The power of a good cover

9957 Views 80 Replies 36 Participants Last post by CJAnderson, Feb 19, 2015

Chris Fox

Discussion Starter · Feb 16, 2015

Good morning Kboards! I've recently changed the covers for No Such Thing As Werewolves and The First Ark. I'll admit I was a bit nervous about doing this, but I'm pleased to report that it's worked astoundingly well. Sales of NSTAW saw a slight increase, but sales on The First Ark have over doubled since adding the new cover. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but this drives home what I've heard over and over here. Get yourself a professional cover and it will pay for itself very quickly.

Has anyone else done a cover rebrand? What were your results?

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CJAnderson

· #2 · Feb 16, 2015

Chris Fox said:
Good morning Kboards! I've recently changed the covers for No Such Thing As Werewolves and The First Ark. I'll admit I was a bit nervous about doing this, but I'm pleased to report that it's worked astoundingly well. Sales of NSTAW saw a slight increase, but sales on The First Ark have over doubled since adding the new cover. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but this drives home what I've heard over and over here. Get yourself a professional cover and it will pay for itself very quickly.

Has anyone else done a cover rebrand? What were your results?

I think as authors, especially if unknown, we must do everything possible to get reader's attention. I always try to use quality covers. And yes, they can be very expensive

On the flip side, if you look at books like Hugh Howey's original Wool series, the covers were very basic but somehow he sold a lot of them.

ufwriter

· #3 · Feb 16, 2015

I love the typography of your rebranding, Chris. The covers were good before, but that small tweak made them look even better. Your werewolf one still terrifies me though!

Z. Rider

· #4 · Feb 16, 2015

CJAnderson said:
On the flip side, if you look at books like Hugh Howey's original Wool series, the covers were very basic but somehow he sold a lot of them.

Yeah, but Wool came out a few years ago-not that it would be impossible for Wool to do well if it came out now with those same covers, but indie authors have definitely upped the packaging game since then, and you're hobbling yourself if you don't invest in solid covers. They don't have to be award-winning, but they do have to have design elements that work together (instead of fighting each other or being disparate), and they have to convey genre and draw readers' interest. It pays (literally) to get someone who knows what they're doing to do your cover.

G

· #5 · Feb 16, 2015

and sometimes its not just the cover.

POD used to be slower moving, then I moved the title to the top, and signature to the bottom and it picked up sales almost immediately.

Readers are fickle, but they know what they like.

Z. Rider

· #6 · Feb 16, 2015

TobiasRoote said:
and sometimes its not just the cover.

POD used to be slower moving, then I moved the title to the top, and signature to the bottom and it picked up sales almost immediately.

Are you going to do that with your other covers and see if you get the same happy results?

Z. Rider

· #7 · Feb 16, 2015

(Also, I just want to say that this is what I love about going indie-you can try something, see if it works, try something else... When you go through a publisher, things are more fixed in place once the book is released. Even if you could toy with different elements (blurb, price, cover), you wouldn't have access to the data that tells you what impact your changes are having. Publisher royalty statements are as good as fossils: old and missing everything but the most basic bones.)

Donna White Glaser

· #8 · Feb 16, 2015

I'm completely redoing my 12-Step series to stoke up the humor aspect of it. It's taking a bit longer than I'd wanted but I really like the direction the designer has taken so far. I'll let you know the results when they're all done.

Chris Fox

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 16, 2015

CadyVance said:
I love the typography of your rebranding, Chris. The covers were good before, but that small tweak made them look even better. Your werewolf one still terrifies me though!

Thanks, Cady! Sounds like my werewolf is doing his job. People have said the zombie cover is also creepy, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

Donna White Glaser said:
I'm completely redoing my 12-Step series to stoke up the humor aspect of it. It's taking a bit longer than I'd wanted but I really like the direction the designer has taken so far. I'll let you know the results when they're all done.

I'm very curious to see how this goes, Donna. I suspect you'll see a strong uptick in sales.

smikeo

· #10 · Feb 16, 2015

That's awesome, Chris!
I'm constantly nervous about my cover. It's a professional cover - made by a friend, who is a children's books illustrator, and I love it, but it's not exactly standard for the genre. I toy with the idea of changing it once I begin to have sales - see if it changes things.

Z. Rider

· #11 · Feb 16, 2015

smikeo said:
I'm constantly nervous about my cover.

I love your cover. It's got a great old-school paperback look.

JETaylor

· #12 · Feb 16, 2015

Last year, I did a huge re-branding of my Steve Williams Series - six covers plus the boxed set. Only the boxed set has the base photo of the original, but my cover artist did a great job pulling them all together. I also re-did Survival Games and I've seen an uptick there as well - but of course, that book is free.

It was worth it, but it is a scary and expensive endeavor.

JGC

· #13 · Feb 16, 2015

CJAnderson said:
I think as authors, especially if unknown, we must do everything possible to get reader's attention. I always try to use quality covers. And yes, they can be very expensive

On the flip side, if you look at books like Hugh Howey's original Wool series, the covers were very basic but somehow he sold a lot of them.

Hi C J Anderson,

Would you mind telling me who did your covers? They're fantastic. I'm not satisfied with the art work on my cover and am looking to upgrade it.

Thanks
John

G

· #14 · Feb 16, 2015

Z. Rider said:
Are you going to do that with your other covers and see if you get the same happy results?

$:-\$ Err! No, not yet. I'm going to redo all three covers when I finish the trilogy in April.

But, it would be an interesting exercise to do before I switch them over. {hold that thought}

Sever Bronny

· #15 · Feb 16, 2015

CadyVance said:
I love the typography of your rebranding, Chris. The covers were good before, but that small tweak made them look even better. Your werewolf one still terrifies me though!

Agreed, killer stuff, man. Really eye-catching. You have yourself a rock-solid foundation for a brand here.

ShayneRutherford

· #16 · Feb 16, 2015

smikeo said:
That's awesome, Chris!
I'm constantly nervous about my cover. It's a professional cover - made by a friend, who is a children's books illustrator, and I love it, but it's not exactly standard for the genre. I toy with the idea of changing it once I begin to have sales - see if it changes things.

I really like your cover. It's eye-catching.

Chris Fox

Discussion Starter · #17 · Feb 16, 2015

Sever Bronny said:
Agreed, killer stuff, man. Really eye-catching. You have yourself a rock-solid foundation for a brand here.

Thanks, Sever. Speaking of covers when do we get to see Riven?

cinisajoy

· #18 · Feb 16, 2015

Even the bigger indies change their covers at times. So yes, a cover can rock sales.

smikeo

· #19 · Feb 16, 2015

Z. Rider said:
I love your cover. It's got a great old-school paperback look.

Thanks

I love it too. Now I just want to see if the YA crowd loves it

ArchangelEST

· #20 · Feb 16, 2015

I love the concept of getting a good cover and seeing the boost in sales, but I simply hate how Amazon gives us so few analytic tools to actually figure out if it's the cover that needs changing. Maybe it's the darn title or the description. If your book isn't doing well, getting a professional cover can be an expense you may not readily be able to afford. And there's no guarantee that sales will pick up at all. You may actually make things worse. After all, covers are art, and art tends to be subjective, right?

So, how do you guys decide when it's time to cough up some cash and improve the cover?

I feel like you need to have a few different titles around the same genre so that you can do some performance comparisons. And to also to not be so vulnerable in terms of income if it doesn't work out.

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