Book Covers do make a difference.

Hi Everyone, Kim Watters here. Today I wanted to touch a bit upon book covers and how they can make a difference in sales. In between projects for Love Inspired, I've been putting my back-list up on the Kindle and Nook. In the beginning, I hired one of my former husband's students to do my book covers because I didn't know what I was doing. They were okay, exactly what I'd asked for given the pictures I'd sent the girl. But these stories weren't selling. Okay, it wasn't like I was promoting them around or anything, but not one sale for two of them. I figured it had to be the covers.

(I can't find the original cover for Evergreen but it was just a park bench.)


Fast forward a year later, and with more research and knowledge under my belt, I knew that had to be the problem. The stories were good, but if you can't hook them with a cover that screams pick me up, you've lost a sale. (I'd love to know how much Harlequin spends on this type of research-just the accountant in me.)

So I downloaded gimp and taught myself how to make covers. It took quite a bit of time and lots 0f trial and error but I'm pleased with what I came up with. I don't think the art department at LI is going to be calling any time soon, though. As soon as I changed the covers, I started getting sales. The first covers did not portray the essence of the romance in the stories. I hope I've changed that.

So what do you think? And what do you think of the covers Harlequin does for us? Inquiring minds want to know.