Jessica Reed

Jessica Reed - Designer

Portland, United States

Artist and Writer with 16 years professional graphic design experience passionate about helping writers bring their work to life.

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Overview

Hello! A bit about me:

My family and I recently moved to Portland, OR after 15 years in NYC. For fourteen of those, I was with the Penguin Publishing Group. During that time I had the opportunity, first as a Marketing Manager then as a Senior Designer in Creative Marketing Services, to work with every single imprint in the company. I now work full-time as a freelance book designer.

Not only do I have experience in design and the Big Five publishing industry; I also have experience in self-publishing. In early 2014 I wrote, designed, and self-published my book, The Baker's Appendix and in late 2015 it was bought by Clarkson Potter! In March 2017 the revised, updated, gorgeous hardcover was published and is now sold worldwide.

How might I help you?

• I am skilled in book cover layout, composition, and typography. As well, I am available to help with online and print advertising and social media campaigns on a limited basis.

• I have worked with every genre and type of book over the years, but am especially interested in cookbooks, food writing, general non-fiction, classics, historical works, memoir & biography, and genre fiction (LOVE mysteries and thrillers!).

• I am very familiar with the highs and lows of self-publishing and can help you not only with your cover, but am happy to answer questions related to the process as well

I would love to hear your story and see how I can help you bring your words to life. Thanks for reading!
Services
Languages
English
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits
Health & Wellbeing
Writing & Publishing
Fiction
Classics
Historical Fiction
Literary Fiction
Thriller & Suspense

Work experience

Freelance design

Self-employed
August, 2017 – Present (over 5 years)

Senior Designer

Penguin Random House
February, 2002 – June, 2017 (over 15 years)

From February 2002–August 2008 I worked within the Berkley/NAL Marketing team, first as an assistant, eventually rising to the rank of Marketing Manager. I was responsible for copywriting, some design work, project management, supervising of assistants and interns, and all assorted tasks involved in the Advertising and Promotion of books within a variety of imprints.
From August 2008–June 2017, I was a Senior Graphic Designer working at one time or another with every imprint under the Penguin Publishing Group umbrella. I was responsible for all areas of Advertising and Promotional design including, but not limited to, catalogs, promotional swag, online ads, print ads, promotional kits, mock-ups, ARC cover design, blad and recipe bundle design, press releases, postcards, brochures, flyers, and, most recently, plenty of social media headers, ads, and social shares. I worked with colleagues on projects as well as dealing with vendors and production specialists outside the company.

Portfolio (16 selected works)

Ghost Bully

Brian Corley

Roommates can be hell. Like when they’re late with the rent, late on bills, or constantly trying to kill you. Jonah Preston thought he knew what he was getting into after signing the paperwork to buy his new home: yardwork, a leaky pipe here and there, maybe the occasional squirrel in the attic. He just didn’t expect to share that new home with a ghost. Before all the boxes are unpacked, Jonah... read more

Roommates can be hell. Like when they’re late with the rent, late on bills, or constantly trying to kill you. Jonah Preston thought he knew what he was getting into after signing the paperwork to buy his new home: yardwork, a leaky pipe here and there, maybe the occasional squirrel in the attic. He just didn’t expect to share that new home with a ghost. Before all the boxes are unpacked, Jonah... read more

Four Voices, Four Continents: How we Eluded Hitler, Survived Stalin, Made a Life in Africa, and Eventually Arrived in America

Ada Moszkowski Harrison, Sofia Moszkowski Freer

The Moszkowski family was one of the fortunate ones. The family’s journey during and after World War II began when they fled Poland in 1939, under Hitler’s Luftwaffe aerial assault. Theirs is not a typical Holocaust escape story. Father Arthur Moszkowski’s position as an engineer afforded the family a path that was not possible for many Jews. Although they endured life-threatening hardships du... read more

