Self publisher book cover design portfolio

Studies show that potential buyers spend 8 seconds looking at a book's front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover before making a buying decision. This is your one and only shot at making that cash-on-the-counter first impression. We deliver spectacular, one-of-a-kind design that transforms your entire cover—even the spine—into a winning sales package.

Our design approach is different. We create the look that sells your book and builds your brand. We explore numerous concepts and then carefully craft a powerful design that leverages all the unique selling features and benefits of your book. All of this turns your book into the standout title of choice in your market. Take a look at our Extreme Makeover samples as well as the Logos we've developed for a variety of clients to see how a total design package gives you the power to sell BIG.

Click on any sample below to see an enlargement and for more details.

Life Blows: QUANTUM LEAP RESOURCES

For some authors, the driving passion behind writing a book is a tragic event, their own recovery, and how they can use what they have learned to help others. Gunned down at an ATM, this author sustained severe injuries and then endured a lengthy rehabilitation. Projects like this are extremely moving for our entire creative team. This cover clearly called for a powerful design equal to this story, so we went in search of the perfect illustration. The force of the design and the added wind effect brings the feeling of chaos and change to life dramatically for readers who need this message of hope. The cover design helped When Life Blows You Down win the prestigious 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Voice (first book by a new author), Nonfiction.

Divorced Dads: ADESSO PRESS

This self-published book was created on a very limited budget, so we tapped into our archives of stock photos and created this beautiful montage of images that capture healthy, playful, loving relationships between children and their dads. The result? It's the winner of three prestigious awards: two 2003 Benjamin Franklin awards from the Publishers Marketing Association, and Honorable Mention in the 2003 Writer's Digest National Book Awards .

"When receiving one of the awards, I thanked you by name from the podium. Your cover has been a prime reason the book as gotten such good reviews. It's simply brilliant! One of the judges at the PMA awards said the cover was the best he'd seen." —Lee Hefner, author

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: HARPERCOLLINS

Within weeks of being self-published, this cover design attracted the eye of publishing giant HarperCollins who bought the rights and sold 150,000 copies within a few months. This book quickly became a global sensation and is now published in nearly thirty countries. It has topped bestseller lists in places as diverse as Israel, Spain, Mexico, and Canada and is being made into a motion picture. The design challenge was to address the spiritual message to an audience of mostly corporate executives. To cross that bridge, we blended old and new, tradition and innovation, by hand-coloring an 18th century etching and then adding special effects like matte and gloss lamination. This landmark bestseller grew into a series that currently includes over five books, all of which carry the now distinctive and internationally recognized "Monk" look.

Honeymoon Marriage: BLUE SAIL PUBLISHING

Here's a great example of a self-published book designed mostly for web sales. One of the questions we always ask authors is how and where do you plan to sell your book, because this is critical to the way we design the cover. The hip, fresh colors of this dust jacket really make this cover design pop on-screen and stand out from the crowd anywhere else. This look instantly conveys the happy-couple message and attracts the target audience of these marriage-mentoring co-authors. It's easy to see why this book received Honorable Mention in the 2003 Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards.

Silverlance: PETER T. CROWELL PUBLICATIONS

Fiction books have their own particular cover design needs and requirements. That's why we selected an illustration that wraps all the way around the book, creating a magnified sense of intrigue and adventure that literally leads you right into this incredible story. We then selected high-impact bindery materials—including custom cloth, endsheets, and foil stamping—to further create an ancient, magical feeling for this book. It's now one of those books that you can't resist touching—and taking home! Perfect for bookstore sales, where most fiction lives or dies. It's important to note that we also created the publisher logo, a critical component of the cover and the credibility of any book, for a first-time, self-publishing author.

PowerSelling: POWER2BE MEDIA

This internationally recognized marketing and sales consultant and speaker is using this book to promote his speaking career to the next level, answer his audiences' continual requests for a book, and secure his expert status as the leading voice in his industry. That's the power of a self-published book. It was important for us to know that this author is selling his book primarily on his website and is not at all concerned about bookstore sales. For that reason, this cover features him as a main selling component. We art-directed and considered a wide variety of professional photos. We then chose this one for the way it helps integrate the book title to create a total branding combination—a very powerful strategy. The author also needed this book to have an innovative look while maintaining a clean corporate image to reinforce his exceptional credibility and expertise. This cover design clearly does both. This author is now using this brand identity to launch his entire marketing campaign—on posters, postcards, flyers, in ads, and more. Click here to see Power2Be logo.

