I'm not enough of a designer to do justice to this. It's not the same as being an artist. (I'm also doing writing.) It does sound a bit odd, in that it's unusual for a publisher, even a tiny publisher, to apparently abandon control of the cover design. Of course, print-on-demand is changing things a lot. It's much easier to self-publish, without risking a garage filled with unsold books, and it's much easier for somebody to be a tiny publisher. Folks: general warning. It's a very bad sign if you have to pay the publisher. Helgard, I hope it works out for you.