Book Cover Critique for Self-Published Authors | YA Fantasy Book on all Platforms | Episode 3
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Thank you for watching this Cover Critique video for @BethanyAtazadeh 's book The Stolen Kingdom. This book is on all platforms-Apple, Barnes, Kobo, Google Play, and Amazon so we are taking a different approach with the book cover critique today. The goal is to determine if these covers are competitive on the wide platforms, and why they are or aren't. Big thank you to Bethany for allowing me to review her covers for all of you! You are amazing and I appreciate you trusting me with your book babies. Mwah!
I really hoped you all learned something even though this video was long AF. Apologies about the featured film, but y'all know how I feel about splitting it in parts. It's easier to give it as it is.
Disclaimers about Cover Critiques: These are my opinions and my opinions only. Following this advice cannot guarantee more sales. With that bing said, if you'd like to send me your cover to review, please email me at lyraparish(at)gmail.com and in the subject line please put COVER CRITIQUE. Please include your cover, genre, subgenres, along with any other information that may be helpful for me to understand where it should be placed. TBH: I have been sent a lot, which I appreciate greatly, and I will get to them as soon as I can. :)
Why I chose to call the female cover a photo manipulation: It looks more realistic than hand drawn or cartoonish. It's not overly airbrushed. I do understand this cover has a filter over it to make it look more like a person illustration cover (I zoomed in and studied it in more detail and made an assessment based on the woman), but I'd still consider it a manipulation due to the realism. The other covers I considered manipulations for the comparison on Amazon had the same type of filters/magical backgrounds/fantasy vibes.
I chose higher prices for her paperbacks than the previous YA book I reviewed because Bethany is on all platforms and the books are longer!
The giveaway will be chosen and will close on June 7, 2022 (Three weeks from when this video is posted to give everyone plenty of time to enter!) . I will announce who won in a video on June 10th. You MUST be a subscriber to win. Another big thanks to Shannon Nemechek for collaborating and being so generous! You're the bomb and your generosity is really going to help someone in the community!
Questions? POST THOSE BABIES DOWN BELOW!
//A B O U T M E//
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YAY! Thanks for doing a critique for my books, I really appreciate it! MY MIND IS BLOWN!! Lol! I had no idea that covers perform differently when they're wide versus on kindle unlimited... so this was hugely helpful right off the bat haha! I learned so much from this, but I've actually been dying to get an illustrated cover and I feel like this gave me permission to move that time-table up haha! Gosh, I am obsessed with how you are able to make the answers so obvious, this is genius. Thank you Courtney for that help and for the other tips!
p.s. I will totally take you up on sending you new covers once I get to that point (it might take a while with my new little dude keeping me busy haha, so I wonder if it would be wise to just switch the ebooks back to the castle cover in the meantime so it's at least a little better for wide audiences?)
Aww yay!! I'm so glad you found it helpful! Omg, I can't wait to see what you come up with for the rebrand. I'm 1000% invested at this point! You absolutely could try to change the cover back to the castle on the wide sites in the meanwhile just to see how it does. You might see an immediate difference, but you might not. I think everything is worth testing and you don't have anything to lose if you capture a different audience while you're working on your redesign! It's worth a shot IMO. 😀
And yes, please feel free to message me! Anytime! ❤️❤️
p.p.s. ❤❤❤ I know you'll get a lot of giveaway entries, but I'm gonna throw my name in the hat, because although I'm super excited to rebrand these covers (and also apply this info to my spin-off series, which I'll probably start with), it's going to get verrrrry expensive, very fast. So I could definitely use cover credit lol, but either way, love the giveaway, thanks for doing that!
@@BethanyAtazadeh Whoop whoop!
I hope lots more wide authors send in their covers for review in this series because this is SO illuminating! You're doing such a service for the community with this, Courtney
Yesss, it was so much fun looking at it from a different angle than KU. I don't mind either, KU is fascinating because it has it's own trends that's just not standard for all the platforms! Thank you so much for the nice comment, I appreciate it!
MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! You were totally Nancy Drew with all this book cover detective work! I watched all of this and it's insane how different Amazon is ranking books compared to the other platforms. I always love these videos from you, and I think it's amazing that you want to help authors with this category. Also, that's super nice of you and Shannon to do that giveaway for a cover rebrand. All around this was a fantastic video! I can't wait for the next one already!
LOLOL!!! Nancy Drew! It is so crazy the difference. If you don't have the BESTSELLER App on your iPhone you should download it. It's free and gives you an easy way to search Apple without being in the book app! :) Thank you so much! I bet when authors come to you for custom cover designs in the future, you'll be like...well is it WIDE or KU? Hahaha! Shannon is the real MVP!
Im so glad someone who has their bools wide sent their covers so Bethany thank you so much!!!
Courtney, the amount of knowledge you share, the little nuggets of ideas, tips, tricks and advocacy for authors career is a godsend!!
I love going through all the research with you and see what we find out with you and then hear you break it all down! I love it!!!
Thank you for all that you do for the community.
Ok, I commented before I’d watched the video and after watching your intro I’m even more excited for this one. I want to be a wide author and it would have never occurred to me that my covers need to be different. I would have been one of the ones who compared myself to KU authors and then wondered why things weren’t selling.
:) It happens! It was a mistake we learned the hard way. We started wide then went to KU and then went wide again, not realizing there is a clear a difference in design. Hopefully, you'll skip that pain point and not waste money on cover design like us! lol!
I’m so thrilled with this video for multiple reasons. I’m a huge fan of Bethany’s and I hope she takes your advice to heart and raises her prices!
I also had NO idea that my covers should be different if I plan to go KU or wide. Zero. Thank you so much for all of the time you invest in us.
Bethany is amazing! :) Sometimes they can be the same, depending on the genre and what's trending wide, but usually it's different. Having the skills to research it allow you to put more tools in your toolbox and understand what's selling/not selling on another level. I'm so glad you found it helpful.
"Don't be attached to your covers." Thank you for hammering that into my thick skull! I don't have a book published YET, but I've been scouting the genre for what's happening, and I find that none of the covers are quite to my taste. But, if I detach myself from the cover art and focus more on making it look professional and following the trends, then it doesn't matter if I really like them or not. And I won't care if I have to change them! This is my favorite video series on your channel (besides the livestreams, of course). There's nothing else like it that I have found on authortube, and it's so helpful. Love seeing your marketing brain in action, Courtney!
Haha, you're welcome. Sometimes the things we love (as far as covers) aren't what readers love. I'm picky, but I've learned the covers I think are amazing sell worst than the covers I hate...haha. I'm like WHY? It's UGLY! But, I'm NOT my intended audience so it doesn't matter what I think. The market decides that. It makes me happy that you're finding these helpful. If self-published authors can nail down packaging, the sky really is the limit. Gone are the days when we can make unprofessional covers in Gimp with a weird color filter and call it a day. But that's okay, just means we are leveling up as an industry. A quote I love is "progress not perfection". Sometimes we still get packaging wrong, even with experience mistakes happen. And that's okay, recognizing it and detaching yourself from it enough to fix the problem allows you to get new readers and make more money, and at the end of the day, that's the goal. 😀
@@TheCourtneyProject Absolutely! I'll have to let the professional in me take over when it comes to book covers. The artist in me will have to be satisfied with writing the first drafts. Luckily, I look forward to both! :D
Thank you so much for this video! This content is SO HELPFUL, especially to someone new to self-publishing.
❤ I've got a book cover design for a cozy mystery that looks more like crime fiction. I'd love to rebrand that cover!
❤ I don't know if the giveaway is still going on but I figured I would try because I am desperate. I'm a epic fantasy self published author with a 17 book series (plus shorts and companions). I was traditionally published then got my rights back and have rebranded book 1 around 4 times. Up to book 4 has been rebranded twice and I'm selling them for $0.99 wide and they aren't selling. I'm doing a weapons theme on the covers and I literally had to teach myself how to do the covers because I couldn't afford them and now I need to redo them and 17 books plus shorts and companions is an insane amount of money so this 200 dollar will help. I'm scared because I dont want to get them wrong again and I also dont know what's best for the covers at this point so I'm lost. Thank you so much. I just discovered your channel thanks to Bethany so I'm going to be binge watching to learn all I can!
