Zoe Norvell



Book Cover Designer
Book Interior Designer
Founder of the popular website, INeedABookCover.com.

Short n’ sweet:
  • My career started in the Manhattan publishing world (S&S, PRH) as a professional cover designer in 2011.
  • I became a full-time freelancer in 2015 and have been running my own studio ever since.
  • In 2021, I created the website INeedABookInterior.com.
  • In 2023, I launched the website INeedABookCover.com.
  • Today, I am based in my hometown of Washington, DC.

For a longer bio, visit the About Me page.

If you want to hire me for typesetting or book interior work, head on over to www.ineedabookinterior.com to learn more!
Clientele:
Most of my clients are large, commercial publishers and small, independent presses. I do partner with self-publishing authors but only in select circumstances where the project is a strong fit.

Availability:
When it comes to book interiors, I can always fit in a new title, whether it’s coming from a press or an author. The same is not always true for new book cover work, where I tend to be more selective about the projects I take on. To understand why, please watch this video. 
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Book Interiors

Book covers get all the attention and they’ll always be my first love... but let’s not overlook a book’s interior. The interior is the book, afterall! The words, the heart, the whole point. 

A clunky page layout immediately feels cheap, while a thoughtful design turns every page into an inviting and elevated experience. Whether I’ve designed the cover or not, I can always be brought on to design the interior. Let’s do this!

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of creating book interiors for notable presses such as Namaste Books, Biblioasis, Black Lawrence Press, Milkweed Editions, Alice James Books, and others. I’ve also been trusted to typeset books for authors such as Nicolas Cole Mather, Category Pirates, Cara Alwill, Lauren Courtney, Geoff Woods, Eddie Shleyner of VeryGoodCopy, Jonathan Cronstedt of Kajabi, Sara Gran, and many others.

If you’re interested in hiring me for a book interior, please visit www.INeedABookInterior.com (INABI) to get a full understanding of how we’ll work together. Once you’re familiar with the process, shoot me an email!

Below are just 4 examples of book interior projects.

Visit INABI to review even more projects

The Ai-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods

Self Published, 2024. *Book cover design by Pete Garceau.
For this 294-page book, I designed a fully bespoke interior from the ground up. Rather than starting from a template, I created a fresh layout that translated the cover design into every page. The cover’s emblematic dot motif and fonts were reimagined throughout the interior to create an entertaining and distinctive reading experience.

Geoff’s book was highly detailed. It included custom illustrations, bullet and numbered lists, pull quotes, scannable QR codes, prompts, part dividers, and a large appendix. The book was split into three Parts, distinguishable by their gray section dividers, while chapters began with full-page openers and closed with light gray summaries for quick reference.

One of the most unique features was the use of hand-drawn pencil underlines to highlight key quotes, as chosen by the author. We also placed dozens of commissioned illustrations throughout to complement the text and keep readers engaged.

Geoff Wood: “Thank you for making this book what it is. I have received so many compliments on the design. You made my vision a reality!”

Available here

Better Days by Neal Allen
Client: Namaste Publishing
Art Director: Mary Kellough
2023. Book cover design by Zoe Norvell with illustrations by Amyisla McCombie.

For Better Days, we collaborated with Amyisla, an illustrator, to create a bright, garden-inspired cover and carried that same visual identity throughout the 200-page interior. Custom grayscale flower drawings were placed at each chapter opener, giving the book a vibrant, organic rhythm. Every chapter began on a right-hand page with a clean blank page opposite, creating a graceful pause before new content.

The interior design balanced classic elements, like elegant drop caps, with fresh, modern details. In the back of the book, we introduced a Reading Group Guide styled in a distinct format, complete with gray-edge navigation bars to make this section easy to locate.

The result is a nonfiction book that feels cohesive, welcoming, and full of life -- a perfect match for its message of growth and renewal!

Mary Kellough: “Zoe is always super responsive, diligent, easy to work with, and tremendously positive. A total pro!”

Watch a video about bringing this book to life!

Glow Up Your Chakras by Lauren Courtney

Self published, 2025. Book cover design by Zoe Norvell

I love it when a client is willing to let me splash some images across an interior to spice things up! Lauren was open to my suggestion that we feature chrystal photographs on each part divider. I sourced these photos from a free image library so they didn’t even increase her design budget.

Lauren’s book is part memoir, part cookbook. Throughout, I created a visual language to differentiate an activity page (feat. journal prompts, mantras, lists) from the cookbook portion (which featured various recipes). 

Lauren Courtney: “Working with Zoe was an absolute dream. Her talent shines through in both the cover art and the interior design, but what truly sets her apart is her thoroughness and the way she supported me every step of the way.”

Info about Lauren’s book!

The Art and Business of Online Writing by Nicolas Cole
Self published, 2020. Book cover design by Zoe Norvell

Nicolas Cole is a writing machine. I’ve had the pleasure of working on his book cover and book interior for 9 titles and counting: 

In The Art and Business of Online Writing, featured here, Cole wanted his cover to mimic recognizable online mediums, such as Quora and Substack. We reiterated that vision graphically throughout his interior by placing his text as short, punchy sentences, always flush left and separated by line breaks.

Nicolas Cole: “If your book isn't formatted properly, your readers will lose their trust in you. Hire Zoe and INABI and make your book look professional!”

More books by Nicolas Cole
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