Crossing Over: JODERE GROUP

Crossing Over quickly catapulted to national bestseller status, and this cover design certainly helped pave the way. Titled after John Edwards' popular TV show, the cover uses this lush color palette to radiate both the mystery and mastery that surround this world-renowned psychic. This particular photo reaches through to instantly connect with John's loyal television audience. The total effect draws in even the casual browser—in book stores or on the Web—for a second look. This is how books get sold! Dunn+Associates has designed many covers for Jodere Group (the publisher) and Hay House (the distributor), demonstrating its unique ability to match the message to the market in this ever-growing health and healing industry.

The Power of Kabbalah: JODERE GROUP

Books from the Jodere Group push open every envelope and leap out of every box. This creative, passionate team out of San Diego created Jodere as a unique publishing and multimedia avenue for individuals whose mission it is to positively impact the lives of others. Every title snaps you to attention. We are thrilled to create the cover elements that make those messages come alive. Here's a book cover, for example, that mixes religion—and Madonna! Her endorsement on the front cover indicates that this is not the typical take on things. The look itself is also clearly and intentionally non-religious—clean, clear, and uncluttered. Even the color palette speaks to this fresh approach to an ancient belief system. We love the creative challenge of developing that individual feel for a particular book, yet an overall distinctive and recognizable look for you as the publisher.

Unspeakable: BAYOU PUBLISHING

It's not every day that a book comes along with a truly different approach or insightful perspective. But when it does, the cover design must instantly convey this to the world. This book cover graphically captures the intensely personal despair of being trapped by grief. This remarkable book then breaks the silence. It takes a daring look at how we grieve and what it really takes to heal. The unusual color palette here quickly differentiates this book from all the others on grief and healing. The clean, simple, non-sentimental typography also shows how this book is different. The publisher was most concerned that the cover design face this subject head-on, avoiding cliched and overused soft images and colors. The raw strength of this cover communicates the reality of grief as well as the hope that readers need most.

Fast Feng Shui: LOTUS POND PRESS

This is a self-published series by an author who knows how to market aggressively. She knew from the start that the first book would be one in a series. This was critical to developing a look that could be translated from book to book to create a cohesive, highly recognizable series appeal. We then followed the same design format for each book cover—as seen in this fourth book in the series—carefully considering how they will look side by side on a bookshelf. This is just one of many reasons that the spine on your book, in addition to the front and back covers, is so vitally important. The spine is often all anyone will see so it, too, must be designed to work hard to sell your book. The beautiful, feng-shui inspired color palettes are the final element of this evolving series approach. Click here to see more from the series.

The Final Pardon: BALIOS PUBLISHING

This mystery novel was first released as an e-book and then later printed. As always, knowing this self-publisher's goals and marketing plan helped us create a cover that would allow this book to sell successfully in both formats and selling environments. The design itself is a provocative layering of images—the White House, the jungle, and a poisonous frog—that have worked extremely well to attract enormous attention to this high-suspense novel. Interestingly, we were unable to find a photo of this particular poisonous frog, so we created our own, through the magic of stock photography and computer illustration.

Generation to Generation: Light the Fire Within

Not just the cover, but your entire book—inside and out—can be beautifully designed to convey the unique treasure that you have created. This distinctive journal, for example, contains more than eighty color pages on which to record precious family memories. Embellished with separator pages of a rich, frosted, translucent paper, this book has a lasting feel and quality. We also developed this same journal in a luxurious bonded leather edition that can be custom-monogrammed in silver foil. Working with an Asian printer, we selected materials for the dark-blue, linen-covered slipcase to give this keepsake even more longevity. For those unable to write, an audio version of the journal was created to capture the unique wisdom of loved ones in their own words and in their own voice, simply by turning on a tape recorder. Many of our clients and friends have ordered this beautiful, treasured gift. To purchase your copy, click here.