Westley Enterprises is an independent publisher based in Helena, Montana. We specialize in publishing for independent authors who want to retain complete control of their creative product without spending hundreds of dollars on ISBNs, book covers, interior layout, and marketing graphics. You can do it all yourself, or you can contact Westley Enterprises to help in the areas where you need it.
Book Covers
Interior Layout
Marketing Graphics
Logos
Business Cards
Website Design
Social Media
Independent Publishing
Self-Publishing Help
Referrals to industry experts
Kate was born to design. After earning her bachelor's degree in art history at the University of Texas, she immediately found her passion for designing and simplifying highly technical and complicated designs, while creating a consistent brand identity. She specializes in working with independent authors who want to focus on writing while trusting an industry professional to tackle the other aspects of publishing. She has spent over a decade designing everything from book covers, newsletters, technical manuals, and business cards, to website design, online and social graphics, and more. Her extensive experience as a writer and technical editor has allowed her to overlap her design and copywriting talent to provide content creation alongside design.
She works in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. She has a passion to learn new programs, is proficient in HTML and CSS, and is a self-proclaimed Microsoft Office Suite dominator. Kate is an expert at becoming an expert on your book and creating designs that allow you to effortlessly communicate with your ideal readers.
When she isn't designing, she's enjoying Krav Maga, hiking, writing, drawing, rearranging furniture, and cleaning up after her menagerie of mostly domesticated animals, including three dogs, four cats, and one husband.
Westley was born in Lousiana and somehow found his way to Texas as a puppy in 2016, where he adopted an aspiring young designer. After not graudating from any school or acquiring any skills or experience, he became the Chief Operating Officer of Westley Enterprises. This is an honorary title with no responsibilities, though he does occasionally sample the books Kate helps design. He enjoys basking in the sun in the summer, snoozing by the fire in the winter, belly rubs, food, snuggling, and more food. As the second most senior member of the Russell menagerie, he takes his position as the grumpy old man very seriously. You may recognize him and his sassy side-eye from the Westley Enterprises logo!
"Kate Russell is some kind of creative genius. Each book cover, each logo, each one-pager prompts her clients to say, 'It’s perfect! I love it!'"
"I trust Kate Russell of Westley Enterprises for all my book covers. Her talent and ease to work with are unmatched. She brings my vision to life effortlessly, making each book cover a true masterpiece. I highly recommend her to anyone seeking exceptional design and professionalism!"
"Through some kind of intuitive wizardry, Kate takes in a few words of what I'm seeking for a book cover and produces a graphic design that is not only enticing for a reader but also true to the spirit of the story. I'll say something like 'a chemically-addled pigeon in a garden' or 'the stuffed animal left behind on a plane by a child with autism' and presto, Kate's got it."
"In my short story about a watery castle made of water, Kate was ingenuitive and really communicated. In the short amount of time, we had she kept our eye on the prize. We made a delightful and intriguing cover together!"
"Kate Russell's cover design for my first book exceeded all of my expectations. Kate came up with the perfect illustration that captured the energy of the main character and his narrative. She was able to work with different fonts and typesetting until everything looked flawless on the cover. As a first-time self publisher, I was naive about the design process, but Kate professionally walked me through the maze. She created the perfect templates for Kindle Direct Publishing and Draft to Digital Publishing. She is easy to work with and kind. I am indebted to her and her creativity."
"Kate is a fantastic cover designer. Sometimes I'll give her a tiny detail (young chinese woman on a boat), or sometimes nothing at all and she'll come up with a fantastic design. I'll generally have a few minor changes and she's really quick to make the fixes."
"As an indie author, there's a lot of pressure to make our books look as professional as traditionally published ones. Thanks to Kate’s incredible formatting, readers and other authors alike have told me they can’t tell my book is self-published. If that’s not proof of how polished the design is, I don’t know what is! Her work has played a huge role in getting my book into every single bookstore I’ve pitched. I can’t thank Kate enough for making my book baby look so grown up and fancy!"
"Kate has designed all of my book covers and interior layouts, my website, and whatever else I need. She is always happy to adapt her unique style to the bright, eye-catching designs I adore as a thriller writer, and her help doesn't break the bank."
