Revolving covers

[alhawke]

There seems to be a trend lately to change covers. This has always been the case, but I'm seeing it more frequently than ever before. It could reflect changes in the market? Many change them to reflect a new series, but a great many more are altering them for no other reason than--I think--to stay up to date with the market. Some of the new covers are not as good, imo. But perhaps they sell better? When do you guys change or alter them? Do you? If you do, why?

[TimothyEllis]

When do you guys change or alter them? Do you? If you do, why?

I changed some of mine to bring them into line with the brand look I'd gone with.

Some of the early ones didn't conform to the placement of things, and the last 2 in my first series were professionally done and used the wrong font. Another one was just plain boring, and a quick re-colour made a huge difference.

My series 2 was completely re-branded, including 3 title changes. While all of them were professionally done, in the end, 3 of them didn't work, and over time I liked them less and less, and the other 3 were completely different. So when I was doing other cover changes, I redid all 6 of them.

I'm not sure they did a thing as far as sales was concerned, but only 3 of my books have a different look now, and that's a trilogy, where a key element is used a lot ever since. And I'm a lot happier with the covers now.

My first novel has had 4 covers now. I'm not sure any of them have out-performed any of the others. 3 and 4 are a rearrangement of the same cover, where 3 was professionally done, and 4 was me redoing it.

[alhawke]

I changed some of mine to bring them into line with the brand look I'd gone with.

Brand or series seems to be the most common reason I see; or just fixing an unfavorable past cover.

But I think some authors, like Michael Anderle, are doing it also to modernize their older catalog to keep it in step with the market. Whether it makes any difference in sales is a big question--and an expensive one when hiring a cover artist, like me.

Anyway, I considered this after recently not being able to recognize some older titles.

[idontknowyet]

I try new covers to see if it increases sales or hits a different market. This second set of covers quadrupled my sales over night without any change in promotions. I still can't figure out AMS or FB ads but i'm selling a fair amount of books.

[Crystal]

Covers are like books. It's less important they're good (well-designed) and more important they're on market.

[LilyBLily]

I try new covers to see if it increases sales or hits a different market. This second set of covers quadrupled my sales over night without any change in promotions. I still can't figure out AMS or FB ads but i'm selling a fair amount of books.

This is the kind of testimonial that drives me crazy--not because I don't believe you, but because somehow I never am able to replicate the miraculous sales increases others see after redoing a cover or a blurb or an ad or keywords or anything.

Darn it. 

Good on you for achieving something positive with a change.

[TimothyEllis]

I try new covers to see if it increases sales or hits a different market. This second set of covers quadrupled my sales over night without any change in promotions. I still can't figure out AMS or FB ads but i'm selling a fair amount of books.

This is the kind of testimonial that drives me crazy--not because I don't believe you, but because somehow I never am able to replicate the miraculous sales increases others see after redoing a cover or a blurb or an ad or keywords or anything.

It suggests to me that the original covers were just totally wrong for the genre.

But if the cover is already right for the genre, changing it makes little difference.

[idontknowyet]

My covers weren't on market. They followed the rules, but yeah i tried something different and it didn't work.

I'm toying now with trying people covers. I HATE people covers, but i'm still thinking about it.

[Crystal]

I've seen sales increases with covers, but they're generally mild unless I pair them with advertising. New covers can boost conversions, but they won't boost visibility. You still need to do something for the visibility.

Switching up on-market concepts is a way to find new readers. You won't necessarily set the world on fire with a new concept, but you can sometimes extend your reach, especially if you're going after a similar audience (say a second BookBub).