I know cover designer extraordinaire Alexander von Ness through his Self-Publishing and Book Marketing Group on Facebook, where I’m a group administrator. Alexander is a book cover designer with more than 20 years of professional experience in graphic design, including more than a decade as art director in a branding agency. In the past 10 years, his main area of focus has been book cover design. His website, Nessgraphica, is among the top trusted sites for book cover design services overall.

Book cover re-designs: A pro offers 7 before and after examples

By Alexander von Ness

Are you wondering if you should you re-design your book cover?

You’ve probably noticed that more and more authors are doing this.

They’re doing it for several reasons, but the most common and important are:

1. The author isn’t satisfied with their current cover.
2. The book sells poorly because the cover doesn’t fit the genre.

As a professional book cover designer, I can show you what it looks like in reality and reveal a few cover design “secrets.” They might help you decide whether and why you might want to think about doing this for your book, too.

Lessons from book cover do-overs

No one wrote and published a book just so it would sit on a shelf, no matter what they say.

Eventually, most want to sell as many copies as possible so their book becomes popular. A good cover will help get you there.

To illustrate the value of a good cover design, I’ll share a few examples of what a book cover re-design looks like and why I made specific changes.

Book cover re-design 1 – Hearts Set Free

In this example, we can see that the re-design does not deviate in general from the original. The focus on the sky (which the author strongly insisted on) turns this cover into a real “beauty” that will surely give this book much needed gravitas and character.

The author wanted the cover to contain only two basic elements, as explicit opposites. They are the desert, as a synonym for loss and helplessness, and the sky, representing hope and a new beginning.

He also wanted to strongly emphasize the contrast between these two elements while showing how they fit together, too.

I’m very pleased with this re-design. I think that it’s a great example of how with very few – but high quality – changes, a book cover can look fantastic and professional without deviating from its original.

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here

Book cover re-design 2 – The Career Game Plan

In this example, we can see that the re-design has a noticeable shift from the original cover, with the new cover still making a significant difference.

Where? In the title placement, for one.

Changing the title font and repositioning it in a much more visible location makes a huge difference. Additionally, I cleaned up all the clutter around the title and subtitle by stripping it so it’s as visible, readable, and transparent as possible.

I also replaced the photo of a man in a suit with an image of both men and women. This moves the design away from an exclusively male audience to include women, which is very important for this type of book.

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here.

Book cover re-design 3 – Windborne

This is a very interesting example of a book cover re-design in the true sense of the word.

We can immediately see the problem: an undefined genre. This automatically implies an undefined target audience – one of the biggest mistakes in book cover design.

Something is missing here, too.

I added the female figure, our “heroine,” as the dominant figure. The book is about her and not a tree or a church, right? This undoubtedly turned this book into a story about a girl instead of a story about a small church on a prairie.

I also included a windmill, something that appears in the book, as a small symbolic element.

I’ve completely changed the tone and warmth of the cover to give it an old-fashioned look, which works because the story takes place through a few generations. I created the title lettering myself because I wanted the cover to have a handmade quality.

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here.

Book cover re-design 4 – Gold Boys

Can you tell from the original cover what this book is about?

The first cover so completely missed what it’s supposed to represent that it’s hard to understand how it could have happened.

We can very freely conclude that this is dark humor or a medical mystery and not the psychological thriller that it is.

The book is about two best friends (do you see them on the original cover?) who attended Saint Anselm College (do you see it somewhere?) together and are drawn into a dark detective story.

The original version is a great example of how a simple cover can mislead the intended audience and others.

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here.

Book cover re-design 5 – Worship of Hollow Gods

I’ve seen so many books where there’s a sky and some letters on the cover. Most people have no idea what it represents. We can only guess.

The title tells us what this book is about, but let’s be honest. Would you ever click on this thumbnail on Amazon?

If you’ve already put in the effort and time to write a book, then you can put in at least a minimum more to create a meaningful cover.

It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece designed by an expensive professional. Just give your book a chance!

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here.

Book cover re-design 6 – The Spirit War

This is an interesting attempt to rely on one’s intuition . . . and a classic example of a cover design that’s all wrong.

First, I would like to point out that this is the first book in a trilogy that I had to re-design in its entirety. In the beginning, I had doubts about how to approach this because I knew that two more books were waiting for me, and all three, of course, must be recognized immediately as interconnected.

When it comes to topics like religion in a book, I am very careful because the authors very often present their personal vision of religion and faith. Great attention must be paid to every detail.

If you look at the complete re-design on the link below, you will see in the lower left corner the Christian three Kings coming to bring the “good news.” In the Christian religion, this is known as the news of hope.

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here.

Book cover re-design 7 – Onyx Webb

Lastly, a book cover design that screams “never do it alone if you don’t know how to do it.”

Never!

In her guest blog post on my site, “Never Judge a Book By Its Cover! – Are You Really Sure?,“ the author of this book describes the changes that cover re-designs brought to her publishing business and personal life.

