Sunday, July 15, 2018

New Life in Old Books? by Alison Henderson

I've just sent a request to the publisher of my first three books, requesting reversion of my rights. They're lovely people, and I'll always be grateful for the first magical contract that set me on the road to being a published author. I learned a great deal about writing and the publishing business, but it's time to say goodbye. It's probably costing the publisher more to keep theses titles on their records than they're making in profit.

The books are classic, old-school, historical Americana romances--a sub-genre I no longer write--and haven't sold many copies in the last few years. The publisher never did any real promotion or marketing, and I haven't paid any attention to them since I switched writing gears. I've focused my efforts on my humorous romantic suspense novels instead.

However, I think there may be life left in these earlier titles. I've recently finished editing and formatting the first book, Harvest of Dreams, and was thrilled to discover it was in pretty good shape. Better yet, I loved it! The only real editing I did was to tone down the love scenes a a bit. They're still much spicier than what I write now, but they fit the characters and story, so they're staying. I hope to find the second book, A Man Like That, in similar condition. The third book is a cute, short novella that should require very little work.

The main upside to owning the rights, besides retaining the lion's share of the royalties, is the ability to advertise with AMS, offer occasional free promotions, etc. I believe there is still an audience for Western historical romance, albeit a smaller one than for other sub-genres. All I have to do is figure out which authors are popular and target my ads to their readers. With luck, I'll sell a few copies from time to time.


After finishing the formatting, I took a little time to design new covers. I wanted them to be eye-catching but resemble the original covers closely enough not to confuse readers into thinking they're new releases. (I'll also make it clear they're re-releases on the copyright page and in the book description.) Since the sub-genre was never particularly clear, I decided to add the text "Historical Romance from the Heartland" to the covers. It will also appear on the Amazon page as the series title.

What do you think?


Look for them sometime later this summer!

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com 


13 comments:

Leah St. James said...

Love the covers, Alison. A MAN LIKE THAT definitely has more of a Western look and feel to it, but the other is lovely also. It makes me want to find a big, wide porch somewhere to sit down with a glass of iced tea, and a good book! Wishing you much success with the reboot of the three titles!

Brenda Whiteside said...

Alison, I envy your talent and guts to take it on. I love the covers. I bet they do very well under your hand.

Alison Henderson said...

Thanks, Leah. The books are more Mid-westerns than classic Westerns. LOL. I hope readers will like these covers as much as the first.

Alison Henderson said...

Thanks, Brenda. Regardless of the covers, the books are bound to do better when I can control the advertising. The certainly couldn't do worse! LOL

Rolynn Anderson said...

I've taken one book back from a publisher and I'm about ready to take back another. New covers and spit and polish...brilliant idea. I'm not sure what 'heartland' means, but it does sound homey. The new Canadian series called Heartland, may prompt some readers to buy your series. All good moves for a savvy businesswoman!

Margo Hoornstra said...

Right now you seem to be hitting your stride in the self pub, cover artistry realms. Both covers are beautiful in their own rights. Wishing you much success. Isn’t it great to read something you wrote eons ago, and still ENJOY reading it?

Andrea Downing said...

Congrats on your latest venture and the covers look very inviting. You're right in that historical westerns are losing ground to contemporary westerns but I think there's still a market and wish you well.

Alison Henderson said...

Rolynn, the "Heartland" is supposed to suggest the Midwest (these are set in post-Civil War Missouri) rather than a classic Western setting. They haven't sold much in ages, so anything I can do for them will be a plus.

Alison Henderson said...

Margo, I originally wrote these books in the early '90s--the heyday of Americana or prairie romance. I'm amazed at how powerfully emotional they still are.

Alison Henderson said...

Thanks, Andi. I'm not looking for much. I'd just like to get them in front of readers who might enjoy them, which is not happening now.

Vonnie Davis said...

Your idea is a great one. I did the same to my two romantic suspense books set in Paris. I even went so far as to change the titles. I made note of each books previous title on Amazon and inside the book, itself. Love the new covers. Wish I could design my own. I'm pea-green with envy. LOL

Jannine Gallant said...

Sorry I'm so late to comment. The covers are beautiful, and my guess is most readers won't even realize they aren't the old ones since they're so similar. Best of luck reaching new readers. These stories deserve it!

Diane Burton said...

Congrats, Alison. You've taken on a big job. I love the new covers. You're wise in noting that these are re-releases. I did that with SWITCHED, my 1st pubbed book when I re-released it. I didn't want the readers to feel cheated. Wishing you much success.