This is so helpful! I watched this since I have a YA fairytale retelling (Alice in Wonderland), and I went with a concept idea. But it doesn't quite feel right, but I'm not sure. I didn't realize how the cover is different for wide audiences. Would you suggest different covers for Amazon and then for the wide stores?
I know you've only done a couple in this series but I'd be curious to see an (eventual) follow-up on if anyone changed their cover and your thoughts on the never cover. I'm not even an author (found you through your "spraying book edges" video while trying to find an easier way to color the card edges of tarot decks) but I find the way you talk about this stuff really interesting.
Edit: I looked up the books from the first episode and it looks like Deidre redid them and they look really good!
♥️ I would love to win this prize to rebrand/get the next cover for my YA historical fantasy. All my money is going into my romance books but I would love to finish those books. The fact that I have to get covers for the last two has always stopped me. My passion is romance but I want to finish those books. I know there are POC girls who’d love to see themselves in a historical fantasy where they’re princesses and queens. Thank you, Courtney & Shannon, so much for doing this.
Courtney!! This was so freaking helpful. I didn’t even realize branding changed if you were in KU vs. wide. My cover for my YA historical fiction is gorgeous. Everyone tells me so and I adore it. But I’ve had this nagging feeling (plus the cover designer for that cover is crazy expensive to use for the last two covers) that maybe I should look into changing it. The cover I have fits in well with KU books which I saw from what you shared. But it wouldn’t fit wide and that’s what I want to do eventually. I’ll look into it though and make sure it’s the same for historical fantasy as it is for fantasy retellings. Thank you so freaking much for doing this! You’ve helped me and it wasn’t even my cover being critiqued 🖤🖤🖤
Aww, I'm so glad you found value in it! YA fantasy/historical fiction is a mashup genre for sure so I'd probably approach it a little differently. Depending on HOW historical you go, it can be somewhat of an odd mashup because I've seen some authors go the "steampunk" route when doing historical/fantasy because it's easier to market with the fantasy elements. The typical period historical/bodice ripping historical romance are predominately pretty girls in pretty dresses in pretty scenes on all platforms. When I've searched the YA Historical it's not like that because it's not period (they're mostly, from what I can tell, illustrations with brighter colors) but also the historical YA I've found is not fantasy. So the issue is going to be finding YA + Historical + Fantasy and if I'm being completely honest (because you know I'm going to tell you the truth), it might be somewhat hard to package because it's not a "trendy" cross genre. With that being said, I think the stories that are in your heart should absolutely be told and I love what you said about POC girls seeing themselves as historical fantasy princesses/queens. I agree, there should be a lot more of that! The right packaging for the story is 100% out there, figuring out exactly what that should be to find your intended reader/target audience will takes some deep research on all the platforms, but it's not impossible. I'd start by listing your comps-books that are close to yours-and see what categories they're being put in and start there.
@@TheCourtneyProject Thank you so much for this message! I can do that: looking at comps for my kind of books. I can think of a couple already. My books are only fantasy as in there’s no magic but POC characters as royalty can’t exactly be historical fiction. A deep dive is good and a project I can tackle now to see what I can do to find my readers. That’s the thing I haven’t been able to find since this book released back in 2017. I’m excited because I do want to finish the series. ♥️
❤ I want to win this giveaway because after watching this series I realize that the cover design plans I had in mind for the first book in my fantasy series won't sell well and my budget is too low.
Sure I can delay it and save up for it, but I suffer from chronic illnesses and money is hard to put aside so it would mean a very long delay. Winning this would be a huge help and raise the chance of getting more sales than I would have as a new author. ❤
I hope you make more videos in this series cause I'm learning so much from them! 😊
Another great video. As a cover designer, I am loving this series and hope you keep them coming! SO much good insight. Oh the SJM cover are actually illustrated by Alessandro Taini but look super realistic. Lots of illustration in the market right now, it's great!
