How much difference does a cover make?
A lot. In this case, my story was about a man who had nothing left to live for. He’s about to throw himself off a bridge when a passing bicyclist stops and hands him a book. A magic book.
The original cover of my story, published in 2017, was a dismal failure. The image resonated well with people who had read the story. But few people clicked on the thumbnail on Amazon. The title was a problem, too, though it was accurate. The story was about a magic book that accomplished good things, after all. But, at first glance, the title conveyed a biblical connection that wasn’t really evident in the story. The bottom line was that no clicks means, well, no sales.
Fast forward to 2021. I’m about to re-launch the book with a new title and cover. It’s now An Unlikely Hero. I think the new cover is much more dynamic and, hopefully, much more likely to generate clicks (and sales). Additionally, while the story itself hasn’t changed, I’ve fine-tuned the volume to lead readers to similar works of mine that they might also be interested in.
In other words, in addition to the cover changes, I’m looking for sell-through…the ability of one story to generate sales for some of my other stories.
What can I say? First, you’ve got to tell a good story, which I believe I’ve done. Second, you’ve got to dress it up and send it out into the world to find the readers who will appreciate it.
Fly, little birdie.
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