Last Saturday, I posted on
the Cozy Chicks Blog about changing the cover of one of my e stories to try to boost sales. In seven months, I'd sold only 24 copies of the story. Paint me unhappy.
The story was one of my unsold "confessions." My first professional sales were writing short romancey-women's fiction stories. (Darn, and I can't find the print version of the first one I sold--and can't retrieve it off the old 5.25" floppy disk where it still resides, along with a bunch of my other old stories.) This one was my absolute favorite--a little story that warmed my heart. In fact, it must've warmed somebody's heart over at True Love Magazine, because they had me rewrite it three times -- and still they didn't buy it. I rewrote it one last time and uploaded it to Kindle back in April. At that time, it was called Only Skin Deep (as in "beauty is only skin deep").
As mentioned, it didn't sell well. So I figured I'd change the title and cover and see if it would sell with a little more pizzaz. I put it up on Kindle last week and, as mentioned above, asked for comments.
My writer friends were in agreement, SEX SELLS. So Not only did I have a "sexier" picture, but I changed the title. (A take off on Love with A Perfect Stranger.)
My readers felt the cover cheapened the story of the mother and child.
So, back to the drawing board I went.
But, my readers (most of whom have NOT read the story--just the blurb), rated a bunch of pictures that other readers and I put up on Facebook, and we kind of voted. (Cover by committee.)
Here's the same story description and the new cover.
A one-night stand changes Leslie Turner's life forever when she discovers she's pregnant. Keeping the child means losing her business. Even more devastating, the baby is born with a disfiguring birth defect. Her carefully planned life falls apart . . . until years later when she once again meets her baby's father. Can they ever be a family?
So, do you think THIS version will sell the story?
And in case anyone wants to try it, the links are below.
Kindle Nook Smashwords
Since I am awake due to little one who is wide awake, I have to say I like this cover and it does seem to resonate with the story.
ReplyDeleteKrista
I agree this cover and title match the blurb...hope it works out...it is frustrating when something you love is not getting out to the people...since I do not do ebooks I may not see it...may have to make an exception here :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna. I hope you will give the story a chance.
ReplyDeleteThe cover and the blurb works perfectly together. I like it. Where and when is this available with the new cover?
ReplyDeleteI really like this version of the cover and name.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem is that Amazon will only let me buy the story once.
Dru, the links are there--but I made them a little more obvious. Thanks for pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteHarbingerdc, THANK YOU!!!!
I like the new cover a lot--I'm currently dealing with my own cover issues, so I understand your angst! I'm wondering about the sentence in your blurb: Keeping the child means losing her business. It feels like you've revealed too much, or maybe too little. But that sentence stopped me, so I just wanted to let you know.
ReplyDelete