What do you do when the first book you self-publish isn’t a hit? Give it a new face and try again! (Long-time readers might remember that I’ve had a couple of versions of cover art for Emperor’s Edge and Encrypted along the way.) Today, Sheryl Steines is guest posting and talking about her experience re-issuing her first book.
The Re-Issue Process
Always measure twice, cut once. It’s far less work if you do the job right in the first place. I thought I had done that when I published my first book, The Day of First Sun. After unsuccessfully trying to publish my book with a brick and mortar company, I chose the only other option to me, and self published it.
But the book didn’t sell well. Besides selling to friends and family, I didn’t have much luck in the way of marketing. I spent much time on the internet trying to figure it out. I had book marks, business cards, and posters. I sent letters to independent bookstores hoping for book signings. I had a Twitter account, a Facebook author page and a blog. So why wasn’t I selling any books?
It came down to fully not understanding how to create an internet presence, how to get a book, that I felt was pretty good, out to the market. At some point, I had to decide if I was going to keep selling my book or I was going to stop and get a real job. So I hired marketing help. Sometimes, it’s far better to ask for help than think you can figure it out on your own. I realize my limitations.
Her plan to sell my second book actually started with my first book and thankfully I put my trust in her when she suggested we re-issue the first book. So you’re thinking about all that hard work thrown away? When you’re an author it’s about putting out the best product you can. There was always something nagging at me about The Day of First Sun. I thought about the typos we discovered after it was published, the idea that I should have made it Young Adult instead an adult book. Now it was my chance to make those changes and find more confidence in the book that I worked so hard on.
In a way, I started the process a little sad; as if someone told me there was something wrong with my child. But it was the right decision. The book needed to be re-edited. While my manuscript was at the editor, the next goal was to work on my new cover, something far more eye catching. I did like my cover, but it blended together, nothing stood out. But my artist was a genius, took what I liked about my first cover and improved it. I couldn’t stop looking at it, realizing that sometimes, it helps to have an extra set of eyes. I was getting closer to something.
But there was more work to do. As we worked on the physical book, I needed to work on my internet presence. Not just getting noticed, but being more professional. Setting up accounts, making any author pages coordinate with each other. I now would have a website with my blog, more author pages, and more twitter followers. As I had help with the computer stuff, I realized just how computer illiterate I actually was. But in the three months that I had the help, I gained far more than I had in the first year after publishing the book. I relied on others to teach me what I had been unable to learn on my own.
I was amazed at the universe that includes other indie authors, the blogger universe that is so accepting and willing to let me tag along, let me write a guest blog or review my book. The things that I was unaware of before I jumped in with both feet, it’s daunting and overwhelming, but the process has been so worth it. I started with a book that I was so proud of, one that I thought deserved to be read but I was tentative and unsure. I ended up with something far better than I could have imagined. It’s now a book I feel confident with, a book that I’m excited to share with other readers.
My motto became measure twice, cut once and hopefully when it comes to my second book, I’ll be able to avoid doing the work twice. As fun as it’s been that is.
Bio
Sheryl Steines is equal parts driven, passionate and inspired. With a degree in English from Wright State University, Sheryl dedicates time everyday to her art. Her love of books and a quality story drives her to share her talent with her readers as well as make the time to talk to book clubs and students about her process.
Sheryl has eclectic tastes and enjoys character driven novels. In her own writing, the Annie Loves Cham series is driven by her love of the characters and her desire to place them in totally new situations. She enjoys testing their mettle.
Behind the wheel of her ’66 Mustang Convertible, Sheryl is a constant surprise. Her sense of humor and relatable style make her books something everyone can enjoy.
Sheryl can be found on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog. She also encourages her readers to email her and let her know what you think of Annie and Cham!
Awesome post today! I’m publishing book #2 this weekend, but my first book was written years ago- before I know what I know now, which is hopefully more than I knew then!
Your post has inspired me to revisit that book and edit properly. Since it is a holiday novel I have plenty of time thankfully- because I think I may need a good deal of it:)
The re-editing was so well worth the effort. It gave me a chance to take all that I learned in the first place and apply it to my book. I”m much more comfortable with the end product than I was originally and I can’t wait to get the book out to people. Good luck with your re-editing.
Thank you so much for this post! I’m in the same sort of situation — I self-published my first book years ago, before I really knew much about marketing or what I wanted to do with it. It was somewhat of an experiment at the time, and now I’m revisiting it to touch it up, add some better content and reissue it (hopefully soon)!
I’m glad to see there’s a second chance for first books! Thanks for sharing your experiences and best of luck! 🙂
Thanks. There was still more I wanted to do with my reissue, but I didn’t want to do a total rewrite. I decided what my goals were for the rewrite and stayed with those. I could probably re-edit for eternity, but I had to stop and some point. Good luck to you and your re-edits. It’s definitely worth it.
I know the feeling. It’s so easy to get obsessed with reworking things that you forget that you need to keep moving forward in the series or with other new books! Everything in moderation!
Thanks for guest posting today, Sheryl! One of my favorite things about e-publishing, in particular, is that it’s easy to make changes. You do a 5,000-book print run, and it’s a tad tougher to fix those typos or change the cover.
Thanks for the comments, Erin and Stacey. Good luck with your books!
After re-editing, I learned a few things about editing in general that I’m applying to my next book. Believe it or not, I need to learn to rely on spell check a little more. I never was a fan and usually relied on my sight, but boy, that would have solved a lot of small issues the first time around. Thanks again for hosting my guest blog Lindsay.
Funny you should mention this. I just went through a quick edit and created new covers for a couple of my older books. I’ve learned a lot since I first put them out. I hope the new versions look better.
Eye-catching cover is important. Since I don’t make enough on my book sales to pay anybody for a cover, then I have to do it myself. I hope it doesn’t show too badly.
One book got a royalty-free awesome spaceship. I applied the words using plain old Paint.
The other book got a photo from a friend who is a professional wildlife photographer. She just happened to have some cool pictures of bald eagles in her portfolio. She was happy to donate the use of the picture for a credit in the book.
To me, re-issues are a way of life.
Good luck with the new covers, Marva!
I do think they make a huge difference. More than once I’ve lamented the lack of dragons in my world, because a cool dragon on the cover seems to guarantee a download (at least for free ebooks :D).
Haha… I hope you’re right! I have (what I think) is a pretty cool dragon on my first book’s cover. But he’s a part of the story and not just there for new reader draw! 🙂
I’m hoping to avoid the reissue again if I can. But I learned so much about the process and I wanted to give my book one more chance. I now realize that I have a lot of options out there and I don’t have to rely on one place to edit or design a book cover. Having help and contacting others who know more than I do about publishing also helped me and focused me. Good luck to you.
i didn’t know that you can republish or reissue one’s book. I have read in one of the blogs that it is important to keep your original book cover design in mind and incorporate elements of that design if you can. This way, readers can visually tie the two versions together, but understand that the new version is, well, new and updated. What do you think?
Thanks for this post. I recently made the decision to reissue by first two books before publishing my third. The reasons you cited were mine. Looking back, I was unsure of myself as a writer. I didn’t quite believe I was worthy of spending money on a professional editor and totally unprepared to tell my graphic artist what was needed in the cover.
I have a new, professional editor and a new graphic artist who is excellent at incorporating my comments. I also spent time learning about what worked and didn’t in covers in my genre.
Your article reinforces that I am on the right track. Thanks for sharing.
Mahrie