These are so good, in most cases I think I prefer your version (and the same goes for your first post on this topic).
I meant to ask the question then but forgot, so will ask it now. What happens to all of these rejected covers? Can they be recycled and sold to other authors? Do you hold the rights? Does this go for all rejected covers? (sorry for all these questions, I'm curious!)
Unless the contract specifies otherwise—and this would probably be a weird contract—I’m pretty sure I own all the unused stuff. It usually just sits on a hard drive, but I have on occasion reused the general idea from a reject.
Last year I set up a website to sell unused business book cover design files (changing titles of course) but I’m a little ambivalent about premade book covers in general and just don’t give enough of a shit about business books to put in the effort to make a profit there. But maybe I should.
This is interesting to know. My book cover process is a bit of a shambles and that's usually because I'm indecisive and hardly know what I want and probably have a lousy eye for design. This was a nightmare process on my first book and my poor designers were probably thinking 'come on man, give us more to work with!' So I often peruse pre-made cover sites because I'm hoping I'll see one that's just right but rarely do. Believe me, as an avid reader and fan of book covers, I've got plenty of my favourites and styles I love, but I'm all over the place. I often see one and think 'that's it, that's the one I want!' but obviously if someone has it for their cover I can't have it 😭
I was wondering then if I were to reach out to some designers who post their rejected covers how they'd react to me wanting one. I think I'll have a look for some on Instagram and those other sites you linked to in your first post.
I get why the rejected Pink Scar was rejected… the “swastika rule” … turn your design upside down and sideways and if there is even a hint of a swastika, don’t use it… it wasn’t obvious at first, but the school of pink triangles …. 😬 … clever, though.
The final has a hint of a swastika, but it’s partial and I think it probably gets a pass for being a historical photo.
I had another comp that played with the graphic nature of the swastika that I thought was clever too. At first I was rooting for my clever ideas, but now I’m a little glad they weren’t chosen. I have very complicated emotions about attempts at “clever” when it comes to such subject matter. There’s an essay in the back of my mind about this if I can ever parse the thoughts about it.
It’s hard not to want to subvert the meaning of something so thoroughly recognizable as the swastika, though!
Of course I can’t find it now, but I saw a recent book from university of Chicago press whose cover illustrated a swastika via the door of prison bars.
The most egregious mistake in this series is the author’s clueless demand that that blob of a painting replace the compelling illustration on that first example. A total buzzkill. And I bet it sold fewer books, too.
I love the final for that book, but you make a good point!
The published cover is made up of the paper ephemera that is the heart of the whole book—there’s like 300+ illustrations and scans inside the book. Some of those characters made it to the back cover, though 🙂
Dude I've said it before and I'll say it again: You are a champ at your job. Not a single one of these looks bad! As an editor I would be grinding my teeth to have nothing but great options to choose from.
I love this metaphor: “If a jacket makes it to the shelf at your local Barnes & Noble, it is a battle-tested beauty that has defeated its same-named rivals and survived the colosseum known as Sales & Marketing. If a book cover makes it to publication, there are undoubtedly “killed,”or rejected, covers in its wake.” This is true of all design projects that include clients and stakeholders. You never know what the designer went though to get to that final design.
Exactly. People don’t realize there can be so much red tape—and I haven’t even seen the worst of it, considering I’ve not yet designed a jacket for a big five.
Cool side by sides. I quite like the rejected Dali/Dalai and Rhetoric Inc covers. I think the rejected Why Teach cover is quite classy, though at first glance it says popular non-fiction more than novel to me (which could have been deliberate I guess?).
Thanks Anne! Good point about that Why Teach cover—black serif text on a white background definitely has popular nonfiction vibes. Damn you, Malcolm Gladwell!
That’s often the reason, yeah. Though there’s a hundred reasons why a publisher might want to refresh the design between versions! Sometimes it’s the same general design but some small things are changed like the arrangement or color
I find seeing the rejected ones quite valuable. I also think some of the rejected ones should have been chosen. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Matt! I’m glad you found it valuable.
These are so good, in most cases I think I prefer your version (and the same goes for your first post on this topic).
I meant to ask the question then but forgot, so will ask it now. What happens to all of these rejected covers? Can they be recycled and sold to other authors? Do you hold the rights? Does this go for all rejected covers? (sorry for all these questions, I'm curious!)
