The why of changing covers.

It wasn’t until I started on the publishing venture, it wasn’t until I published book 2 in my spy series, it wasn’t until I was a few months away from releasing a novella and book 3 (Fall 2013) that I understood why publishers change covers for the paperback, or even the hardcover halfway through a series. (As annoying as that is for readers.)

When I started self publishing, I had a limited budget. I knew covers were important, so I hired a designer. Problem was – I wasn’t completely happy with my paid cover. As my first time working with a designer and planning for a book release independently, I’ll take the blame for that. But money for that was used up.

So I spent hours creating my own, learning the ins and outs of Photoshop. I don’t regret that one bit because the skills I learned have been invaluable, and I continue use them with headers, photo teasers, badges…etc.

But, heading into my third book, I had money earned from profits to invest in a series of branded covers for my spy series. And with the release of the novella and book 3 – the time was now.

With no further ado, here they are!

AND

I left the old ones on the sidebar so you can see the differences. They’ll soon be changing. And I’ll soon be revealing the covers for Vanishing Point (novella) and Twist of Fate (book 3). Both to be released in the next couple of months.

And with other news, Heist will be on a book blitz tour with Xpresso Book Tours. Feel free to sign up to receive an ecopy to give away on your blog, and your choice of a guest post or excerpt. You can post between September 9th-19th.

Have their been any cover changes you haven’t been happy with? (I’ll admit it’s annoying when I planned on purchasing the print version of the series, but often times, I agree that the cover change was a good thing.)

, , , ,

13 Responses to The why of changing covers.

  1. Karen Lange August 28, 2013 at 7:07 pm #

    I like them! Congrats! 🙂

  2. anne gallagher August 28, 2013 at 8:17 pm #

    I’ve been thinking about changing the covers on my books for awhile now. I like them, I always have, but … I don’t know. I think it would be better served if I made them more “modern”. We’ll see. It’s an awful lot of work. You know how it goes. I know how to do them myself, it’s just finding the pics, the fonts, sizing, uploading.

    Love your new ones. I like the added city scapes on the bottom.

  3. Heather Sunseri August 28, 2013 at 8:20 pm #

    You know I love them!! 🙂

  4. Alex J. Cavanaugh August 28, 2013 at 9:34 pm #

    That is quite a difference! Yours look far more professional. Well done, Laura.

  5. Heather Kelly August 28, 2013 at 9:40 pm #

    All kinds of awesomeness, Laura–I am loving that you are having such success (and sharing your wisdom with us) with you writing business! YAY!

  6. Laura Diamond August 28, 2013 at 10:41 pm #

    Love ’em!!!

  7. Louise August 29, 2013 at 12:04 pm #

    Love the new look! And it’s just similar enough to the old covers for readers to not agonize over having unbalanced series.

    I can’t think of any cover changes that really made me dance for joy, but I do recall looking at all the different covers there have been to Lloyd Alexander’s Vesper Holly series and thinking “Wow, I guess the new ones aren’t really that bad after all, especially compared with some of these.”

  8. Anna Staniszewski August 29, 2013 at 1:41 pm #

    So interesting to see them side by side. The new ones look great!

  9. Margo Berendsen August 29, 2013 at 3:42 pm #

    The new covers are great!!! The only thing I miss that I loved about the old ones was the reflection in the glasses. You did such a good job with the old covers, very professional. But I do really like the new ones too.

  10. Elle August 30, 2013 at 2:38 pm #

    I love, LOVE the new covers. They look so professional! Did you do them?

    Sometimes even great covers need a makeover because times and styles change. I plan to have my Clockwise series redone in the near future.

  11. Misha August 30, 2013 at 7:54 pm #

    I like the new covers. 🙂

  12. Lynda R Young September 4, 2013 at 2:47 am #

    Great new covers! Congrats!

  13. Lydia Kang September 9, 2013 at 3:42 am #

    Love the new redesigns!

Leave a Reply