I was wondering about that because the majority of books on all platforms were illustrated. So that’s even crazier because hers were some of the only ones that seemed to have a person on the cover. Thanks for sharing!
❤️ oh wow I loved this video so informative because I am researching for my debut. I would love to be entered because I need to order a cover and they’re so expensive.
❤️❤️❤️ i'm in the process of writing my (our) debut novel with a friend that i've been writing casually with for years, but never really considered the possibility of writing professionally with until i stumbled upon your youtube channel tbh. we've always written very, very well together, but i didn't really... think of co-writing books to be published as a reality until i realized how accessible self-publishing really is these days & also, tbqh, until i watched one of the vids you have about how you & brooke co-write and i was like "huh".
HOWEVER, the closer we get to the #editor and #cover point, the more anxious i get about the actual $$$ we need, so 200$ would be pretty much, ridiculously amazing in order to help with that? esp because i do want a cover that can compete wide. so i'm throwing my hat in the ring for the giveaway!
but also, because i'm not really someone who comments on youtube vids much, i'm just going to add while i'm here:
IRONICALLY, you and bethany are actually my two favorite authortubers because, frankly, a lot of authortube feels like i'm skipping book promos constantly at the beginning/middle/whatever of the videos and it drives me nuts because if i'm interested in finding out more about someone's books, i will, but the reality is i'm here to watch videos about writing/self-publishing/etc because i'm here to take notes/learn/etc. so i find most other authortubers exhausting!
but i think you're both great & am on both of your newsletters & i actually did buy her boxset literally last week and i'm 1.5 books in & you're very, very correct in saying that it's a steal tbh because i WAS prepared to buy them all individually until i realized it was 50% off to grab the boxset and i'm... you know, cheap! (i will also say that when i signed up for her newsletter, she offers the first half of the stolen kingdom for free and by the time i'd finished THAT, i was ready to buy the whole series, so, a smart move tbh!)
ANYWAY, sorry, rambling, i also appreciate that you advocate for going wide because tbh before i ended up on your channel, i feel like all i was seeing/hearing was KU KU KU and i kind of felt like KU was... a requirement? so it helped me realize that despite the number of people who are emphatically about KU, it's not really the be all end all of selfpub.
& you have SO MUCH useful information on your channel and it's really, REALLY nice, so thank you for that.
& i would love it more of the book cover critique videos were about wide books, but REGARDLESS, i'm really glad this one WAS, because i 100% would've made the mistake of targeting to a KU audience without having any intention of BEING in KU! because nothing i've read/watched/consumed has pointed this out to me and it just wouldn't have occurred to me. so, anyway, BASICALLY this is just a really long thank you for all the information i've gleaned from your channel!
I learned so much. Not ready for cover design but kudos to you and Shannon for a great giveaway.
OMG This video blew my mind. I've been toying with a few different ideas re "going wide" and none of those included seeking different covers comparisons or branding on the other platforms. I'd just assumed that one size fits all but boy was I wrong. I swear each time you do these critiques I learn so much. ♥♥I would love to get some discreet covers done for my novella series covers as the sexy images I have currently prevent me from getting into some group promos, and using some platform features. It would also be good to have another designer's perspective of what a BDSM-based discreet cover would be as I keep drawing blanks.
Haha, I'm so glad I could blow your mind! Oh yes, it's so important to look at covers on a wide scale if you're going wide. It seems like common knowledge, but it's really not and I feel like that's why a lot of KU authors fail to transition. Ma'am, watch some design videos in a weekend and you'll have discreet covers made in a day. I do find they are easier to market when the covers are toned down, another lesson we learned the hard way. Oh BDSM discreet covers? I'd check out some of the romance authors who write "dark" but have BDSM elements like Skye Warren, Aleatha Roming, Willow Winters, and Charlotte Byrd. They do a great job with taming down something that could be extremely erotic by using objects. Hope that helps!
@@TheCourtneyProject lol 😆 The idea department has been evading me of late when it comes to these discreet covers lol. I'll take a look at some their covers and see. Sometimes it's just the voice in my brain telling me to stay in my writing lane and leave the designing to the professionals 🙄 I never feel the stuff I design are pretty
Ahh these were great! Thank you again! I hope you do more!!