The Moszkowski family was one of the fortunate ones. The family’s journey during and after World War II began when they fled Poland in 1939, under Hitler’s Luftwaffe aerial assault. Theirs is not a typical Holocaust escape story. Father Arthur Moszkowski’s position as an engineer afforded the family a path that was not possible for many Jews. Although they endured life-threatening hardships du... read more

Creating Real Wealth: Successful Stock Market Investment

Bossman

Imagine that you had an investment methodology that identified the "best of the best" companies listed on the stock market and often found them when they were still cheap. These super companies usually out-perform the general stock market averages by a wide margin over the long run and so will you. Add to this the ability to step out of the market when the big recessions roll past and you have... read more

Imagine that you had an investment methodology that identified the "best of the best" companies listed on the stock market and often found them when they were still cheap. These super companies usually out-perform the general stock market averages by a wide margin over the long run and so will you. Add to this the ability to step out of the market when the big recessions roll past and you have... read more

Power Palettes: Renovate, Flip, Build

Kelly Heaps

In this first-of-its-kind self-help guide, Award Winning designer, Kelly Heaps, pulls back the curtain on the home design industry as she reveals insider secrets. Learn what great hard surface design is, how it will increase your financial bottom line and what it takes to design like the pros. Refreshingly straight forward, Kelly turns complicated design formulas, concepts and theories into a ... read more

In this first-of-its-kind self-help guide, Award Winning designer, Kelly Heaps, pulls back the curtain on the home design industry as she reveals insider secrets. Learn what great hard surface design is, how it will increase your financial bottom line and what it takes to design like the pros. Refreshingly straight forward, Kelly turns complicated design formulas, concepts and theories into a ... read more

Bringing Mom Home: How Two Sisters Moved Their Mother Out of Assisted Living to Care For Her Under One Amazingly Large Roof

Susan Soesbe

Sisters Claire and Susan have been noticing their independent, introverted mother is sort of… off. Discreet investigation reveals the appalling truth: Mom can’t find her way home, pay her bills or even get to the toilet anymore. The move to an assisted living facility only further highlights the many aspects of her life that have quietly fallen through the cracks. Assisted living doesn’t rende... read more

Sisters Claire and Susan have been noticing their independent, introverted mother is sort of… off. Discreet investigation reveals the appalling truth: Mom can’t find her way home, pay her bills or even get to the toilet anymore. The move to an assisted living facility only further highlights the many aspects of her life that have quietly fallen through the cracks. Assisted living doesn’t rende... read more

The Wretched of Mother Earth: The Handbook for Living, Dying, and Nonviolent Revolution in the Midst of Climate Change Catastrophe

Alycee Lane

If we hope to save ourselves from climate change catastrophe, we must face not only the prospect of human extinction; but also we must radically confront what produced the climate crisis in the first place: the “colonial power matrix” and our deadly attachments to it.

If we hope to save ourselves from climate change catastrophe, we must face not only the prospect of human extinction; but also we must radically confront what produced the climate crisis in the first place: the “colonial power matrix” and our deadly attachments to it.

Rooked

Caitlin Sara

Exposing those closest to you could be fatal. . .Despite her desire for control, Ara Hopkins has always felt like a pawn—constantly being maneuvered by those surrounding her. Carrying a riddled past of abandonment by her mother, a jealous step-sister and exploitation by men she was supposed to be able to trust, Ara craves a social media certified life. So, when she meets her husband, a New Yor... read more

Exposing those closest to you could be fatal. . .Despite her desire for control, Ara Hopkins has always felt like a pawn—constantly being maneuvered by those surrounding her. Carrying a riddled past of abandonment by her mother, a jealous step-sister and exploitation by men she was supposed to be able to trust, Ara craves a social media certified life. So, when she meets her husband, a New Yor... read more

