Jem Butcher

Jem Butcher – Designer

I have over 20 years experience in designing bestselling book covers

Overview

I have many years in-house experience, working for Longman, Dorling Kindersley, Random House, Transworld and Simon & Schuster where I was Art Director for six years.I have been working as a freelance designer since 2008. Working for most of the large publishing houses such as Harper Collins, Random House, Penguin, Orion, and many smaller ones such as Alma, Elliot and Thompson and Severn House. I also take on work from self published authors, in all genres.

Services
Fiction
Action & Adventure Chick Lit Espionage Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery & Crime
Non-Fiction
History Sports & Outdoors
Languages
English

Work experience

Simon and Schuster

Feb, 2002 — Oct, 2008 (over 6 years)
Responsible for the design of all Simon and Schuster book covers

Transworld

Jan, 1999 — Jan, 2004 (almost 5 years)
Worked across all Transworld imprints. Skills were consolidated, becoming more focused
 on efficiency and achieving company targets. Improved ability to visualise specific genres creating ‘The
 Big Book Look’ in close consultation with editorial, publicity, sales and marketing.

Portfolio

Made with Reedsy
Beautiful Losers

Galvin, Alix

Illustration
Another Literary Tour of Italy

Parks, Tim

Alma Books

Cover Design
The secrets of the past can never be forgottenAn orphaned young woman is overjoyed to find a family she never knew existed, but has to come to terms with their troubled history.Since her paren... read more
Cover Design
Nine-year-old twins Abigail and Olivia vow never to be parted. But when Abigail goes missing from Blackwater Farm, it becomes DS Jennifer Knight's task to return her from harm. But could Olivi... read more
Cover Design
Cover Design
From 1963 to 1966 Britain successfully waged a secret war to keep the Federation of Malaysia free from domination by Soekarno's Indonesia and by Chinese Communists. At the forefront of this ca... read more
Cover Design
An acclaimed author of novels and short stories, Tim Parks--who was described in a recent review....
Cover Design
Cover Design
Vigilante

Kerry Wilkinson

Paperback. Pub Date :2013-02-14 Pages: 300 Language: English Publisher: Pan Macmillan A killer behind bars is still killing ...
Cover Design
Cover Design
You tried to save a life. Now you’re fighting to save your own. It’s the perfect Sunday. Summer sunshine, a barbecue with the kids. But a knock on the garden gate and two words, ‘HELP ME’, cha... read more
Cover Design
How far would you go to save your family? In the dead of night, new parents Alice and Harry French are plunged into their worst nightmare when they wake to find masked men in their bedroom. Me... read more
Cover Design

Jem has 11 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Guy G.

Guy G.

May, 2026

For my first novel I wanted to make an impact so I hired a very good genre artist, and I hired Jem to turn it into a book cover. Up front he helped me ensure the artist had the right directions, when I was a little late providing the artwork he was fine about it, and he did an amazing job up fro...
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Jem B.
It was lovely working with Guy. Very appreciative and responsive. I hope the book does well
Beth H.

Beth H.

May, 2026

I loved the covers Jem produced - all of them- so it was very difficult deciding which one to use.
H. S. M.

H. S. M.

May, 2026

Jem did a fantastic job on my espionage novel, The Silent Hearts. He came up with several ideas, one of which captured the novel perfectly. I’m certain that I will use him again.
Greg M.

Greg M.

Apr, 2026

Excellent service. Absolutely delighted with my cover. A good array of mock-ups to choose from and suggestions actioned promptly and accurately. Would recommend and will use their services again.
Rocco D.

Rocco D.

Feb, 2026

A book cover is a huge decision, and I'm very fortunate to have discovered Jem. He did an outstanding job on my novel's book cover. Jem has given me a cover that exceeds the best seller standard for my genre. I have no hesitation in recommending Jem 101%. I'm looking forward to having Jem do...
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