❤️❤️❤️ I would LOVE to win this giveaway! I’m prepping to publish my debut (it’s with my editor now!) and I want to publish wide and nail the cover right out the gate! I can’t even tell you how helpful $200 toward a cover would be after the year I’ve had. Winning would be such a gift! ❤️❤️❤️
🙌🙌
♥I will publish my first book this year, but I don't have the $ at this time so my current plan is to make my own (as in using a deposit photo). I have watched several of your book cover critiques and yes, I know a cover is likely to break the book at the launch. so, fingers crossed, hoping to win so I can launch the book properly... I'd love the chance to work with a designer, too. 💔
I’ve seen a subscriber of mine watch some photoshop tutorials on skillshare and rebrand her entire series in a weekend. It’s possible to do! Good luck in the giveaway!
I hadn’t thought to use different covers for ebook vs paperback. When you rebranded did you have to remove your original books before releasing the new covers and titles?
Oh yeah, you can totally use different covers for paperback/ebooks. We offer one that looks like the ebook and one that's discreet/alternative and they're linked to the ebook so then readers have the choice if they're in love with the original ebook cover. But you can also make them different from the beginning as well. We did not remove our original books when we rebranded. We did have to unlink the old paperbacks and create new listings for that, but our reviews stayed on our ebook so it wasn't a biggie. It's actually a pretty simple process.
I’m a romance writer and a newbie AuthorTuber. This is so helpful!
So glad you found it helpful! ❤️
These Cover Critiques are really helpful. I woulld love to see another one in the future!
Thank you so much for putting this together. I’m finally kind of sort of getting to understand book covers thanks to this video, as well as learning a better way to research it for my own stuff. Most of the time I have no idea about visual stuff. Thank you.
You’re so welcome! Very happy to help!
I will say that I love Bethany’s books and am a current reader, but if she had illustrated covers I think that would have captured my attention sooner. I love illustrated covers and would totally buy a set of her books with that style. I started reading because I found her UA-cam channel and really liked her and found out more about her books that way, but I don’t gravitate towards people on covers. I am also not a KU reader.
Wow, thanks for this solid feedback, Makenna!
❤️ This was a great video! I also want to play in terms of you book cover funding giveaway. I would love to do a follow up video in my genre, picking 2 or 3 different cover designer that fit several platforms and give viewers samples at several different price point from designers I’ve tracked down…as well as my own opinions as a graphic artist. Your so tight that people fall in love with cover ideas. And my personal opinion about using actual models is that with a few exceptions, biases the reader in terms of the MC being that person on the cover. And some of what I’ve seen from cover designers are just so stock looking! It’s often not the best selling point for many genres, IMO!
That’s actually a very interesting idea. Have different designers create the same cover and see the different stages. It would be cool to choose them by price point too. So like a $100, $200, $300 cover…because people always think the most expensive designer is the best. I’ve learned that’s not always true!
@@TheCourtneyProject I’ve found some fairly inexpensive designers who have potential. I definitely want to try a comparison at some point. And hopefully will give me some options if I need to switch up at some point.
What a font of information for another great fantasy rebrand! Loving this series, Courtney 😍 hoping historical fiction is interesting enough as a New Shiny Thing to examine, LOL 😝
Oooh! The next video I do will not be YA! I’m going to try to do one of each genre in KU/Wide that I can so then we can do fair comparisons between the genres and see on a broad scale what is working and what isn’t. I’m sure I will get to historical! ❤️
I'm a cover designer, and this is exactly what I've been trying to put into words for years! The style of Kindle Unlimited covers is completely different to wider platforms. Thank you!
Yes! I bet it’s been hard to convey that to authors who have a specific KU design in mind but are launching wide! ❤️❤️ lol, feel free to send this video to anyone who doesn’t get it! Thank you for reiterating the research!
