Writer Sanctum
Writer's Haven => Marketing Loft [Public] => Topic started by: Paul Gr on December 18, 2019, 08:29:33 PM
-
Just been looking at a few book covers for books which are part of a series. Some state on the cover that they are for example book one of a series while others put that information inside. The reason I'm curious is, I'm planning to launch a book which will be part one of a series, but don't have a hell of a lot of room for this info. on the cover. Any thoughts?
-
Any book in a series which doesn't have the cover, metadata, and front matter showing the same thing, won't get a series page.
If they have a series page, the chances are the moment they try to change something, they'll lose it.
Amazon want all of them in sync.
Any series should have the series name and book number on the cover.
-
Actually, most of my books don’t have series name on the cover, and they have series pages. Amazon insists I put it in the blurb, but I’ve never had a mention of the cover.
-
I leave it off the cover for book one, at least until I know there's going to *be* a series.
When book two is actually happening, I update the book one cover with the series info and replace the old one with the new.
I don't set the series details on Amazon (for book one) until book two is in progress. When book two is released, I email KDP support and ask them to create the series page.
-
here are the requirements, as per Amazon: (The part that answers your question is in bold)
"All books in the series must also meet these requirements:
Must be published through KDP
Must have the correct name in the Series name field (series names must match)
Must have the correct number in the Series number field
The number can't be a decimal or zero
The number should reflect the order of the book in the series
Must have both the series number and the series name in one of these places:
Book cover
Interior (Look Inside)
Product description
Editorial reviews
Your official website (if you have one)
Goodreads
Must have the series number in the Description field or on the cover image. For example, "This is the second book in the Lord of the Rings series."
Must be available to buy. If your series contains a book that becomes unavailable, your books will be removed from sale as a series until all books in the series are available to buy again.
Note: Prequels, short stories, and novellas can't be added to Series Bundles."
-
Actually, after a recent change the number can be a zero. Apparently.
I was going to stick my prequel in as book zero, but decided to use it as a newsletter magnet instead.
I hadn't seen that 'no prequels' rule, but maybe that too has been changed?
-
Actually, after a recent change the number can be a zero. Apparently.
I was going to stick my prequel in as book zero, but decided to use it as a newsletter magnet instead.
I hadn't seen that 'no prequels' rule, but maybe that too has been changed?
I've had a prequel as a zero for years--and no series info on the covers. I've had a series page for years, and it's been modified to accommodate new titles. So who knows? Maybe Amazon made some changes and just left the old series pages alone after making changes.
I'm not too concerned. The series page is nice to have, but whether or not it sells more books is an open question. It doesn't seem to make much difference for me, though admittedly, it is hard to know where sales come from. I will say my sales didn't jump when the series page was first granted to me.
-
Actually, after a recent change the number can be a zero. Apparently.
When did that change, and has anyone done it?
The series page is nice to have, but whether or not it sells more books is an open question.
It does.
Part of it is the slider on each book. But the other is the ability for someone to buy the whole series in one go easily. I see it periodically when my sales spike, when someone buys all the books of 1 or 2 series at the same time.
-
Usually the ASIN for the series page changes. I know, because I have ASINs for my series of 4 books, no, 5 books, no... you get the picture. (Everything bar the latest '10 book ASIN' is 'unavailable')
-
Actually, after a recent change the number can be a zero. Apparently.
When did that change, and has anyone done it?
Pretty sure I saw it in a post on this forum, but there's no way I can find it. (Can't search for '0', and searching for 'series' is going to return thousands of hits.)
-
Usually the ASIN for the series page changes. I know, because I have ASINs for my series of 4 books, no, 5 books, no... you get the picture. (Everything bar the latest '10 book ASIN' is 'unavailable')
The unavailable seems to be because we're in Australia looking at the US site. So we cant buy them there.
-
I have an Amazon Advantage account on the UK site. When I add products, I can search for anything on Amazon, and if I search for Spacejock it'll turn up all the older editions of my series pages.
If I visit any of them, they redirect to the current series page.
E.g.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hal-Spacejock-9-Book-Series/dp/B07KCFJQLH goes to https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07XWMW7Q3 instead
It's the same when targeting. If I enter an author name I get all their books AND every version of their series page.
