Do Killed Covers Go to Heaven?

Looking at some recent unused book covers

I recently completed work on the cover for a book called The Collapse is Here: The Hopeful Christian’s Guide to Restore Faith, Home and Community by Gabe Lyons.¹ I didn’t count—because who has the time—but I am pretty sure this title now holds the record for “most unused cover options” in my portfolio. I thought you might like to see some of them to get an idea of what can go into designing a book cover. This one took about three months from creative brief to approval.

Here’s what the final cover ended up looking like, followed by nine unused, or “killed,” covers.²

There are many reasons a cover may or may not be chosen beyond whether or not it is “good.” Some reasons I know here, and some I don’t! But I keep moving, iterating, and exploring. I’m particularly fond of a few earlier covers, particularly the first one in this gallery. I wanted to see it with a gold foil stamp. However, as pretty as that would have been, the imagery wasn’t right for the book. And that’s alright. The greatest strength a designer can have is caring enough to do a good job, but never getting too attached to a particular outcome.

Which cover do you like best? Why?

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What I’m Reading (books)

I just finished There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib . I really enjoyed it, but found it difficult to read at times. It was definitely written by a poet, if you know what I mean.

I am currently reading Apparitions & Late Fictions by Thomas Lynch, a poet, essayist, and mortician in my home state of Michigan.

I started Box Office Poison by Tim Robey on my phone to read while getting the kids to sleep.

What I’m Reading (links)

I Made the Animorphs Covers. I Did Not Expect This.

What I’m Working On

• The cover for a memoir about working in a saw mill.

• The cover for a book about how smart fish are.

• The cover for a book about Islam in the second half of the 20th Century.

• The jacket mechanical for The Grassland Queen by Priyanka Kumar.

• Graphics and marketing material for an anime event at the library.

• A sticker sheet for a classic arcade week at the library.

Thanks for Reading!

Thank you for reading! I mean it.

If you’d like to keep this newsletter going and help me say no to designing soul-sucking books about corporate events, email marketing, and raising capital, consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a coffee.

Until next time,
—Nathaniel

1. All of the links to books in this newsletter are bookshop.org affiliate links. If you’d like to support this newsletter, buying a book via those links is a great way to do so!

2. No, these aren’t all of the unused covers for this book.