NEVER COVER
ORIGINAL COVER
Earlier this month, I had a wonderful time at Romance Writers of America National Conference. And one of the tracks most popular was the self-publishing track –full of ideas, case studies, stories and much more. While I didn’t attend all of them, I did attend a few. They offered some excellent advice on how to work on building your indie book sales up. It’s simple stuff, such as changing your cover. If the book isn’t moving? Something isn’t working. You have to change things up until you find what does catch interest. The options to change: the cover, the price point, the book blurb.
So since my first book, SOMETHING ABOUT HER, is in my hands again after its initial publishing in 2009 with Wild Rose Press, I have republished it on Amazon. But it wasn’t moving. A sale here or there, but not much else. So I thought I’d put some of the advice into action and see what happens. And perhaps you’d like to come along for the ride and see how this all works.
The first change? The cover. The old cover is to the right. I liked it. But it wasn’t standing out or pulling attention from the historical romance audience, so I decided to see what was topping the charts and adjust my cover to suit that style. And per the advice given, if it doesn’t work, I can change it again. What do you think?
It’s a good time to start testing this out, since my next book comes out in January 2014 –and it’s connected to this one. The yet-to-be-titled book tells Adam’s story and that of his feisty heroine, a treasure hunter’s daughter named Aria. She has come to the London season with a purpose. Check back soon for more details on the book!
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2 comments
I think you’re so right, Jeannie! In the abstract, I wouldn’t list a cover as something that compels me to buy (or not to buy) a book. But read a strong review, trot over to Amazon to buy, and see a bad cover, I recoil, thinking, “Hmm, could this really be good?” I sort of hate myself every time I do it, but at this point, I accept that a bad cover might put someone off, or on the flip side, that a good cover might convince someone to buy.
Emma, I think it’s natural that we are pulled in (or not! lol) by the images. Especially with book covers, we’re taught to look for specific styles, imagery and color schemes to convey emotion. If those don’t match what we expect the book to contain or how we want it to make us FEEL, then we won’t trust the book to deliver.
How often are books re-released with new covers? One of my favorite books, Whitney My Love has been through a number of covers. They update often, when the old cover begins to look dated. We want to read a “fresh” story, not a dated one.