The new artwork is very bad. Almost as bad as that horrid protrait in the JA center in Bath. How about one basedon the protrait at Christie's? Anne R in NB Canada

Anne Ryan, Rothesay NB,

The American full body portrait shoes a really charming young woman with humour in her face and a twinkle in her eye, which is how I would imagine Jane to look. I really dislike the make-over and, from her writings, I think Jane would really dislike it too

jacqueline cannon, Richmond, middsx

I think it's great. Jane Austen was totally not pretty. In fact, they should do that for more writers:
http://literarymakeovers.blogspot.com/

K.T. Burgess, Tallahassee,

Don't you know we live in an age where only image counts? I'd congratulate this woman, she's doing her work magnifically--she has to sell more books, and that's waht she'll do.

Even if Jane is given a Hollywood-eseque look, that doesn't change what she is.

Cecilia T, DF, Mexico

What an amusingly bad picture. Poor Jane Austen.

Kate, Dartmouth,

What would Jane say...? I hope that Jane would take the insult like Elizabeth took Darcy's insult. As something to laugh about. Like Elizabeth - I have always hoped- Jane must have loved a good joke and finding humor in human folly. Making over a classic portrait is folly.

roxanne, knoxville, tn

When you read a Jane Austin novel, you get lost in the words, the lives of her characters, the rich intensity of the era. It is because of this that the writers of stories are beautiful, whether they are attractive or not. To touch them up and alter them to become more aesthetically pleasing is ridiculous, faces tell the stories of the lives of real people, the lines of hardship and age that sculpted who they were, if you buy into the 'new images' then you're buying into more fiction than you intend to.
I'm not saying that I wouldn't buy a book because the author has been made-up, I honestly wonder who it is that looks at the pictures anyway, I just find it sad that the suggestion is that people are influenced by images, I find it even sadder that, that has been discovered as fact.
Take our politicians, celebrities, models make them trustworthy and plastic, but leave authors real. Their works are elegant, beautiful and soulful, their talent is faceless.

Liz, York, UK

I suppose the upper section of Van Gogh's ear will be retouched back in place next! idiocy. or perhaps they'll just wholesale transplant a photograph of George Clooney's face over Van Gogh's in his self portrait and then click on the 'oil painting' option in Photoshop?

Marco, bhm, uk

Why should looks matter, its her quality that is important. This just highlights the material nature of our society today.

Polly, Epsom, UK

I'm a CHINESE high school student and fully against the publishers doing this .Jane's work must not be published in this silly way .I never judge a writer by their appearances. They are artists,not a clone or superstars.
Thank you.

Summer, Shanghai, CHINA

I didn't know I was only supposed to read books by attractive authors.Excuse me.

RON, toronto,

I must admit I laughed a lot when I read this.. it's too ironic- when you look at the themes in Jane Austen's books... "Pride and Prejudice" springs irresistably to mind!!... it seems we are being served a 21st century example of the folly in looking at socially approved (inane) "form" vs a person's "substance". Essentially, it seems like a increase revennue... what very silly people there are in the world.. don't you think?

Therese Smith, Perth , WA

I shall not be buying any copies of any of Jane Austen's works if they feature this new 'portrait'.

For goodness sake, if a publisher has to rely on a stunt like this to shift some of the best of English literature then they don't deserve to be in publishing or to have any responsibility for English literature.

Peter, Maidstone,

I couldn't help but notice that two other females are on Helen Trayler's list, even though the vast majority of well-known authors are male.

Anon, Norwich,

This is a travesty. Welcome to the vain new world, Jane.

sarah, s.f., u.s.a.

Jane Austen's beauty lies in her wonderful writing.

Jannette Youngs, Zennor, Cornwall, U.K.

What kind of a fruit loop in heading up Wordsworth?

The things she says are truly the words of a person who seems to have voluntarily abandoned sense. Why would a person even want to be quoted saying these things? Who cares if Jane Austen was richer in character than in classical beauty? And, anyway, if the second picture is supposed to be the pretty one, it also lacks a sense of identity - she could be anyone. It's a generic look.

I personally would rather see the richness of the physical characteristics that reflect and represent the author accurately, than some Barbie-doll treatment.

...and, by the way, she does look better in the original.

Aniko, Massachusetts,

I can't believe that people would choose to buy a book based on what the author looks like. I very rarely notice if there is even a picture of the author in the book. Unless it is an autobiography I would rather not know what the author looked like.

Emma, London,

Is it just me or is the newer version actually worse than the original... the nose is all different and artist's technique actually inferior (however impossible that mey seem).

And anyway, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a successfull woman will be held liable for being ugly, just as a pretty one will be forgiven all for the sake of her looks, for the world and his wife would rather be good looking first before all else in this world!

missgraduate, London,

Is it just the contrast on my screen or have they made her asian?

Jo, London,

absolutely disgraceful! This is the age of sexual tyranny when noone is interested in inner beauty, when the only thing that counts is good looks according the standards set in Holywood.

Leave Jane alone, don't try to turn her into a pin-up!

velinka, amsterdam,

So people will only read a book if the author is attractive? Clearly Ms Trayler had a very low opinion of the people who buy her books

Ruth , Newcastle, England,

I can think of better covers than an image of the author's face. Save the photo/picture for the inside cover and then it doesn't matter how attractive the author is, let the quality of the writing speak for itself. That said, I do like it when there is a picture (on the inside cover or on the back), it helps one to relate to the author.

Marco, bhm, uk

I'm sure Jane Austen is rolling in her grave as we speak.

Catherine, Wilts,

Surely this is a joke.... has April, 1 come early this year?

Erika Trueman, Leeds, England

This airbrushing really annoys me; I'm no Jane Austen fan, but I detest the message that those not conforming to a certain aesthetic standard should be doomed to failure. Write as well as you like, but looking slightly off won't shift your books. Why can't the consumer market realise that looks aren't the be all and end all? You can succeed without being beautiful. We are encouraged not only to judge books by their covers, but writers too, it would seem. And, at the end of the day, old age robs us all of our looks- they're transient, unlike literature, which survives us far longer and is a greater equivocator of character.

Carly Taylor, Nottingham, England