It happens. A LOT. Especially this year, it seems.
There have been so many books to come out with a new cover design recently. Perhaps it's not more than in any other year, but it feels like more because entire series are getting repackaged.
Granted, sometimes, books are repackaged because they didn't sell as well the first (or sometimes second) time around and the publisher is looking for the design that will finally resonate with the book's audience.
Sometimes, books are repackaged because the author is releasing the first new book in several years and the books are ready to be discovered by a new audience.
Sometimes, publishers just want a change.
To me, the biggest cover re-designs so far this year were entire series designs.
Most recently, Disney-Hyperion announced that it was re-designing Alexandra Bracken's once-again red-hot Darkest Minds series. This makes perfect sense, since the first book will be a movie next fall and the hype is already building. These excellent new covers will jump off the shelf and reel in new fans so that the movie will have an even bigger audience when it hits theaters in 2018.
I actually really like these covers, don't you? I don't regret owning the series in hardcover (Especially since they're signed editions!), but I'm so jealous of these new covers. They're REALLY pretty!!! I love the glowing symbols in the air and the way one of the letters in the title is lit up for each book!
Next up, Susan Dennard's Something Strange and Deadly series got repackaged. This also makes sense because the books had largely left bookstores. Now that Dennard's new series Truthwitch (published by TorTeen) is so popular, I can absolutely see why HarperCollins Teen wanted to re-release her first trilogy!
Granted, I haven't read this series, but I think both sets of covers are intriguing in very different ways. I think the original covers are lovelier, but I think the new covers have more atmosphere and tell you more about the book. The first set looks very steampunk while the new covers look more historical fantasy!
Finally--and to me the most surprising--cover re-design this year was for Leigh Bardugo's still very popular Shadow and Bone trilogy. With new books still coming in the Grishaverse, I can see why the first trilogy needed to be re-branded. It's not the only Grisha series out there, and they all can't be interconnected!
This is another hard draw! I don't regret owning the original covers. I LOVE the original covers. But the new covers are really intriguing, too!! I love the way each cover has an animal, because that MEANS SOMETHING, and it makes you anticipate each book once you understand that meaning!
EDITED TO ADD:
So, ironically, this afternoon brought us ANOTHER series re-design, this time for the widely popular An Ember in the Ashes quartet by Sabaa Tahir.
I don't know about anyone else, but I own too many books to constantly repurchase new ones just because I love the covers. There are SO MANY BOOKS that I want to own multiple copies of already--many because I love both the US and UK editions! When you add book repackaging into the mix???? I WANT THEM ALL!!!!
Seriously, I go from this:
to this:
Maybe someday, if I ever achieve my dream of owning the Beast's library!!!
There have been so many books to come out with a new cover design recently. Perhaps it's not more than in any other year, but it feels like more because entire series are getting repackaged.
Granted, sometimes, books are repackaged because they didn't sell as well the first (or sometimes second) time around and the publisher is looking for the design that will finally resonate with the book's audience.
Sometimes, books are repackaged because the author is releasing the first new book in several years and the books are ready to be discovered by a new audience.
Sometimes, publishers just want a change.
To me, the biggest cover re-designs so far this year were entire series designs.
~*~
Most recently, Disney-Hyperion announced that it was re-designing Alexandra Bracken's once-again red-hot Darkest Minds series. This makes perfect sense, since the first book will be a movie next fall and the hype is already building. These excellent new covers will jump off the shelf and reel in new fans so that the movie will have an even bigger audience when it hits theaters in 2018.
THE NEW COVERS:
 |
| ©Disney-Hyperion |
THE ORIGINAL COVERS:
~*~
Next up, Susan Dennard's Something Strange and Deadly series got repackaged. This also makes sense because the books had largely left bookstores. Now that Dennard's new series Truthwitch (published by TorTeen) is so popular, I can absolutely see why HarperCollins Teen wanted to re-release her first trilogy!
THE NEW COVERS:
THE ORIGINAL COVERS:
~*~
Finally--and to me the most surprising--cover re-design this year was for Leigh Bardugo's still very popular Shadow and Bone trilogy. With new books still coming in the Grishaverse, I can see why the first trilogy needed to be re-branded. It's not the only Grisha series out there, and they all can't be interconnected!