Great advice about valuing your work and pricing accordingly! Hope to see more in this series at some point :)
there are more to come! :)
Have I ever told you how much I love how willing you are to help others grow? 🥰🥰🥰
😘😘😘😘
♥️ Broke grad student throwing my hat in the ring for the giveaway. I've written five books but with two jobs and full time school, both time and money have been an issue when it comes to budgeting for my debut. The writing I've got, but the rest...I could use a little help 😅
I completely understand! ❤️ You’re amazing! I’ve got you entered!
I would love to win this cover design prize, because I wrote an adult fantasy over ten years ago and published through a hybrid company that basically slapped our cover concepts on a wrap and called it a day. It's my dream to redeem the mistakes of my youth, and rebrand and relaunch the book knowing what I now know, but after spending several thousand dollars on the outset, I can't really justify the expense :-(❤❤❤❤♥
Aww, I’m sorry that happened to you. ❤️ Good luck!
@@TheCourtneyProject thanks!
Wow a lot of things I learned here. I know my fantasy series needs to be rebranded but covers are expensive and I am having trouble selling them for $0.99 much less charging what they're worth. They're wide so I'm trying to learn what kind of covers I need. I went with weapons on the front covers but people told me there wasnt anything to connect them to the story. How do you do that with books that arent retellings that people know nothing about?
So…I’d ask what your book is about. What are the key elements in the story? If it’s fantasy, I’m sure there’s something that resonates with those characters and the story. Write down a bunch of keywords and ask your readers too. Is there a magical system in place? Does it include any sort of objects? Runes. Wands. Etc. Does your hero/heroine have any family heirlooms? Jewelry is an example.
Is one secretly a prince or princess? Without knowing anything about the story, it’s hard to pinpoint items. But I bet you there’s something you could use that would relate to your characters!
@@TheCourtneyProject well book one is about a woman who disguises herself as a man to rescue her brother. Hes arrested and thrown into a dangerous outdoor prison where genetically enhanced assassins hunt and kill the male prisoners there. She needs to get taken hence the disguiss. But the Hunters sense something different about her so one goes undercover and pretends to be a prisoner to find out her secret. I used a sword as the cover because of the Inquiri blades the Hunters use. But again people said it didnt connect them. Being in a prison Averella doesnt really have or own anything. A lot of the book is just action packed and focused on their survival
Late to your party but sooo happy to be here - may need a recover
Interesting about the 'alternate cover' prep--what is this usually used for? Paperback? Foreign market? Special edition?
So it’s a special edition (that’s always available) to attract a different audience, especially in romance. Some readers don’t want a couple banging against the wall and would rather a beautiful beach scene 😂😂😂. Direct example from our books!
@@TheCourtneyProject Ahhh, like the movie tie-in edition! Interesting...I guess I didn't notice that they're released simultaneously! Live & learn. Thanks!
@@MargaretPinard we try to release them together, but some authors don’t. They’ll do it later, but I think the goal is usually to capture a different audience or to offer you current readers something different/special.
@@TheCourtneyProject Market Differentiation 201! ;D
When you say Go direct. Does that mean put each up without using draft to digital so you get the promo each company offers?
I kept watching. So which ones do you keep draft to digital for? Do you have a video on this?
Yes, that’s what direct means. :) I would use d2d for everything other than Kobo/overdrive, Barnes, Google Play, and Apple.
❤ Love the cover review videos, I'm considering self-publishing my book because it doesn't fit great into a trad genre, but I'm not sure how to brand it. :( It's a coming of age YA fantasy that has more mature content than typical YA but less romance / steam than typical NA, usually coming of age doesn't fit well into adult but limited romance and darker themes make it not a great fit for YA. I'm really torn how to brand it. Would love a video on categories and how to pick correct ones to appeal to correct readers not to leave them disappointed.
You don’t even know how much you’re helping with these videos you make❤️
LOL, I probably don't. I loveeeee covers and know it's the face of our work + how important it is when it comes to marketing on different platforms. :) I'm just glad I could share something with everyone that I enjoy while also showing others how to do the same research. Glad you're here!
