Is It Time To Refresh Your Books? What Do I Mean?

 

Authors are always looking for that magic bullet to help boost their sales, and darn while I certainly wish there was one, I haven’t found it yet.

BUT, there are ways to make your book a better experience for the reader from the moment they click on your cover's thumbnail to the very end of your masterpiece.

Covers

I decided to go wide again (and stay there this time)! And before I did this, I wanted to make sure that my covers were fresh, appealing and on point. Meaning you know what the genre is by simply looking at them.  

Some covers had major changes because I was adding a new book to the series and wanted the "look" across all the titles. 

The first image on the left is the 3rd iteration of Dare To Believe launched in 2012 (I'm not showing you the first two covers).

The second image is the latest version to match the black and white couple image of the latest book in the series, Brushed By Betrayal.

Dare To Believe has been freshened up, you know it's a romance because there are couples on both covers. It fits the genre Romance and the subgenre Romantic Suspense. 

Here are 3 more covers from the first book in my Carswell Series, Stone Of Heaven.

There is more to a book refresh than the cover 

The interior files across all books should be as identical in style as possible. While you may want different chapter header art for different genres/subgenres, the consistency will enforce your brand and make you look more professional right off the bat.

I formatted my interior files with Vellum and love the program though it is strictly for a Mac. Each books has a similar feel, has links in the back that go to each specific vendor (which is an awesome time saver) and my front and back matter is now uniform in placement.

I included a QR code with my logo in the back matter, which I created here for free (thanks Dave Chesson). 

There is a new program out there that I'm going to try soon called Atticus by the same Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur fame as above. And it's PC friendly!! Man that guy is on top of stuff.

I'm excited to try it and you all know me well enough that my opinions aren't swayed by anything, even a freebie. So stay tuned, I'm very hopeful about Atticus.

Perhaps it's time for another read through for errors? 

You can ask a few of your mailing list readers if they want to read your book(s) with specific tasks in mind and if they agree, send them a free copy, as well as what you're looking for and a deadline:)

Back cover matters as well as your blurb on your various vendor sites

I've been using a system from Bryan Cohen which I then tailored to how I work.  Look for a post and a YouTube video from me on that soon. (Yes, I know a teaser, but I want you keep an eye open as it's a cool concept.)

Primarily though, so not to leave you totally hanging, I use the idea of building the characters in the blurb, then add what they're facing with some plot teasers, but I don't make it plot heavy, just enough to pique your interest. 

You use the genre tropes which give your prospective reader the feel that you're writing romance, (subgenre as well), suspense, cozy mystery, action adventure....

Then finally you add in a "If you like..." and where appropriate a CTA (call-to-action).

All Done and Wow

By the time you're done with the cover, interior, back blurb and sales blurb, you have freshened up your book and people who may have passed it by before will now hopefully stop and take a look.

That's the entire purpose of this exercise. It took me a while, to be honest, to get all 9 books done and I had to go back and fix a few links, but it was time and honestly, my sales have improved.

Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments. 

As always, Write Like The Wind

~L. A. Sartor

I started writing as a child, really. A few things happened on the way to becoming a published author … specifically, a junior high school teacher who told me I couldn’t write because I didn’t want to study grammar.

But the muse couldn’t be denied, and eventually I wrote, a lot. I learned a litany of new things and published my first novel. My second book became a bestseller, and I’m absolutely on the right course in my life.

Please come visit me at www.lasartor.com, see my books, find my social media links including my YouTube Channel for writers, and sign up for my mailing list. I have a gift I’ve specifically created for my new email subscribers.