THE NEW COVERS:
 |
| ©Macmillan Fierce Reads |
THE ORIGINAL COVERS:
This is another hard draw! I don't regret owning the original covers. I LOVE the original covers. But the new covers are really intriguing, too!! I love the way each cover has an animal, because that MEANS SOMETHING, and it makes you anticipate each book once you understand that meaning!
~*~
EDITED TO ADD:
So, ironically, this afternoon brought us ANOTHER series re-design, this time for the widely popular An Ember in the Ashes quartet by Sabaa Tahir.
THE NEW COVERS:
THE ORIGINAL COVERS:
 |
| The hardcover//The first cover |
 |
| The first book redesigned in paperback |
Ember has struggled to find the right tone for its covers. This is the third cover for the first book in the series. While the first cover is still my favorite because I love how I'm always seeing something new, I'm really glad that we're getting more diverse covers--especially in fantasy!! I'm not personally a fan of people on books, especially in my fantasy, but I'm so happy that when we do get people on covers, they look the way they're supposed to and they're not whitewashed!
I really love how in the Mashable article, when asked about the re-design, Sabaa Tahir states,
We had been talking about re-jacketing the covers to match how the story has developed and I will be blunt, I really wanted a to see a brown girl on these covers. And I wanted her in a position of power. How often have I seen book covers with a hero dead center? All the time. But how often is that hero a POC? Not often enough. I wanted this beautiful brown girl to be in that classic hero’s pose — center stage, looking right at you, like a badass. And I wanted a brown man beside her, because that’s how I imagined the characters in my head.
So that’s where we started. I’ve always seen Laia as South Asian and Elias as a Middle Eastern/South Asian Mix. The cover artist sought out models who would fit those descriptions. As for the aesthetic, it makes me think of my favorite game — Assassin’s Creed. I play AC religiously and I’ve always loved the game’s covers: that stark white background with a hero gazing out at you.
Last, I hoped we could depict the drama and violence and romance of the book through poses, weaponry, colors and the title font. So really, the books themselves were the inspiration. The cover artist, Shane Rebenschied, and the cover designer, Kristin Smith-Boyle, just knocked it out of the park. These covers are everything I could have hoped for — everything I wanted to see as a kid in my fantasy book covers — but never did.
I really love how in the Mashable article, when asked about the re-design, Sabaa Tahir states,
We had been talking about re-jacketing the covers to match how the story has developed and I will be blunt, I really wanted a to see a brown girl on these covers. And I wanted her in a position of power. How often have I seen book covers with a hero dead center? All the time. But how often is that hero a POC? Not often enough. I wanted this beautiful brown girl to be in that classic hero’s pose — center stage, looking right at you, like a badass. And I wanted a brown man beside her, because that’s how I imagined the characters in my head.
So that’s where we started. I’ve always seen Laia as South Asian and Elias as a Middle Eastern/South Asian Mix. The cover artist sought out models who would fit those descriptions. As for the aesthetic, it makes me think of my favorite game — Assassin’s Creed. I play AC religiously and I’ve always loved the game’s covers: that stark white background with a hero gazing out at you.
Last, I hoped we could depict the drama and violence and romance of the book through poses, weaponry, colors and the title font. So really, the books themselves were the inspiration. The cover artist, Shane Rebenschied, and the cover designer, Kristin Smith-Boyle, just knocked it out of the park. These covers are everything I could have hoped for — everything I wanted to see as a kid in my fantasy book covers — but never did.
~*~
I don't know about anyone else, but I own too many books to constantly repurchase new ones just because I love the covers. There are SO MANY BOOKS that I want to own multiple copies of already--many because I love both the US and UK editions! When you add book repackaging into the mix???? I WANT THEM ALL!!!!
Seriously, I go from this:
to this:
Maybe someday, if I ever achieve my dream of owning the Beast's library!!!
~*~
What are your thoughts on repackaged covers? Love them? Hate them? Which new designs are your favorites???
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