📚🎨In need of a cover, illustration, or some character art for your book? Want to make sure you collaborate with an artist that will deliver professional-quality work & won’t use genAI in any part of their process?
42 Fold aims to make it easy.
The artists in our roster are all household names, and worked for big clients & publishers from Penguin Random House, First Second to HBO, Netflix, LVMH, and more. They are excited to be part of your creative journey and care about your projects as if they are their own!
Contact us for all inquiries✨
#indieauthors #indiewriters #indie #bookstagram #bookgram #indieartists #art #bookcovers #bookillustrations #characterart #commission #authors #writers #publishing #publisher #indiepublishers #booksbooksbooks
At 42 Fold, our roster of artists are all household names in their field and true professionals who worked with big clients & publishers ranging from Penguin Random House, First Second to HBO, Netflix, LVMH and more.
Never hesitate to reach out to us with your boldest art requests for all your projects!
📢📢📢 #Friendsof42, this is just a quick reminder that our ARC sign-ups close TONIGHT for these fun summertime reads! Find more info and links in Friday’s email, and be sure to let us know via DM if you can’t find it in your inbox or are having any issues receiving our communications.
Can we also encourage you to follow these two amazing authors? We’re so thankful to @blakemorgan.author and @authorlindseymontgomery for working with the studio! Our artists loved working on these books 💖
ARCs go out on Monday! Thank you to our bookish friends, we have an amazing community!
#Friendsof42, here’s our second ARC offering for May! We're so excited to bring you Just a Phase by Blake Morgan @blakemorgan.author ! Our studio was honored to work with the author on the cover, which was illustrated by @margueritesauvage 💖 This romance is out on June 2nd.
Friends of 42 can opt in via the link in today’s email! Note that we have two separate sign-ups active this weekend 👀
Some important notes:
✨ This is not an automatic opt-in! You must sign up via the link in our email!
✨ If you opt in, we'll send a digital ARC securely via Bookfunnel
✨ Sign-ups close on Sunday, May 17th at 11:59pm
✨ ARCs go out on the morning of Monday, May 18th
✨ You'll be receiving an early copy from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review
More about Just a Phase:
🖤 Plus-size FMC
🖤 Short king MMC
🖤 Disability rep
🖤 Touch her and 💀
🖤 He falls first
🖤 Tattoos
Synopsis in the comments due to character limit restrictions!
To all our #Friendsof42, we're delighted to offer a chance to read Smashed Pumpkins by Lindsey Montgomery @authorlindseymontgomery ! Out on June 2nd, this a novella described as “slasher meets rom-com.” Our studio was honored to work with Lindsey on character illustrations for the book - swipe through to see the artwork by Laura Helsby @illaurastrates !
Friends of 42 can opt in via the link in today’s email! Note that we have two separate sign-ups active this weekend 👀
Some important notes:
✨ This is not an automatic opt-in! You must sign up via the link in our email!
✨ If you opt in, we'll send a digital ARC securely via Bookfunnel
✨ Sign-ups close on Sunday, May 17th at 11:59pm
✨ ARCs go out on the morning of Monday, May 18th
✨ You'll be receiving an early copy from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review
More about Smashed Pumpkins:
🎃 Killer Pumpkins & Monster Vines
🪓 Forced Proximity
🎃 Small Town Horror
🪓 Brainy FMC
🎃 Jock MMC
🪓 Multiple POVs
🎃 Angst + Dark Humor
🪓 Gnarly Death Scenes
🎃 Slasher meets Rom-Com
And the synopsis:
By sundown, the crew will learn the hard way: in this patch, the pumpkins do the picking.
Valerie is done living the life her mom mapped out. Shaun’s football dreams ended with one bad tackle, and now he’s spiraling without a future. Both need a fresh start, and a day of farmhand work at Farmer Fred’s “Fantastic” Farm, home of Blandville’s Pumpkin Spice Festival, seems harmless enough.
Neither expects to come face-to-face with an old crush while they’re knee-deep in pumpkins and petty chores—let alone feel those sparks reignite. But just as Val and Shaun begin to find comfort, and maybe something more, in each other, Fred’s chemically enhanced fertilizer unleashes a nightmare. The pumpkins carve, the vines want blood, and the volunteers are first on the menu.
Now Val and Shaun must fight their way through one blood-soaked farm if they want to survive the night. Because in Blandville, KY…love might be the only thing strong enough to survive the smash.
We hit 5k followers this week!!! 🎉🎉🎉 We’re celebrating with a giveaway! Keep reading to learn more about all the fun prizes and how to enter 💖 And please accept SO MUCH heartfelt gratitude from everyone at the studio - we’re thankful for your support every single day!
Please note we have THREE possible prizes for this giveaway and will randomly choose one winner per prize.