Silent Tears

Kat Smutz

The American Civil War has ended and everyone in America is free--except women. They have no right to vote, no right to own property, no right to control their own lives. The rare exception is widows. Jocelyn Hightower's abusive husband is dead, but she knows freedom is too much to hope for. Her late husband's sadistic uncle is set to grab control of everything his nephew possessed, including,... read more

The American Civil War has ended and everyone in America is free--except women. They have no right to vote, no right to own property, no right to control their own lives. The rare exception is widows. Jocelyn Hightower's abusive husband is dead, but she knows freedom is too much to hope for. Her late husband's sadistic uncle is set to grab control of everything his nephew possessed, including,... read more

Trans Galactic Insurance: Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant

Andrew Moriarty

Jake is the first belter ever to study at the TGI Orbital station to be a merchant officer. He’s quiet, hard-working, conscientious, and a good student. In other words, boring. He’s so poor he can’t afford to buy beer, but that doesn’t matter - his scholarship pays for everything and he just has to keep his head down study hard, and graduate. But life is full of surprises. Suddenly he’s expell... read more

Jake is the first belter ever to study at the TGI Orbital station to be a merchant officer. He’s quiet, hard-working, conscientious, and a good student. In other words, boring. He’s so poor he can’t afford to buy beer, but that doesn’t matter - his scholarship pays for everything and he just has to keep his head down study hard, and graduate. But life is full of surprises. Suddenly he’s expell... read more

Orbital Claims Adjuster: Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant Book 2

Andrew Moriarty

Our hero, Jake Stewart, the first Belter student at the Merchants Academy is ready for his first job. All past sins, like murder, theft, and shooting out an airlock are forgiven. He just has to see a man in a bar and pick up some information. What could possibly go wrong? How about assault., jail, vomit, and charging irregular expenses. Now he's disgraced, possibly fired, in the militia, and o... read more

Our hero, Jake Stewart, the first Belter student at the Merchants Academy is ready for his first job. All past sins, like murder, theft, and shooting out an airlock are forgiven. He just has to see a man in a bar and pick up some information. What could possibly go wrong? How about assault., jail, vomit, and charging irregular expenses. Now he's disgraced, possibly fired, in the militia, and o... read more

Secrets in Oak Creek

B.K. Stubblefield

A small town with a dark secret. A new arrival in grave danger. Can she solve the mystery before she ends up the next victim?The best part of Emily's childhood may have been the time she spent with her quirky aunt. So when her favorite relative passes away, she drops everything to attend the funeral in the small town of Oak Creek. But she never expected to inherit her aunt's entire estate, inc... read more

A small town with a dark secret. A new arrival in grave danger. Can she solve the mystery before she ends up the next victim?The best part of Emily's childhood may have been the time she spent with her quirky aunt. So when her favorite relative passes away, she drops everything to attend the funeral in the small town of Oak Creek. But she never expected to inherit her aunt's entire estate, inc... read more

Until the Ice Cracks (Eldísvík Book 1)

Jan Turk Petrie

A Scandinavian, dystopian, crime thriller with a style that pays homage to classic ‘noir’ detective fiction. The year is 2068. In Eldísvík city state, on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a police ‘decoy’ agent, shadowed by her trained pack of genetically altered foxes, contravenes orders and slaughters members of a criminal cartel. Inspector Nero Cavallo must hunt this unidentified decoy agent d... read more

A Scandinavian, dystopian, crime thriller with a style that pays homage to classic ‘noir’ detective fiction. The year is 2068. In Eldísvík city state, on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a police ‘decoy’ agent, shadowed by her trained pack of genetically altered foxes, contravenes orders and slaughters members of a criminal cartel. Inspector Nero Cavallo must hunt this unidentified decoy agent d... read more

No God for a Warrior: The gripping near-future Nordic thriller series continues… (The Eldísvík novels Book 2)

