My last post talked about how misleading the first cover for Eyes Without A Face was. My book isn't about the Unabomber, Jihadi John, or Trayvon Martin. It is about a female serial killer. And that was what wasn't clear with the first cover.I needed a completely different look. I couldn't go back to my original designer. He and I loved the face in the hoodie. He wouldn't be able to kill his darling and come up with a new image.
I asked a host of friends for recommendations. Some had students who were looking for a credit, but who had never designed a book cover before. Others offered names of their cover designers. Unfortunately, many were booked solid for months. I reached out to a writer whose covers I loved. Turned out she and her husband have a design firm...
There could be no mistaking the fact that laws were broken, crimes committed. Kristen came back with something completely unexpected. And spot on.
I'll be rolling out the re-release of Eyes over the next few weeks. Let's hope sales explode all over the place. Let's hope readers get the point of the book. Let's hope they continue to root for the serial killer. Yes, most readers find their guilty pleasure when they like her.
Have any of you ever had to redo a cover because it was misleading? What did you do to re-release it?
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Betsy Ashton is the author of the Mad Max mystery series, Unintended Consequences, Uncharted Territory, and Unsafe Haven. She also wrote a dark psychological suspense novel, Eyes Without A Face, about a female serial killer, who unpacks her life and career in first person.
8 comments:
The new cover is a LOT more descriptive of the story, Betsy. Definitely less Unabomber-y. Love it! I also hope sales explode. :-)
Wow. Definitely more descriptive of your story. I hope you have a lot of success. When I re-issued an older print book as an e-book with a new cover (updated it, too), I added a note at the end of the blurb that said it was an updated version.
Now you certainly can judge this book by its cover. You're right. This one is spot on. Add my wishes to the list that sales really do explode. (In a good way, of course ;-)
This cover is much better! Kensington repackaged all my Wilde book covers to take them from looking too much like contemporary romance to romantic suspense. I don't know what they were thinking the first time they designed them! Nothing was really done for a re-release. Sales didn't improve, I'm sorry to say.
This does tell it so much better. Good luck!
I wish I knew what kind of a cover urges people to shell out money...or not. I'm always surprised about the variety in reader comments about my covers...unpredictable. And since I'm small press/Indie, I can't afford a big marketing company to test a given cover. I wish you lucky, Betsy!
Much more interesting cover, Betsy. Well done. I'm trying to re-do the cover for Dances of the Heart at the moment, with Lisa at TWRP working on it. But that'll be very difficult since the main couple are middle-aged and then there's a younger couple as well plus 2 main locations and so on. Who knows what will happen?
This cover is much better...Fingers crossed that your sales DO explode! I've re-done a few covers and a few titles because I felt the originals were misleading. Can't say if it helped much, but I'm not sorry I did it. Best wishes!
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