GIVEAWAY PRIZES
✨ Option A - Full wrap book cover designed by our very own @lianakangas ! Paperback and ebook covers included in the prize. We can redesign an existing cover or create a new one for your upcoming release, to be delivered within 2026 or early 2027.
✨ Option B - A special edition hardcover of your choice, from our 42Fold Limited 2026 lineup. Signed bookplate included! Any of our 2026 titles are eligible.
✨ Option C - A profile pic illustrated by one of our 42Fold Studio artists! Please note the artist selection will depend on schedules and availability.
HOW TO ENTER
💝 Must be following @42fold.studio
💝 Like the post and leave a comment telling us which prize you’d pick!
💝 Share this post and tag @42fold.studio for a bonus entry
💝 Hit the repost button for another bonus entry
💝 Must be 18+ to enter; this giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram or its subsidiaries
💝 Giveaway ends on Monday, May 18th at 11:59pm EST
💝 Winner will be notified via DM and posted in our stories
indie authors | readers | bookstagram | booksta | books | book art | human art | book cover | human artists
Book Mail🤭
I read All That Holds Between as an ARC a few months back and had to get this gorgeous special edition!
If you like the show Black Mirror or are in the market for a speculative fiction novella, check out this book by @sjleewriter
Art by @margueritesauvage
Edition by @42fold.studio
Get To Know Our Artists Series this week is bringing you the amazing Lisa Sterle @lisasterle !
Lisa has an undeniable eye for stand out compositions that feel both organic & bold, and that always fit the story perfectly. From illustrating the Modern Witch Tarot Deck to co-creating rebellious and enthralling tales released at various publishers, her polyvalence shows in every piece she draws.
It is an honor to represent her at the studio💖
Cover by @margueritesauvage for the contemporary romance Just A Phase by @blakemorgan.author , coming out in June!
Marguerite illustrated and lettered the cover, while @lianakangas designed the paperback based on her work. We really do everything in house at the studio even if you don’t want a fully illustrated wraparound! We always deliver ebook + paperback files, fully lettered and ready to upload💖
Thank you, Blake, for trusting us with your characters, and #Friendsof42 keep an eye out for an opportunity this week to read this book early👀
Full Synopsis:
When you catch your long-term boyfriend getting cozy with his soon-to-be stepsister—on your couch, in your house—there are really only two options: cry into a pint of ice cream… or have some fun of your own.
Palmer Jade chooses the latter.
At thirty-something, newly single, and with zero patience for emotional entanglements, Palmer is ready to make up for lost time. Her rules are simple: good times, no strings. So when someone from her best friend’s husband’s unit—Bailey Diaz, a ridiculously hot Army soldier with a smirk that should be illegal and a body to match—shows up to help with some things around the house, Palmer figures he’s the perfect candidate for a temporary distraction.
Bailey’s not looking for anything serious either. Between deployments, he barely has time to breathe, let alone date. But when Palmer invites him on a petty revenge mission to her ex’s house and he ends up accidentally (on purpose) running over the guy’s stuff, things escalate—fast. One hookup turns into two, and suddenly Bailey’s seeing Palmer as more than just a fling.
But with Bailey constantly being shipped off to who-knows-where and Palmer determined not to catch feelings, their situationship is on borrowed time. And neither of them is quite ready for what happens when real life—and real feelings—start to get in the way.
By now, the vast majority of you will have seen the stunning artwork from @margueritesauvage on the case wrap and dust jacket for our Special Edition of All That Holds Between by @sjleewriter , but we felt like the art still deserved its own post on the grid. I mean…just look at the sheer beauty of these and the details that are packed in those pieces. It was an honor for the team (looking at you @irenewritesthings and @lianakangas ) to create this special edition of SJ Lee’s novella, and a privilege to have Marguerite illustrating it💖
Endpapers illustrations by the one and only @skyepatridge for the @the.arcane.society special edition of @ivy.asher romantasy book Spark the Flames🐉
Always a pleasure collaborating with The Arcane Society🦋
Full Synopsis:
When it comes to dragons, there’s no such thing as safe.
I learned that the hard way when my kith and kindred were slaughtered right before my eyes.
Everyone thinks the wyverns and the sorcai did it, but I know the truth.
I’ve been hiding from The Horde ever since, existing under their radar, surviving.
And then one day, they find me…he finds me. Aeson Noctis, the king’s second son and my new captor.
Aeson thinks he can force me back to Paragon City. He thinks he can use me and claim my power for his own.
But the dragons should’ve been more careful about who they let inside their city. I’m not some weak little pawn. I’m here looking for answers.
I’m here looking for revenge.
When it comes to dragons, there’s no such thing as safe. I know because I am one, and now I’m going to make The Horde pay for what they’ve done.
They thought they killed all the Syphons.
They thought they hunted down every one.
They thought wrong.