Unless the contract specifies otherwise—and this would probably be a weird contract—I’m pretty sure I own all the unused stuff. It usually just sits on a hard drive, but I have on occasion reused the general idea from a reject.
Last year I set up a website to sell unused business book cover design files (changing titles of course) but I’m a little ambivalent about premade book covers in general and just don’t give enough of a shit about business books to put in the effort to make a profit there. But maybe I should.
This is interesting to know. My book cover process is a bit of a shambles and that's usually because I'm indecisive and hardly know what I want and probably have a lousy eye for design. This was a nightmare process on my first book and my poor designers were probably thinking 'come on man, give us more to work with!' So I often peruse pre-made cover sites because I'm hoping I'll see one that's just right but rarely do. Believe me, as an avid reader and fan of book covers, I've got plenty of my favourites and styles I love, but I'm all over the place. I often see one and think 'that's it, that's the one I want!' but obviously if someone has it for their cover I can't have it 😭
I was wondering then if I were to reach out to some designers who post their rejected covers how they'd react to me wanting one. I think I'll have a look for some on Instagram and those other sites you linked to in your first post.
Appreciate your insight, thank you!
I don’t want to speak for everyone—it really depends on the designer! Some may be into that idea, others not.
Good luck!
I get why the rejected Pink Scar was rejected… the “swastika rule” … turn your design upside down and sideways and if there is even a hint of a swastika, don’t use it… it wasn’t obvious at first, but the school of pink triangles …. 😬 … clever, though.
The final has a hint of a swastika, but it’s partial and I think it probably gets a pass for being a historical photo.
I had another comp that played with the graphic nature of the swastika that I thought was clever too. At first I was rooting for my clever ideas, but now I’m a little glad they weren’t chosen. I have very complicated emotions about attempts at “clever” when it comes to such subject matter. There’s an essay in the back of my mind about this if I can ever parse the thoughts about it.
It’s hard not to want to subvert the meaning of something so thoroughly recognizable as the swastika, though!
Of course I can’t find it now, but I saw a recent book from university of Chicago press whose cover illustrated a swastika via the door of prison bars.
The most egregious mistake in this series is the author’s clueless demand that that blob of a painting replace the compelling illustration on that first example. A total buzzkill. And I bet it sold fewer books, too.
It was a long shot—they wanted that painting long before they saw any other options I sent. But I agree nonetheless!
God the rejected Dali/Dalai cover is SO GOOD
Thanks for sharing these. The skull / beetle on Dali / Dalai is awesome!
Cinema Ann Arbor reject was definitely better. A scene is an interesting collection of characters in time.
I love the final for that book, but you make a good point!
The published cover is made up of the paper ephemera that is the heart of the whole book—there’s like 300+ illustrations and scans inside the book. Some of those characters made it to the back cover, though 🙂
Dude I've said it before and I'll say it again: You are a champ at your job. Not a single one of these looks bad! As an editor I would be grinding my teeth to have nothing but great options to choose from.
Rob! Thank you brother
These were so interesting to see!
Thanks Caroline! I’m happy to hear that.
I love this metaphor: “If a jacket makes it to the shelf at your local Barnes & Noble, it is a battle-tested beauty that has defeated its same-named rivals and survived the colosseum known as Sales & Marketing. If a book cover makes it to publication, there are undoubtedly “killed,”or rejected, covers in its wake.” This is true of all design projects that include clients and stakeholders. You never know what the designer went though to get to that final design.
Thank you Jen!
Exactly. People don’t realize there can be so much red tape—and I haven’t even seen the worst of it, considering I’ve not yet designed a jacket for a big five.
That’s why I also try not to be too judgmental of “bad” design because you don’t know how much of it was the designer or the process with the client.
Cool side by sides. I quite like the rejected Dali/Dalai and Rhetoric Inc covers. I think the rejected Why Teach cover is quite classy, though at first glance it says popular non-fiction more than novel to me (which could have been deliberate I guess?).
Thanks Anne! Good point about that Why Teach cover—black serif text on a white background definitely has popular nonfiction vibes. Damn you, Malcolm Gladwell!
Haha yeah ngl I did think of Malcolm Gladwell
Why do paperbacks sometime get a new cover design? Is it because it didn’t sell as well in hardback as expected?
That’s often the reason, yeah. Though there’s a hundred reasons why a publisher might want to refresh the design between versions! Sometimes it’s the same general design but some small things are changed like the arrangement or color