Recently, I made a few readers rather upset with me. You see, I did what one silently considered an unpardonable bookish sin. I changed the covers on all the books in one of my series. *Gasp* I know! It was a really hard decision, trust me, because I loved the original covers to that series. But authors, well, sometimes we have to make tough choices, and one of those decision is the cover of our books.
Covers are really important because it is the first impression a book can make on a reader. So what are some reasons why an author may decide to chose to change a cover? There are many, but I’m going to outline the top 3 reasons.
Reason #1 The covers are outdated
Trends change. Rapidly sometimes. Authors want their books to stay relevant and keep hooking readers even years or decades after publication date. If a cover is screaming 1990’s, the chances of a reader in 2023 picking up that book are slim. Here is an example of a book cover that has changed over time.
Reason #2 The author got the rights back for their book from a traditional publishing house
Sometimes the rights of books will revert back to the author after a given amount of time. When that happens, the author can choose to republish the book, but the publishing house that originally published the book retains the rights to the cover art. This means the author must change the cover in order to republish.
Reason #3 The original cover wasn’t hitting the market audience like they’d planned
Authors really do ask a lot of book covers. Not only do they want the cover to immediate catch a reader’s eye, but they need to convey the entire story in a single glance as well. No, I don’t mean plot points or anything like that. But the cover needs to convey the tone of a story and the correct genre and sub-genre. I reader doesn’t want to open a cover thinking they’re getting a romance because of the couple staring adoringly into each other’s eyes on the front only to find themselves reading about a serial killer and all his victims.
Why I decided to change my covers falls under the umbrella of reason #3. While I adore my original covers and think they hit the market fairly well, feedback showed they fell a little short. Like a mother with her children, I want to see all my book babies succeed, and to do that, I need to give them all the advantages I can. So, here is what I started out with and here is what these books look like now. What do you think?
Winner of the Holt Medallion and Selah Award, Sarah Monzon is a stay-at-home mom who makes up imaginary friends to have adult conversations with (otherwise known as writing novels). As a navy chaplain's wife, she resides wherever the military happens to station her family and enjoys exploring the beauty of the world around her.
I like both but I like the updated look better. Thank you for sharing. Blessings
I like the old covers but I also think the new covers immediately pull your attention to the book and the title.
I’m still debating on whether I should rebuy your paperbacks so I can have the new covers. :)
I definitely like the new covers and they’ve made we want to read several of the stories
I like both the old and new covers! I find it really interesting hearing about how covers are designed and changed. I can see what you mean about more dated looks when you show the new alternatives but I don’t know if I would have immediately thought dated if I’d just seen the originals. I hope the updated versions do well and thanks for giving us insights into this interesting topic.
Oh yay! I hope that you do. Also, you’ve just proven my point. ;)
Thank you!
I agree.
I feel like I can’t give an objective opinion on this 😆
I really liked the original covers for this series, but I can understand why you changed them. It’s very on trend right now, and you did a great job with them. I kind of like how each book gives an idea of the storyline, eight on the cover. It can be fun to freshen things up every now and then.
I like the new covers better.
Yay!
Yeah the original titles without the new subtitles (which I made to look like new titles) definitely didn’t give any sort of glimpse as to what a reader would be getting when they opened the book.
Thank you!
I loved the original covers!! Almost didn’t recognize your books with the new covers. Say what? I will get used to the new covers and certainly understand why you changed them.
I love the new covers! I feel like they fit the books better.
I have to say, neither the old covers nor the new covers strike my fancy. However, because I’ve heard really good things about your books, some of this series is in my TBR stack. Book covers are NOT what grab my attention. Author names grab me. The ONLY book I ever bought because of the cover was This Present Darkness, and one thing on the cover stood out to me and made me buy, and that was a little sticker that said if I didn’t like the book, I could get a full refund. THAT (and the fact that for about a month I’d talked myself out of buying the book) is why I bought the book!
Hi, Sarah! I really, really liked the artwork in the original covers but that wasn’t what caught my eye and got me to buy and read the series. Several posters right here on IR were talking about Sarah Monzon and her wonderful book, Molly. So, I checked it out. I loved the whole series and thought that the covers did a good job of capturing the characters’ personalities.
However, capturing personalities is very much an after-the-fact thing. I can see the need for more if I were looking only at the cover. Personally, I don’t usually get drawn to a book by its cover alone. I usually read the blurb, too, and often an author recommendation weighs a lot with me. I have covers that I like just for the image. The opposite is true as well. I don’t like certain cover styles (like pictures with the heads cut off, grrr).
I suppose it’s also a pet peeve that Amazon (probably other markets as well) has fostered this non-sensical system of sub-genres. Your book could be ranked #2 in Inspirational Romance, second chance, over 40, small town with the hero arriving in town on a Tuesday. Arriving on Monday is a different category :-).
I fully understand your reasons for updating the covers. I hope it serves your purpose well. I just happen to like the originals better. My mom had a wonderful sense of language humor and shared with me one of her favorites. She took the Latin phrase “De gustibus non est disputandum” (which means “There is no disputing personal taste”) and gave it her own translation: “Isn’t it disgusting what other people like?”
In the final assessment, the So Cal Sewing ladies are the bomb, the bees knees, excellent and all the other sub-genres of “Great!” you can come up with!
It was *such* a hard decision because I love the original ones as well.
They are definitely more “on trend” with the sweet rom-com market.
And I bet you’re glad you did because that’s a fantastic book!
I totally agree with you that the original covers reflect the personality of each heroine better. Maybe because I started with the covers and then crafted each story, instead of the other way around. Along with a cover makeover, this series has also gotten a blurb makeover. Hopefully the changes can appeal to more readers.
This is so interesting! You nailed it when you said the new covers with the sub-titles give the reader an idea of what the book will be about. I think that will draw more readers in. Great job!
Both covers are beautiful but the original ones scream “chick lit” and the new ones “romantic comedy”. But I usually love vintage covers for example the first cover of the Lori Wick book with a landscape is beautiful it screams “old fashioned romance” to me and there is something cute about old romances.
I like all the covers. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
Thank you!
Thank you for stopping by!
Honestly, all the Lori Wick ones for The Princess are a bit timeless. There were better examples for historical fiction but I know we like to stick with contemporary around here.
interesting covers
im late forgot to come back. Its interesting I acidentally bought Princess twice (cover one and 2). I actually did it with another series by Lori wick too cos she changed the covers but it was back before I had a kindle and was online as much.
I can understand reason two.
and on your new covers I really love them. They tell so much more of the story.
I would change the covers only if I published a second edition of the book with another publisher. In one case I had a second edition slightly revised of the book, at the same publisher, adding also another writer’s foreword, and I did not change the cover.