@@TheCourtneyProject I’m really happy to be here. Been learning A LOT and your channel actually made me make the switch to go wide. Hopefully I’ll be on all platforms in June🤞
❤️ Even if I don’t win the prize to afford a cover for my first book, I have already ‘won’ because I have learned so much with new ideas about how to research genre and trends thank you.
This is so interesting! I really like these videos :O
Thank you! So glad you like them!
❤️ I'm almost finished writing my first book. The cover is just one of the few things I have to figure out on the mile long checklist.
❤️❤️❤️ I’m a debut fantasy fiction author and I want to do well wide but I just don’t know if my cover as it is now will be able to hold its own, and as a debut author it is harder to create that initial audience if your first cover isn’t… fantastic. Don’t get me wrong, I love the work that was done, but seeing this has made me question whether it’s the right move or not.
Ooh--I'd love to win the money to rebrand covers so that I can put all these wonderful lessons Courtney is dishing out to good use! And level up my series from 2015-19, it wants some LOOOOVE 💖💕❤️
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STAND for your WORTH! Oh I love this stand you take about the box set value on the Zon, Courtney. Yes, 👑!
Yes ma’am! Amazon, the billion dollar company, doesn’t deserve some of these books for these prices, for real.
I don't even write books and I legit look forward to these videos. keep up the good work
Aww, thank you Reginald! I always appreciate your support!
Thanks so much for sharing all this information! It's really interesting to learn about different platforms and which styles of covers work well where. I REALLY needed to hear this because as I'm working on my debut paranormal romance, i was all ready to purchase/design/etc a cover i was excited about and it might not (probably would not) have been right for my genre. Also, the pricing info. was helpful. THANK YOU!!!
You’re welcome! ❤️❤️❤️
I haven’t published yet, but plan to publish and sell (YA/NA fantasy books) wide. This breakdown was SUPER HELPFUL. Wow! 🤩👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Thank you so much for sharing this!
You're welcome, Kristin! So glad you found it helpful. 😀
Courtney you're an angel to teach these tips to us. Readers do judge books by their covers, that's a given. How many of us look into a book because the cover attracts us? So learning what covers work and don't work is essential in selling a book (along with an awesome blurb). I'm still working on my 2nd draft (lol), but I'm saving all these vids to review before I finally do get a cover 😉
Aww, thank you Shelly! And you're absolutely right. I think about walking through a bookstore and stopping at a random book no one has ever recommended to me and picking it up. It's happened so many times and it's based solely on that cover, and no reason other than catching my eye. It's the same thing online when people are browsing the stores or scrolling on their feeds. 😊
❤️ I’m working on a new series and my ‘new’ strategy is to have the cover for my book package before writing the book. Already have the first one and so ready to start working on the second! Thank you for all you do, Courtney! ❤️
Yay! I’m excited about your new series!
❤️ I want to win because I published my first book in 2021 and it is definitely at KU book cover. I found an artist and started working with them on a new cover but work has been stalled because of money reasons. Getting this money would really help me with the covers for my first and second book.
Thanks so much for entering, Iris! Good luck!
❤️I'm working on a new book I'm really jazzed about, but I want to get an illustrated cover, even though they are pretty expensive. i found a cover designer who I think will be perfect, and of course it is pricey.
Oh yay! Congrats on working on a new book!
Thank you for these videos they are so helpful.
I am publishing my first book this summer...well three books over the summer and everything about publishing is expensive when you live pay check to pay check so please enter me into that drawing. Thank you so much for your generosity!
Thank you for watching! You're entered. :) Good luck!
Thanks for this, I hadn't noticed that there was such a difference in how book covers sell between Amazon unlimited vs everywhere else. I'm hoping to finish my book this year and self publishing feels like such a gamble because you have to pay for everything upfront so a cover designer would help a lot! ,❤
You’re so welcome, Nikki! Good luck on your book. ❤️❤️❤️
love love love this video! sooo helpful, especially since I write in YA fantasy. I haven't finished writing my book but this is invaluable knowledge for when I do publish my work. Thank you, Courtney! I have been binging your videos this past week and you are a gem!
