Paul Hawkins – Designer

Hi! I'm Paul. I write, illustrate, design, typeset and market books. Check out my bestseller The Bloody British on Amazon to see how my work comes together; title, subtitle, cover and blurb all working together as an inseparable conceptual package. That's what I love doing.

I specialise in bright, bold, loud, attention-grabbing covers that jump off the page and work well as thumbnails, catching the eye of the reader against the plain, all-white backdrops of online marketplaces like Amazon.

I focus on genre markers and setting reader expectations, while making sure the book's title "pops" and the design concept remains legible in thumbnail size - how online audiences likely first encounter it. For me, design is about clear thinking, and clear communication. I try to get to the very core of what the book is about and communicate that effectively and memorably.

(This often means helping authors tighten the conceptual nuts and bolts of other major branding elements like title, subtitle and blurb, so everything works together to pull readers through the marketing funnel.)

As well as a designer for hundreds of authors, I've had 12+ of my own books published with traditional publishers - including Random House, Ullstein (Hachette group), C. H. Beck, Langenscheidt, PONS, Donkey and W. F. Howes (#1 in audiobooks). And I'm catching up with self-pub titles, so I know both sets of processes inside-out. I can offer guidance at every stage of the (self-)publishing process and provide (hopefully) valuable insights from two decades of creative and publishing experience.

I can design/typeset/layout interiors, write blurbs or marketing copy, format eBooks, illustrate and make graphics for social media and beyond. (And I also know great editors, marketers and translators, if you need connections.) As your cover designer, illustrator or creative consultant, I can help make your book/brand more commercially appealing at a glance. As an author myself, you can trust me to "get" your work, understand your priorities/constraints, and care about getting everything right as much as you do. Plus it'll be fun*.

*Until we get to the topic of ISBNs.