Support for Indie Authors discussion

@Misters Dwayne & Ken: Gee, thanks for the "help", gentlemen...

*smh*

^_~

EDIT: Just to be clear, that was a serious question, you goofballs!! LMAO!!!

Okay. Serious answer. Yes, I have seen sales drop when I changed a cover. It does happen. But, more often when I change a cover, I see sales come up. Or, even more often, things stay pretty much the same.

There. How is that for serious?

And now, *tries to sing like Michael Jackson* Annie are you Arcane, are you Arcane Annie? Annie are you Arcane, are you Arcane Annie? *realizes sounds more like Michael Moore and shuts up.*

@Mr Dwayne: That was serious. Almost too serious. But luckily, the glorious serenading saved ya ^_~

Thank you for sharing! (Dumb question warning!) I'm guessing you changed it back in the cases where sales dropped?

Okay, do NOT click on these covers! I'm totes NOT bookwhacking!! I just can't figure out how to get two images side by side in here... *sobs uncontrollably*

For reals. How the heck do you do that?? (☉_☉)



Like, even as a tiny thumbnail, I think the new cover looks waaay better. Not to mention, more professional. Am I completely off my rocker here? (In regards to the covers, guys. Not in general haha!)

More hugs,
Ann

The old cover is the one on the left, right? The naked woman? Personally, I think that's way better and more eye catching. And yeah, I think covers matter a lot - more than they should. I'm about to redo my covers to try to make my series more scifi looking, and more consistent with each other. I can only hope it boosts those mythical unicorn sales thingies. ;)

For the book I did the recent cover change for, no change in sales (that mythical word again), but plenty of inner satisfaction.

Lyra wrote: "The naked woman?"

All my women are naked.

Okay, I just had to say that. Cuz I'm a dork. Thank you for the input, Miss Lyra!! Hmm. That's interesting. If lots of people dig the original more...I might have to consider a switch back...

*dramatic sigh*

I look forward to seeing your new covers! I hope they boost your mythical creature count too ^_~

@Mr Ken: Inner satisfaction is a pretty awesome thing, in my books (no pun but kinda pun intended?)

I think the old cover had a more whimsical feel that might appeal to more readers. The new one looks a little more 'srs bizness.'

To me, cover doesn't matter, but I'm not a typical reader, especially not now. All of my favorites back in the day had these awful illustrations and I'm currently wary of covers.

But yeah, if you find the new one isn't working, change it back and see what happens.

Dwayne wrote: "And now, *tries to sing like Michael Jackson* Annie are you Arcane, are you Arcane Annie? Annie are you Arcane, are you Arcane Annie? *realizes sounds more like Michael Moore and shuts up.*"

Dang it, Dwayne, you got the real version of that song stuck in my head, now.

Annie wrote: "Okay, do NOT click on these covers! I'm totes NOT bookwhacking!! I just can't figure out how to get two images side by side in here... *sobs uncontrollably*

For reals. How the heck do you do that?? (☉_☉)"

I usually right-click the image, save it to my computer, then upload it to Photobucket. Although I believe there's an easier way to post an image here, I just haven't figured it out :/

@Miss Christina: Yes, I might have to. Which would suck cuz I love the new one hahaha!!

Hmm. I think I'll give it a few more days, though, cuz who knows? It might just be this week. Or August. Or mythical unicorn hunters. Or whatevs, eh? XD

@Miss Melissa: Thank you!!

And, yes, I just host the images on GR or my author site (same-same as Photobucket) then embed them on here with that < img src= code thingy. But they won't show up side-by-side. Like, just one on top of the other. Not that it really matters now that I think about it...

*more sheepish grinning**more hugs**more random weirdness*

I've been hearing about this a lot lately. People changing their cover and getting a new one because they feel it will help them sell more. I see it this way, your cover is the first thing a potential reader sees and aside from the pages within it's the second most important part about the book. I think an author should have the best cover they can have created for them, a cover that represents their book and something they are overjoyed and happy about.

I think when an author debates and thinks about creating a new cover that they were never really 100% satisfied with their cover. However, I think if they look at it in the sense of making an alternative cover while also keeping the original to see if it helps sales is different then that's fine but I'm not a believer in change to the cover will help sales.

@Mr Justin: Thanks for the insight! ^_^

But just for the record, I didn't change the cover cuz I thought it would help me sell more. I changed the cover cuz I always wanna change stuff and experiment...

*smirks**blows up laboratory**shrugs*

In terms of putting the two images "side by side"...

You could try flipping one of the images along the vertical axis (since they are both essentially facing the same direction) and blend them together within a 3rd shape. I see that done in movie posters from time to time.

Christina wrote: "To me, cover doesn't matter, but I'm not a typical reader, especially not now. All of my favorites back in the day had these awful illustrations and I'm currently wary of covers.

I'm so utterly the same. I prefer illustrations and original looking stuff. I kinda hate stock pics, which is all the rage. lol But truthfully, none of that matters to me. It's ALL about story. It could have a blank cover, and if I'm attracted to the story, I'll happily read it.

Annie wrote: "All my women are naked."

Rawr! ;)

Annie wrote: "I look forward to seeing your new covers! I hope they boost your mythical creature count too ^_~."

Thanks! I'll post them here to get everybody's input before making them official. :)

@Mr JN: "In terms of putting the two images "side by side"...

You could try flipping one of the images along the vertical axis (since they are both essentially facing the same direction) and blend them together within a 3rd shape. I see that done in movie posters from time to time."

Oh, haha! I just meant putting them side-by-side in this thread so people could compare the two. But thank you!! ^_^

@Miss Lyra: Yay! *claps excitedly* Can't wait!!

There's no way to table the images within the text box, but you could simply drop them both into one image file side by side.

I prefer the translucent, the yellow is a bit easier on the eyes.

@Miss Christina: I was being a lazy bum. Please forgive me (seriously).

@Miss Yolanda: Thank you very much :)

Hugs,
Ann

The left cover seems more YA/Romance, while the right cover feels more like Literature. So I guess it depends on your book or your audience.

@Miss CL: Oh, I'm definitely leaning left on the audience haha! Thank you!!

Hugs,
Ann

Annie wrote: "@Mr Justin: Thanks for the insight! ^_^

But just for the record, I didn't change the cover cuz I thought it would help me sell more. I changed the cover cuz I always wanna change stuff and experi..."

I'm totally with you on that one, Annie :)

@Mr Magnus: Soooo in other words...

You like to burn perfectly good houses down and build sand castles with flying unicorns too?

^_^

Robert wrote: "The opaque one feels like you are throwing defiance into my face."

You DO realize this comment makes me wanna go with the Opaque one, riiight? ^_~

And fine, fine! I'm going, I'm going!!

*pouts**quits messing around**writes a few chapters I WON'T scrap**hopefully**shrugs*

Ahh, but the opaque one does stand out; so if you're trawling through bookshelves (real or virtual) you're more likely to catch someone's eye.

@Miss TL: I did that thing again. Where I type all up in people's space...

Heh, I already changed it to the translucent one almost a week ago. Now I'm not sure if I should've just kept my original cover hahaha...haha...ha...*sobs*

Thank you, Miss TL!

٩(๑•◡-๑)۶ⒽⓤⒼ❤

Annie wrote: "@Mr Magnus: Soooo in other words...

You like to burn perfectly good houses down and build sand castles with flying unicorns too?

Affirmative. I'd even say that sometimes I feel like burning down perfectly swell sand castles and go sky diving with flying pigs. Care to join me?