Wednesday 18 July 2012

Re-publishing a Pocket Novel

My latest KDP book, Bride for a Duke, was published earlier this year as The Daring Heart. When we re-publish our pocket novels we can't use the original covers so have to find another image. When I decided to put The Daring Heart out as an e-book I thought the book needed another title as well. I added a couple of extra scenes to give the story more sexual tension so the new cover is perfect. I had to change the heroine's name from Grace to Anna as the hero had been elevated from a lord to a duke. Having 'your grace' and 'Grace' in the same sentence was confusing. Finding a cover is not as hard as your might think. There are dozens of sites where you can buy inexpensive picture and photos. It takes a few hours to track down something appropriate but the search is worth it. Then all you need is the title and your name and the job's done. The only downside to this is that you can see your hero or heroine in the arms of someone else and on a different book. Unless you pay hundreds of pounds you don't own the image. This doesn't bother me - but I wonder if readers are put off? best wishes Fenella

4 comments:

  1. I'm sure it won't bother most readers Fenella. There are so many different images available it's unlikely readers will come across the same cover used again and again. Once you get followers who know you it's the name they're looking for anyway. Hope it does really well!

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  2. That's a great cover picture, Fenella. I agree with Cara, I'm sure most readers don't care. I've seen M&B re-use covers and a friend's novel cover was the same (but inverted) as appeared on an earlier chick lit novel.

    With my own 'indie' covers, I just went for a white background with one motif on the front. I'm not sure if that makes them boring (probably) but as I'm rubbish at artistic things, and couldn't afford to pay an illustrator, it was the best I could do.

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  3. Thanks for the advice. Sally - have a look at the various sites -e-mail me and I'll give you the addresses. It's so easy to put on your title etc with paint - even I can do it.

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  4. I always find it interesting searching for an ebook cover. It's certainly a challenge to get the right feel and characters from the story but you know it when you see it. I've kept the same images from my backlist of ebooks and used them on my indie paperbacks, mainly for continuity. I've noticed other authors do this and with so many versions available these days, it saves confusion out there in the market place. I wouldn't worry about a similar cover, Fenella. As others said, it's unlikely anyone would encounter it, there is so much on offer out there.

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