Sometimes, the hardest part of change is admitting that you need some.
Okay, here I go (deep breath): some things about the way I’ve been marketing my books are not working. So I’m taking it one step at a time, looking at my book descriptions, keywords, categories, all those bits and bobs self-publishing authors have to learn about to help us become more visible to readers.
The first step in my evil plan to achieve world domination (or just, you know, sell a book or two) is to re-evaluate some of my covers. A lot of publishers refresh their books’ covers over time, as styles change, and I plan to do some of that. But this one cried out to me right away.
I liked the idea for the original cover for Catering Girl at first. But I think it might have been too high-concept for the story. The intention was for it to be a representation of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, except with the substitution of the coffee cup for the little movie camera: the award goes to…the catering girl.
Crickets. Major crickets. Crickets with jazz hands.
In retrospect, I think the intention might have been good, but the overall execution was confusing. The granite texture says serious and even funereal. The frothy, piped-icing look of the title font says “cute bake-shop cozy mystery.” The story is neither of those things. I think I was trying to lighten the tone of a graphic I had fallen much too far in love with, and send a message that “although this story has some substance, it’s also fun!”
Together, it said, “Uh, no.”
I’ve been meaning to revise the cover for a while, hunting for images in my spare time. Everything looked too light and fluffy—poolside girlfriends, umbrella drinks on pristine glass tables. Then I found this lovely number. Something about it said “Frankie” to me right away. It said “snarky and just a little dark, and how does she do that without spilling her drink?” So, I think it’s a better fit and will hopefully select the right readers.
Onward and upward, as they say.
Laurie Boris 
I love it! And it raises mad questions about the content 🙂 Well done!
Thank you! We like the mad questions.
Having not read the novels, what I get just from looking at the covers is a) the heroine is struggling as if she feels like she’s under water, yet she raises her drink glass high anyway, she’s able to chill out even when things aren’t looking good b) the second one, that she’s trying to achieve fame through coffee
That’s it! Thanks, Bookshelfbattle. I hope to use coffee to keep me awake enough to pursue fame…one of these days.
I like the new cover. I don’t know if I would change the other covers though..especially drawing breath and playing charlie cool…both, to me, are brilliant. I am having the same marketing issues, it’s just not working. I finally decided to get a job so I can throw some money into some more serious advertising. Love you Laurie…Once the masses find you, the skies the limit.
Aw, thanks, Donna! Love you, too. And I’m really looking forward to the next Delilah book.
Reblogged this on Library of Erana.
The cover image is nice, as in pleasant to look, at but it doesn’t tell me what the genre is. Is it a serious mystery? A cozy? A comedy? I have no idea. So, with all the gazillions of book covers out there, it isn’t one that would entice me to click for more info. From my perspective as a potential reader, the blurb at the top (a frankie goldberg novella) doesn’t really help because I have no idea who or what Frankie Goldberg is. As a book cover designer, if I was going to use that image, I would suggest crafting a short, catchy, descriptive blurb, one or two short sentences, that I’d place somewhere below the title in the space on the right side of the arm. Something that would give the viewer some idea of what they can expect from the story. Something like “Another day, another murder to cater.” Or “A pool side blend of cocktails and mystery.” I don’t know what the story is about so I’m just throwing some random ideas out there. 🙂
Oh, I might just do that, Gary. Thank you for the idea.