Inside My VIP Workflow: How To Make Books Look Better

And It's Stupid Easy.

Apr 15, 2026

Sometimes “good” just isn’t enough. And sometimes… it’s not even good. Let me explain.

I see this all the time on Substack—many people are making this mistake. The book graphics. Yes. A lot of them look…too “normal.” They don’t stand out. Some of them look rushed, like they were thrown together in five minutes. This makes you look the same as everyone else. And if you look like that, buyers will skip right over your book.

Here is what most people miss: you’re competing with millions of other authors whose covers don’t just exist…they stand out without trying.

And whether we like it or not…people judge a book by its cover. They will not pause to analyze it. People are busy. They scroll and decide in SECONDS what they want. If it feels like everything else, they’re gone.

So here is how you can make your books stand out! And the best part? It’s completely FREE.

The Reveal: Google Pomelli And What It Is

There is a massive advantage to “captured” imagery over “generated” imagery. This is what most people get wrong about Google Pomelli. It is NOT a graphic generator. It doesn’t build an image from nothing. It takes your flat book cover and applies the physics of a professional photoshoot. It adds realistic lighting and depth. It makes a digital file into a high-end visual.

The Non-Workflow: Simple to a Fault

Minimalism beats complexity every time. My “process” is now so simple it’s almost embarrassing. I upload the book cover. That’s it.

There is no pre-processing or “improving” the image first. No tweaking. I simply take the book cover art and upload it to Google Pomelli. Done.

Most of the time, you don’t have to touch anything. Every now and then, you might tweak something slightly—but it’s rare. Usually, it gives you multiple options to work with anyway. So if one feels off, you just skip it and move on.

Visual Evidence Gallery

This is how you move from a flat file to a scroll-stopping asset:

I’ll use one of our VIP’s book as an example.

Here is the original:

Now let’s plug it into Pomelli.

Ta Daaa!!!! Now that looks professional!

You can even have Pomelli do Amazon product images!!

Marketing is about pattern interrupts. Our brains are efficient filters. We are biologically programmed to ignore templates and ads.

This works because it doesn’t look “designed.” When people scroll through a feed of “made” graphics, they pause for things that feel real, even if they don’t know why. By removing the “designed” look, you remove the cue that tells a reader to keep scrolling.