Jan Turk Petrie

The gripping near-future Nordic thriller series continues… Wounded but not broken, Inspector Nero Cavallo teams up with his fellow telepatico, Bruno Mastriano, to track down the mass-murderer Ása. This ruthless rogue operative, her gang of disenchanted former decoy agents and her pack of genetically engineered killer foxes are rapidly bringing chaos to the city of Eldísvík. To safeguard the ru... read more

The gripping near-future Nordic thriller series continues… Wounded but not broken, Inspector Nero Cavallo teams up with his fellow telepatico, Bruno Mastriano, to track down the mass-murderer Ása. This ruthless rogue operative, her gang of disenchanted former decoy agents and her pack of genetically engineered killer foxes are rapidly bringing chaos to the city of Eldísvík. To safeguard the ru... read more

The Menagerie A Zoo Story

J. D. Porter

The Dotson Park Zoo is a typical American zoo—a zoo that has long prided itself on being at the cutting edge of zoo technology. Its history includes a wrestling bear that kills a man in a bar-fight, a cobra in a baby carriage, and chimpanzees and elephants living together in the same space. It is a story replete with shady deal-making, backstabbing and even murder. At the Dotson Park Zoo, the ... read more

The Dotson Park Zoo is a typical American zoo—a zoo that has long prided itself on being at the cutting edge of zoo technology. Its history includes a wrestling bear that kills a man in a bar-fight, a cobra in a baby carriage, and chimpanzees and elephants living together in the same space. It is a story replete with shady deal-making, backstabbing and even murder. At the Dotson Park Zoo, the ... read more

Shallow Waters: A Port Stirling Mystery

Kay Jennings

A sleepy Oregon coastal village with secrets as dark as its January storms. A new, handsome police chief with his own shadowy past. The last thing Port Stirling Chief of Police Matt Horning needed on day one of his new job was for the mayor's daughter to turn up dead - stabbed to death - in a mysterious tunnel on a remote Oregon beach. Horning, escaping professional troubles in Texas, accepts ... read more

A sleepy Oregon coastal village with secrets as dark as its January storms. A new, handsome police chief with his own shadowy past. The last thing Port Stirling Chief of Police Matt Horning needed on day one of his new job was for the mayor's daughter to turn up dead - stabbed to death - in a mysterious tunnel on a remote Oregon beach. Horning, escaping professional troubles in Texas, accepts ... read more

Unwavering Choices: A Comprehensive book of 7 steps to transform your life and live your dreams using simple but powerful insights

Pete Klein

Each and every day, we are presented with many Choices. Choices that take us down one path or another, each with its own unique journey and destination. In order to choose the path that leads you to your desired destination and goals, you need tools and strategies to inform you, and guide you. The purpose of this workbook is to give you all that you will need to stay on the right path, maintai... read more

Each and every day, we are presented with many Choices. Choices that take us down one path or another, each with its own unique journey and destination. In order to choose the path that leads you to your desired destination and goals, you need tools and strategies to inform you, and guide you. The purpose of this workbook is to give you all that you will need to stay on the right path, maintai... read more

Jessica has 24 reviews

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

Mary Flett
Jessica is a delight to work with. Prompt, competent, and creative!

Mary Flett, February 2021


Kim Sakwa
Jess was great to work with! We actually have collaborated on two projects thus far and I will definitely hire her again.

Kim Sakwa, July 2019


Kay Jennings
Jessica delivered the absolutely perfect design for the cover of my book. It was what I wanted, before I even knew what I wanted. The cover is professional, and completely on trend for my genre. She understood the industry specs, and delivered an excellent final cover design. A+ on graphic design. While the end product for the interior layout is good, the process in getting there was less ...
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Kay Jennings, June 2019


Pete Klein
Jessica is great to work with. Prompt, professional and delivers quality work on time.

Pete Klein, April 2019


Pete Klein
Jessica is great to work with. She is prompt, professional, and always delivers what she says she will, when she says she will deliver it. Jessica is very easy to work with and delivers high quality work.

Pete Klein, April 2019

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