So, Amazon do recreate the series page each time you add a book, and they give it a new ASIN. But fortunately they redirect visitors to the old series page.
-
Actually, after a recent change the number can be a zero. Apparently.
When did that change, and has anyone done it?
The series page is nice to have, but whether or not it sells more books is an open question.
It does.
Part of it is the slider on each book. But the other is the ability for someone to buy the whole series in one go easily. I see it periodically when my sales spike, when someone buys all the books of 1 or 2 series at the same time.
I've definitely had the whole series sell at one time, so you could definitely be right. I will say, however, that I also had that happen from time to time prior to the series page. And someone enthusiastic about the series would probably buy the books one at a time, anyway.
Also, I noticed that books 5 and 6, which initially weren't on the series page, weren't selling as well. I figured out how to get Amazon to list them, and...the sales of books 5 and 6 didn't change at all.
I'm not saying a series page isn't important, just that I wouldn't lose sleep over it if something went wrong.
-
My sales of book 19 definitely recovered from a slight slump once I got it into my series page.
I have the series name and number on the covers, at the top ofthe blurbs, on my website etcetc. Goodreads has fallen behind with my books so I only have about the first 12 according to them.
-
Any book in a series which doesn't have the cover, metadata, and front matter showing the same thing, won't get a series page.
If they have a series page, the chances are the moment they try to change something, they'll lose it.
Amazon want all of them in sync.
Any series should have the series name and book number on the cover.
I don't think that is correct. My Stewart Chronicle doesn't have a series name on the covers and does have a series page. Mind you, I think a series name on the cover is a good idea, but I don't think it is an absolute necessity.
-
Thanks, everyone.
Bye the bye, I like the way that Simon shows his series on the cover, as a cog with a number in it, very creative.
I was wondering if there was a more creative way than just putting something like 'Book One in the....series.'
One thing I've considered doing is, having the same title throughout the proposed series, but having a different sub title for each book in the series.
For example title: Space attack.
Sub title: First strike.
Second book title: Space attack.
Sub title: Second strike.
-
On second thoughts, first title: Space Attack.
Sub title: Devastation.
Next title: Space Attack.
Sub title: Fight Back.
etc.
The reasoning being, sub titles like this, evocative, are more memorable than numbers.
-
Eh, but having the same title on every book?
There are plenty of series here:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Science-Fiction/zgbs/digital-text/158591011
I suggest you look at how they are doing it.
-
I like the way my designer did it on my new series with a medallion. Looks nice.
-
As a reader, I appreciate it when the series number is on the cover. Felt the same way in the dark ages when I was reading print (then it was better on the spine so I could line them up on the bookshelf). I have a lot of books on my tablet and I can't remember all their info. If I have to hunt around to figure out which book is the proper order in a series, I quickly run out of patience and read something else.
Also if a book has a series page on Amazon, Amazon is going to link them in the Kindle app. As soon as I finish book 1 (and often before I reach the back matter), a window pops up asking if I want to read book 2. Especially if I bought the whole series already or if it's in KU, this is helpful because I can one click to the next book.
-
I actually got my idea from comic books. Each of my series books has the series badge and volume number on the cover. While each one is a standalone adventure there is enough character development from one volume to the next that it’s helpful for readers to know where they stand.
-
here are the requirements, as per Amazon: (The part that answers your question is in bold)
"All books in the series must also meet these requirements:
Must be published through KDP
Must have the correct name in the Series name field (series names must match)
Must have the correct number in the Series number field
The number can't be a decimal or zero
The number should reflect the order of the book in the series
Must have both the series number and the series name in one of these places:
Book cover
Interior (Look Inside)
Product description
Editorial reviews
Your official website (if you have one)
Goodreads
Must have the series number in the Description field or on the cover image. For example, "This is the second book in the Lord of the Rings series."
Must be available to buy. If your series contains a book that becomes unavailable, your books will be removed from sale as a series until all books in the series are available to buy again.
Note: Prequels, short stories, and novellas can't be added to Series Bundles."
Thanks for this thread. There never seems to be an end to all the stuff we need to know!