Judge this book by its cover!

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We’ve all heard this, right? But let’s face it, we all do it. Heck, according to this article from the Normal Rockwell Museum’s Illustration History Project website, even when the purpose of a cover was simply to protect a book’s pages, it was likely to be decorated with gold and jewels. As cover materials changed and mechanical book-binding came into play, it became possible to print onto the covers. This led to the cover serving as a type of advertisement for what was inside.

Not all “modern” books follow this trend of having an illustrated cover, however. Growing up, my parents gave me the Children’s Classics series of books, which had no cover art. The book pictured with its front toward the camera is the action-packed Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, but you’d never know it from the cover. Yes, I still have the books! :D

Unfortunately, in today’s crowded book market readers make judgments about our books based on a digital thumbnail. So it’s crucial that the cover conveys what type of reader experience the story provides. Which is why, even though I loved my old covers, I just finished rebranding all of my books with new covers.

Here are the primary considerations that went into the decision to redo the covers:

1. With my old covers, I felt as if I was promising a more sensual read than I was delivering. There’s a lot of action and explicit violence in my books. By switching to covers with a more thriller-like vibe, I hope readers will understand that the focus of the book is on the action.
2. I’d grown increasingly unhappy about the disparity in tone between the first two books in the SSU series. The original cover of the first book was dark and brooding, while the second book cover was lighter and playful. I hope the new covers even out the expectations, because while the first book is darker than the second, the second book also has some dark moments.
3. My books frequently show up in the Mystery and Suspense/Thriller categories on Amazon. My naked man chest covers stood out like a sore thumb among all the thriller-y covers. I wanted my covers to appeal to the Thriller audience as well as the Romantic Suspense audience.

What was I looking for in the new covers?

1. The covers had to look good in thumbnail size. To me, it’s more important to have my name be readable than the title. I hope to eventually have enough name recognition that books will sell on my name alone. Until then, as long as my name is clear in the smaller size, any reader viewing that thumbnail on a non-retailer site will be able to go to a retailer and type in my name to find my books. Whereas, if they only saw the title, there are dozens of books titled Vengeance they’d have to wade through to find me.
2. The covers had to convey the overall tone of the story. I don’t care if the scene on the cover isn’t present in the book. I’m more concerned that the reader sees the cover and knows the type of emotional experience they’ll get from the book.
3. The colors had to be in line with my brand as an author. One of the cover concepts I received was pink. Nope. I nixed that. Pink doesn’t fit with my brand of dark action-adventure. I even told my designer to make a note in my file never again to include pink on one of my covers unless it’s part of a sunset. ;) 
4. There had to be some indication that there are two protagonists in each story. So I asked my cover designer to include figures of both a man and a woman.
5. The new covers had to match the overall look I wanted. This took a couple of rounds to get right. I'm glad I persisted, though, because I love my new covers!

So how did it all turn out?

Here’s the original cover for Vengeance, Book 1 in the SSU Series on the left. The new cover is on the right.

Here’s the original cover for Betrayal, Book 2 in the SSU Series on the left. The new cover is on the right.

To see all of my new covers, go to my website, www.vanessakier.com/books/

Will the new covers be popular with readers? It’s too soon to tell.

What do you think? What’s your favorite from the new covers? My favorite is the cover for the next book in the WAR series, which I’m not revealing until I have the book finished.

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Vanessa Kier writes action-packed romantic thrillers with an edge. She’s set her latest series, WAR, in West Africa, where she lived for a time. She’s also coaches writers in Scrivener and other tech.

You can find her at: www.vanessakier.com

HYBRID AUTHORS – WHY THE INCREASING TREND?

You’ve all heard of a ‘hybrid author’, right? Authors who publish via both the traditional and indie routes? After months of debating whether it would be the right decision for me, I have jumped on the bandwagon of the ever increasing number of hybrid authors.

Let me tell you why…

My debut series, Vengeful Love, was published by Harlequin’s Carina Press earlier this year. I loved the experience. From getting the deal and starting up a relationship with my editor, to seeing the finished product. But, as a debut author, I didn’t have my next deal lined up before the series was released. I found myself in a dilemma—readers were calling for my next book and, though I had a complete manuscript, the traditional process meant it would likely be 12 to 18 months before my next novel would be released (although some digital only imprints will publish on shorter timescales).

Therein lies the main motivation behind me becoming a hybrid author. TIMING. If I put out an indie title, I can choose my own timeline. I can give readers what they are asking for, and keep momentum between traditional deals. Timing is a huge positive associated with indie (or self-published) releases. But it was not the only thing I had to think about.

My greatest reservation was that I would not be handed a readymade TEAM of editors, designers and marketeers. I would have to find my own team and how would I know if they were any good? Actually, it was not as difficult as I thought. I asked my indie author friends for recommendations. Most editors will provide a free sample of work and designers have a catalogue of covers you can use to help you make the right decision. It is actually great to be able to FREELY MAKE DECISIONS about your book.

