Google Me This

 

Johanna Ollila

I've been trying to move all of my backlist titles onto Google Play. Technically, I've been on there for a few years, but I've only focused on listing the new releases. A lot of my backlist consists of the original files I uploaded when I first turned ot self-publishing, and so they don't always pass ebook checks on iBooks or wide distribution on Smashwords. 

But it's like everything else, it takes time. I put off reformatting because I wanted to redo some of the old book blurbs and replace a lot of my covers. Not because I don't still love a lot of my old covers--in some cases, I love the old covers more than the new--but after a while the old covers, no matter how good, become wallpaper. 

A lot of my covers are over ten years old! A refresh is not unreasonable after a decade.

Cover art is really interesting in how it subsconsciously affects the decision to further investigate a book. I've been taking note of my own browsing/buying patterns, and it's fascinating how often I'll pass right by cover after cover. Not consciously judging the cover--barely even registering the cover, in most cases. It's something the colors and layout that get me to pause long enough to read the title--which is often a make or break right there--and then to really look at the cover. And then comes another moment of (often unconscious) decision whether to read the blurb. 

And it all happens within less than a second. That's the fascinating part. How fast those unconscious decisions are made and acted on. 

For the readers looking specifically for you or your book, the title, the cover, the blurb aren't so crucial. Those readers already are weighing whether to buy, so it gets down to the particulars of plot and story and characters. But for that vast majority of readers who are just scrolling through, that first glimpse of a teeny-tiny postage stamp cover is make or break.

So it makes sense to change the scenery now and again. 

There's something magical about cover art. When it's good, it can affect how you feel about your own book. When it's bad...it becomes a factor in the decison to self-publish. ;-D 

Anyway, not all readers are enthusiastic about cover changes. And I understand that because I'm someone who has more than once bought a (print) book for the cover. But that's the transitory nature of ebooks. On the one hand the book can stay in print forever. On the other hand, many things about that book can change in a relatively short space of time.

So anyway, here are some of my recent cover changes. These particular ones are all from James at GoOnWrite. In some cases I still love the original cover more. In some cases I loved the original cover but it didn't seem to work for readers. In some cases, I never had a strong feeling about the original cover, so it's a wash.

But also I find myself moving away from the more romance-y style covers. Partly because the M/M readership is increasingly inclined toward traditional romance as opposed to the hybrid of Romance+Mystery/SpecFiction/Action-Adventure  it started out as. I want to cue them early that I'm not what they're looking for.

(In some case, like Murder in Pastel, I can't imagine ever changing that cover out. It's too unique and too perfect for the book to ever switch. But in most cases, everything is fair game eventually.)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on cover art?