As in the previous example, this book is the first in a multi-book series, and I was re-designing all of the covers.

The spider’s web visual element had to “stretch” throughout the whole series. It proved to be difficult to do because it interfered with my need to emphasize the main elements on each cover.

In the end, however, we went from what I consider to be a repulsive cover design to one that’s acceptable and interesting, and fits perfectly in the paranormal suspense and ghost fiction genre. That was our goal.

A more detailed overview of this book cover re-design example can be found here.

Is your cover ready for a new look?

Some authors have requested book cover re-designs of more than 10 books because they’ve discovered that a professional book cover design is a visual representation of your book’s quality content. It also shows your own appreciation for your hard work.

Yet, many authors worry that a re-design will cause brand recognition problems. Truth is, keeping a bad-looking cover is worse than reintroducing your work.

A good book cover design opens doors, so give your book a chance and watch your sales grow.

Who knows? Maybe there’s a masterpiece between your book’s covers that the world just hasn’t recognized yet.

Do you have questions for Alexander about cover design? Just ask them in a comment and he will reply.

One of my newsletter subscribers subscribers sent me an unsolicited copy of his self-published nonfiction book. He included a note asking me to review it on Amazon.

He didn’t ask me if I’d review it before mailing the book. I wish he had, because it’s not the type of book I read, so I’m not qualified to review it.

But there I was, holding a book that was part memoir, part rant, and all awful.

Much of the content, while important to the author, was irrelevant to the book’s topic. In addition, because there were few paragraph breaks in the text — imagine a book with page after page of text with no white space — it was hard to read.

So I didn’t.

“Did you read it yet?”

The author kept hounding me for an “honest” review, all the while reminding me of how much that review copy cost him to print and mail.

I eventually read several pages to get a feel for his style and content. Then I scanned the rest to confirm that it was a book fueled by a vendetta and not by a need to help others. When I felt confident that I had seen enough to write an informed review, I did so.

I focused on the positives — his passion and topic knowledge — and gave it a three-star rating instead of a more honest one-star assessment.

It wasn’t the glowing five-star comment he expected, so he sent a scathing e-mail about me to his friend . . . or  — imagine “Dateline’s” Keith Morrison asking this question — “Did he?” 

The author sent his cranky message to me by mistake! Ha!

via GIPHY

Quality makes a difference

This author doesn’t understand the importance of quality — in his manuscript, in the finished product, or in his dealings with others.

If you want people to know about, purchase, and read your books, quality counts. It really is that simple.

People don’t tell other readers about books that are “so-so.” But they will do your marketing for you when you give them something worth sharing.

Signs of quality in a book

Whether you plan to write just one book or several, you need:

• A great title (and for nonfiction, a corresponding subtitle)
• An attention-getting, professionally designed cover that’s appropriate for your genre
• Excellent content
• Well-written content (which isn’t the same as excellent content — you can write well, but still produce text that’s useless)
• Text with very few typographical errors and grammar mistakes
• Quality marketing materials (this applies to everything you communicate about the book, from your tweets to your website)

It starts with the cover. There’s that cliche about how you can’t judge a book by its cover, but guess what: We do. And it’s the first thing we see when we discover a book.

Whether it’s a thumbnail-size e-book cover or one showcased on a bookstore shelf, if it doesn’t look “right,” we’ll move along without bothering to read the book description.

What’s more, if the cover looks amateurish, we’ll presume that what’s inside is sub-par, too. Can you take that risk?

Hiring help

If you’re serious about using your book to educate, entertain, influence, or inform, you’ll have to make sure it’s a quality product. Most authors need outside help to accomplish that.

There are all kinds of excellent professionals available to make sure that you’ve got the best book possible — one that represents you and your talents well. Yes, you will have to spend a little money on good talent, but isn’t that smarter than wasting your time producing a book that nobody reads?

Ask authors whose work you admire to refer you to cover designers, editors, proofreaders, and others who can help you take your book to the next level.

You can also use online writers’ forums, your local writer’s group, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, or your social networks to request referrals to trusted professionals.

A few resources for improving quality

I get a lot of e-mails asking me for resources, so here are a few that might help.

• Book covers: I know many authors who have been happy with the process at 99designs. For a more personal approach, consider my cover designer friend Alexander von Ness at Nessgraphica.
• Editing and proofreading help: Use the “Freelance Writer Search” option from the American Society of Journalists and Authors or the Editorial Freelancers Association.
• Ghostwriters: I’m a member of and recommend the “find a writer” resources offered by both the Association of Ghostwriters and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
• Quality marketing materials: At a minimum, you want an attractive website that appeals to your target reader.

Can you do all of it on your own? Not likely.

If you’re a good writer, you probably aren’t a good cover and interior layout designer.

If you’re a good artist, you might not be a solid writer.

Figure out where you’re weak and get help. You won’t regret it.

What services do you recommend for cover designers, book interiors/layouts, ghostwriters, editors, etc.? Please help others by sharing referrals!

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2012. It has been updated and expanded.)