Mike Trent

Mike Trent – Designer

I design books that stand out. 20+ years of award-winning covers, with two decades at Wiley Publishing shaping bestsellers.

Overview

I am an art director and a cover designer with more than 20 years of experience in book publishing - leading in-house design teams, developing bespoke designs, creating packaging for series of books, and managing brands. In my most recent role at Wiley, I personally designed 100+ creative projects and directed 200+ projects designed by in-house teams or vendors each year.

I work quickly, collaboratively, and am committed to a design process that begins with understanding your needs, quickly ideating a range of solutions, refining the best options and finalizing the perfect cover for your book.

Services
Non-Fiction
Comics Non-Fiction Computers & Internet Education & Reference Math & Science Photography Self-Help & Self-Improvement Technology
Languages
English

Work experience

Self-employed

Jan, 2024 — Present
We are a multidisciplinary creative studio blending expert book and publishing design with performance-driven strategy, helping authors and brands stand out in crowded markets. Led by a veteran designer with nearly three decades of experience, we create sharp, professional visuals built to elevate both credibility and impact.

Wiley

May, 2001 — Nov, 2022 (over 21 years)
• Research, develop, and execute book product packaging from concept to production for more than 500 unique products including book covers, boxed sets, product bundles, and displays from the For Dummies, Visual, and Sybex brands and Professional Technology and other Trade publishing lines representing more than $60M in revenue annually • Supervise and manage creative work for multiple lines of revenue in collaboration with publishing, editorial, marketing, sales, and other key stakeholders to ensure market readiness at product launch • Navigate and align the expectations of stakeholders to arrive at compelling and successful solutions that meet market needs and solve the pain points of the intended audience • Conduct competitive research on topic and category levels to ensure designs are relevant and meaningful to the end consumer, appropriate for target market, and convey each product’s unique value • Design creative assets for use in product marketing and outreach initiatives

Portfolio

Anger Management For Dummies

Smith, Laura L.

Cover Design
Analytics Stories: Using Data to Make Good Things Happen

Winston, Wayne L.

Cover Design Typography
Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius

Livermore, Shawn

Cover Design Typography
Fostering Innovation: How to Build an Amazing IT Team

Laudato, Andrew

Cover Design
Agile 2: The Next Iteration of Agile

Cagle, Kurt

Cover Design
Made with Reedsy
The Information Management Engine: A Profit Prescription for the Business Ultimatum

Kimbrough, Gerrold

Cover Design
Made with Reedsy
The Art of Managed Services & Cloud Computing: A Practical Guide for Managed Services Professionals & Cloud Professionals

Weaver, Charles

Cover Design Book Interior Design
Made with Reedsy
Techonomics You Should Know: Life-Changing Economics of Disruptive Technologies

Wang, Taosha

Cover Design Typography Book Interior Design
Tribe of Hackers: Cybersecurity Advice from the Best Hackers in the World

Carey, Marcus J.

Cover Design
Teach Yourself VISUALLY Windows 11 (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))

McFedries, Paul

Cover Design
The NFT Handbook: How to Create, Sell and Buy Non-Fungible Tokens

Terry, QuHarrison

Cover Design
Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators

Tedrick, Susanne

Cover Design
Puppies For Dummies

Sarah Hodgson

Cover Design
Pickleball For Dummies

Nard, Mo

Cover Design
Black Panther and Philosophy: What Can Wakanda Offer the World? (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

Brown, Timothy E.

Cover Design Typography
The Art and Style of Product Photography

Thomas, J. Dennis

Cover Design
Nikon D5300 Digital Field Guide

Thomas, J. Dennis

Cover Design
Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography & Styling

Dujardin, Helene

Cover Design
Data Visualization with Excel Dashboards and Reports

Kusleika, Dick

Cover Design
Switching to a Mac Portable Genius

McFedries, Paul

Cover Design
Remote Work Technology: Keeping Your Small Business Thriving From Anywhere

Kurkowski, Henry

Cover Design
Becoming a Data Head: How to Think, Speak and Understand Data Science, Statistics and Machine Learning

Gutman, Alex J.

Cover Design
SQL for Data Scientists: A Beginner's Guide for Building Datasets for Analysis

Teate, Renee M. P.

Cover Design
The Accidental CIO: A Lean and Agile Playbook for IT Leaders

Millett, Scott

Cover Design

Mike has 25 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

John B.

John B.

Apr, 2026

I didn't know what to expect. I was blown away by Mike's professionalism, creativity, responsiveness, and frankly, his kindness in answering my naive questions.
Michael G.

Michael G.

Apr, 2026

Mike was easy to work with, did a great job and was both timely and communicative. I would recommend him.
Ron H.

Ron H.

Feb, 2026

Absolutely wonderful cover designs, and Mike was very patient with me. Thanks for everything, Mike, and I've already passed your Reedsy profile on to a couple of other people. Thanks!!
Mike T.
Thanks so much Ron! Love the entire concept of your books, we need more of that in the world. -Mike
Jeffrey P.

Jeffrey P.

Feb, 2026

As a first-timer, I didn't really know what to expect with "self-publishing" a book. I'm very glad I found Mike. I appreciated Mike's collaborative creative process (he asked me a lot of questions and constructively challenged some of my thoughts). Not only did we nail a cover I absolutely love, ...
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Mike T.
Thanks so much, Jeffrey! Truly my pleasure to work with you and I'm happy with the final cover - I think it looks great and I hope it performs well.
B D.

B D.

Dec, 2025

I would definitely recommend Mike Trent! He is skilled, reliable, and a good communicator. I reached out to him with a last-minute project and he really stepped up. He knows his stuff and he prioritizes the client’s vision. Plus, he has the patience of a saint, which was appreciated by this newbi...
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