Perhaps my biggest concern, is that responsibility for marketing now rests solely with me. Whereas traditional publishing houses have a loyal following of readers willing to take a chance on their books, indie authors must work very hard to build their own BRAND. (That said, even with traditional publishing, authors these days are required to market themselves heavily through social media and other channels.)

PRICING and ROYALTIES. I am grouping these two together because I consider them related. In terms of pricing FLEXIBILITY, the traditional route leaves an author with little or no influence over the retail price of a book. The reverse is true of self-publishing. Indie authors can set their own prices and utilise mechanisms such a price PROMOTIONS and Kindle Unlimited (i.e. free to subscribers of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited library in return for royalties). Royalty percentages are also significantly higher for self-published authors. However, indie books are commonly priced lower than traditional books. This, together with more regular price promotions, tends to mean the average retail price of a book is less for indie authors.

Related to pricing and important to remember, is that an author choosing to self-publish will have initial EXPENDITURE for covers, editors etc. whereas a traditional publishing house would generally assume these costs.

Another consideration is access to PLATFORMS. While most platforms (e.g. Barnes and Noble, Amazon) and formats (ebook, print, audio) are available to indie authors just as they are to traditional publishers, there is significantly more work for one author to spread him/herself across multiple platforms, whereas traditional publishing houses are already set up to do this. Also, while physical stores may sometimes pick up self-published authors, they are much more likely to acquire traditionally published paperback books.

Finally, let us consider READERSHIP. While traditional publishing has loyal followers, these days there is a huge indie-supportive readership out there, a community traditional authors may not find themselves part of.

Let us put all this together in a visual and see which route scores best.

Category	Traditional Publishing	Indie Publishing
Time from writing to publishing		X
Building a team	X
Choice of covers, artwork and marketing strategy		X
Ease of establishing a brand following	X
Ability to set prices and flexibility to utilise price promotions		X
Royalties		X
Initial expenditure	X
Ease of access to multiple platforms	X
Readership – brand loyalty / indie-supportive community	X	X

In summary, you can see both the traditional and ‘new-age’ routes have positives and negatives. Looking at this table, it may not be difficult to see why many authors are choosing to combine the benefits of both routes and become hybrid. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that there are two tranches of readers, those loyal to traditional publishers and those supportive of indie authors. Even acknowledging some crossover, being hybrid affords authors access to a much greater readership by combining both.

My first indie title and standalone novel, Scarred by You, releases on 24 October 2016. For more details, follow me here:

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Branding

For me, the word branding brings to mind the West - not of the Kanye variation - but of the herding and roping steers kind. (I am from Texas after all.) But Branding in our business isn't quite as painful. At least hopefully it isn't.

But how do we brand ourselves? Many of us get started with Publishers who brand us from the start which may (or may not - depending on your covers) give us a leg up in that department. (I'll admit I'm one of those people. Carina Press did a great job with my first 4 covers and I was very happy with them.) Branding is something I learned about as I got deeper into the process of writing. What's the tone of a book? What do the colors and covers tell you about the books or the author? There's so much that goes into the process of building a brand.

Now, why am I talking about branding? Because I wonder about the success of authors who RE-brand themselves. Do they do better or worse? Do sales pick up, do people who didn't pick up those author's books in the past, suddenly decided they want to give them a try because of a new look or cover? I'm really asking these questions because I certainly don't have an answer.

Take for instance a series that's successful on it's own? Do you think it's beneficial for a publisher or an author to rebrand a series that's been selling? I always wonder what the point of that is.

Anyway... the discussion of branding leads me to my announcement of the release in the last book in the Adrenaline Highs series. October 6, 2015 is the big day. Always Dangerous will come out exactly 4 years, 1 month and 1 day after the release of the first book, Dangerous Race.

Without any further ado, here is the cover (and blurb) for Always Dangerous. 

Leo Frost has lost his house, his car and possibly his acting career. Releasing an independent film is his only hope of paying for his sister’s twenty-four/seven care, but he’s got to finish it first. The last thing he needs is a curveball from the one woman who could break his focus with a look, a smile and the most unexpected news of his life. 

Kim Jacobs wants it all—a career in a big city, a husband and a family, but a tryst two months ago with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars leaves her pregnant. Knowing Leo doesn’t want kids or a wife, Kim decides to make her own happily-ever-after with the help of a recent inheritance. All that’s left is to tell the man and move on.  

Kim’s short visit to L.A. turns deadly with a series of mysterious attempts on her life. Suddenly Leo not only has to save his career, he has to find out who’s trying to murder the lady who is stealing his heart. As an actor, danger was staged and nothing was at stake, but now the threats are all too real. If Leo wants a future and a family with Kim, he has to prove he can do more than play a hero onscreen, he has to be one in real life.

I'm curious to know... are you the type of reader that waits until all the books in a series are out before you buy the first? I'm not. I snatch up new books in a series as soon as they come out. I can't wait to read them. But I've been surprised over the years to talk to people who won't start a book in a series unless they know all the books are done. Which one are you?

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