Shortcomings: Stories

Corie Adjmi

Life and Other Shortcomings is a collection of linked short stories that takes the reader from New Orleans to New York City to Madrid, and from 1970 to the present day. The women in these twelve stories make a number of different choices: some work, others don’t; some stay married, some get divorced; others never marry at all. Through each character’s intimate journey, specific truths are reve... read more

Life and Other Shortcomings is a collection of linked short stories that takes the reader from New Orleans to New York City to Madrid, and from 1970 to the present day. The women in these twelve stories make a number of different choices: some work, others don’t; some stay married, some get divorced; others never marry at all. Through each character’s intimate journey, specific truths are reve... read more

Civil Religion in Modern Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Tocqueville

Inspired by Machiavelli, modern philosophers held that the tension between the goals of biblical piety and the goals of political life needed to be resolved in favor of the political, and so they attempted to recast and delimit traditional Christian teaching to serve and stabilize political life accordingly. This volume examines the thought and arguments of those thinkers who worked to remake ... read more

Inspired by Machiavelli, modern philosophers held that the tension between the goals of biblical piety and the goals of political life needed to be resolved in favor of the political, and so they attempted to recast and delimit traditional Christian teaching to serve and stabilize political life accordingly. This volume examines the thought and arguments of those thinkers who worked to remake ... read more

Gut Botany (Made in Michigan Writers Series)

Petra Kuppers

"Gut Botany charts my body / language living on indigenous land as a white settler and traveler," Petra Kuppers writes in the notes of her new poetry collection. Using a perfect cocktail of surrealist and situationist techniques, Kuppers submits to the work and to the land, moving through ancient fish, wounded bodies, and the space around her. The book invites the reader to navigate their own ... read more

"Gut Botany charts my body / language living on indigenous land as a white settler and traveler," Petra Kuppers writes in the notes of her new poetry collection. Using a perfect cocktail of surrealist and situationist techniques, Kuppers submits to the work and to the land, moving through ancient fish, wounded bodies, and the space around her. The book invites the reader to navigate their own ... read more

Words like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers (Made in Michigan Writers Series)

Lois Beardslee

Words like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers is a collection of poetry by award-winning Ojibwe author Lois Beardslee. Much of the book centers around Native people of the Great Lakes but has a universal relevance to modern indigenous people worldwide. Beardslee tackles contemporary topics like climate change and socioeconomic equality with a grace and readability that empowers readers ... read more

Words like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers is a collection of poetry by award-winning Ojibwe author Lois Beardslee. Much of the book centers around Native people of the Great Lakes but has a universal relevance to modern indigenous people worldwide. Beardslee tackles contemporary topics like climate change and socioeconomic equality with a grace and readability that empowers readers ... read more

The Writing Workshop: Write More, Write Better, Be Happier in Academia

Barbara W Sarnecka

Research is all about writing, but most PhD programs don't teach students how to produce the writing needed to get a PhD, publish research, or win fellowships and grants. Plus, the academic environment can feel as cold and harsh as the South Pole. But just as penguins form social huddles to survive the Antarctic winter, researchers can form writing groups to help them learn how to write more, ... read more

Research is all about writing, but most PhD programs don't teach students how to produce the writing needed to get a PhD, publish research, or win fellowships and grants. Plus, the academic environment can feel as cold and harsh as the South Pole. But just as penguins form social huddles to survive the Antarctic winter, researchers can form writing groups to help them learn how to write more, ... read more

From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History

Nancy Sinkoff

From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History is the first comprehensive biography of Dawidowicz (1915-1990), a pioneer historian in the field that is now called Holocaust studies. Dawidowicz was a household name in the postwar years, not only because of her scholarship but also due to her political views. Dawidowicz, like many other New... read more

From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History is the first comprehensive biography of Dawidowicz (1915-1990), a pioneer historian in the field that is now called Holocaust studies. Dawidowicz was a household name in the postwar years, not only because of her scholarship but also due to her political views. Dawidowicz, like many other New... read more

Fuck Happiness: How Women Are Ditching the Cult of Positivity and Choosing Radical Joy (Good Life)

Ariel Gore

Happiness is big business. Books, consultants, psychologists, organizations, and even governments tout happiness secrets that are backed by scientific findings. The problem is that all of this science is done by and for cis white men. And some of the most vocal of these happiness experts were announcing that women could become happier by espousing "traditional" values and eschewing feminism. S... read more

Happiness is big business. Books, consultants, psychologists, organizations, and even governments tout happiness secrets that are backed by scientific findings. The problem is that all of this science is done by and for cis white men. And some of the most vocal of these happiness experts were announcing that women could become happier by espousing "traditional" values and eschewing feminism. S... read more

Lindsey has 9 reviews

Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality

Helen Davies
This was a an expensive disappointing and stressful experience. It almost made me lose faith in Reedsy. The job took far more time than expected and was finally left uncompleted as the professional was unable to continue due to illness. I was left in the lurch and had to start all over again. Happily I was able to hire another professional who restored my faith in the process and exceeded all...
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Helen Davies, April 2021


Elizabeth Cooper
I enjoy every interaction with Lindsey and am very happy with all her help. We have worked through two books together with excellent results. I highly recommend her.

Elizabeth Cooper, November 2020


Elizabeth Cooper
Lindsey was absolutely amazing to work with. She was always on time, her work thoughtful and excellent. Her cover for my novel hit the nail on the head for my historical mystery and really set the tone for the launch of my first book. I couldn't be happier with our partnership.

Elizabeth Cooper, August 2020


Elizabeth Cooper
I was very lucky to find Lindsey just when she had an opening in her schedule. As a first time independent author with a historical mystery series to publish I knew I needed to find someone with talent and a vision to help me develop just the right cover for the first book. Lindsey knocked it out of the park. Honestly, I don't know how I got so lucky. She was so patient with my questions and ha...
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Elizabeth Cooper, June 2020

Lindsey Cleworth
Thanks, Elizabeth—this project was a blast to work on! Can't wait to to work with you again!

Reply from Lindsey Cleworth


Lauren Parra
Lindsey was the consummate professional. She listened to my vision and then created beautiful options for me to choose from. She was prompt, receptive and reasonably priced. I would highly recommend her and plan to use her for future projects.

Lauren Parra, March 2020

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Mia Marie Overgaard

Professional illustrator and designer. Working in a variety of genres; kids, YA, romance, food and fashion.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Colleen Sheehan

If marketers designed books, they'd do it like this. I design books to get entrepreneurs, memoirists, and crime authors printed and sold.

Ames, IA, USA

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