Aww, I'm so glad you found it helpful! :) You're so welcome. Thanks for binging my videos too, every watch helps. 😀
Thanks so much for this in depth look at the research behind covers on a wide platform v.s. KU. Amazing information as always!!
Thanks for watching. I appreciate it!
❤️ Oh my goodness, these videos are so informative. I never noticed how different the KU covers are from wide.
I would love to create/rebrand a cover for the box set of my 7-book series! The last book releases later this year, so while it isn't technically in a box set yet, we have created mockups for a 3D type collection like the ones you showed in your video. But, after watching this, I think creating an illustrated character cover for the box set to draw in new/different readers would be amazing!
What's crazy is the difference is like that for nearly every genre. There are some outliers like in non-fiction, but for the most part, what you see trending in KU isn't trending worldwide. Being able to test different covers is so beneficial because lets say you do something different on your boxed set, and it sells like hotcakes, you know right then that if your boxed set is selling incredibly, maybe a different series designed that way could be beneficial. Each time you have a different design, you attract a different set of readers. :) Can't wait to see what you do with your boxed set!
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I love this series so much!
I really want to win this giveaway because I'm pretty sure I need to rebrand my series based on a few things you said in this video. My prequel sells on kobo but there is no read through. the main series has the main character on the covers and it should probably just be her dog. 😅
Thank you, Emilee! That's awesome that your prequel is selling, so we know you're writing is good! That's always a great start. 😊
I would love a new cover for my book because I am in the process of editing it and almost done! Woot woot! ❤️❤️❤️
Eep! That's so exciting, Mickey! The end is near!
I love these videos. It’s so informative.
Question: can we use this same advice for children fantasy books?
You absolutely can! You'd look at the "childrens" categories on the wide sites if it's more MG than true young adult. The research is the same for every genre that's out there and should help you see the current trends of top selling books. Typically there are similarities between the best sellers whether it be light or dark covers, hand drawn, illustrated, people/photo manipulations, and types of fonts.
5:15 hahaha Courtney, I feel you! But I do hope you make another video on "that" topic. Please please please 🥰 I need more encouragement to try the road less travelled by Indies 😉
Hahaha! I’ve thought about doing another video on the topic now that it’s been a few years since we left. Best decision we ever made!
@@TheCourtneyProject yes!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
❤️ I have a girl - ya historical fiction wide lol
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This was so eye-opening! I've recently taken my books wide and hadn't even thought to check out ALL the other places as well to see the trends. I am definitely going to go and do that in my genre now.
So glad! Ooh, let me know what you find! Honestly, if it is, don’t be discouraged because as indies we could repackage every single day if we wanted. The point is it can be fixed with no issue and gain a second wind. Lol, we’ve packaged wrong too, even as soon as a few years ago.
@@TheCourtneyProject omg, I have packaged wrong SOO many times lol just once, I would like to get it right!! I really really appreciated this video though and I've sent it to my cover designer as well who confirmed everything you've been saying as well (she's been doing lots of research and testing as we're both moving wide). The way you break it down makes sense in my head, which is, as for all indies, over full! lol
@@cassie_hart I’m so glad I could help! ❤️❤️❤️
If you were me, would you wait until the book is written before worrying about the book's cover(s)?
How long do you think it will take you to finish your book? If you plan on releasing within the next 6 months, you can easily get it done now. If you're still writing and it might take you a year, I'd personally wait. Gives you enough time to decide how you want to launch then do updated market research. The trends shouldn't super change quickly unless you're planning on going into KU.
@@TheCourtneyProject I have been getting 1k words a week, if not a few hundred more, so if I wanted a 50k word cozy mystery, I would plan on the year. So I guess I will wait until it's done - at least until the first draft is done
@@mattmallecoccio8378 it’s a good idea to wait! Then you can take real elements from the final story and put it in your cover! There is really no rush to get them made while writing!
I love this video series so much!
Thank you so much, Madeline! Appreciate it.
Love these videos so fill of wise lol info
Thanks so much!
Ooohhh what a cool giveaway
Eeee! Peep my book at 16:46 !😭😍
Ooh yes!!! Good catch! :) LOL I went and looked and saw it right up top!
♥️♥️♥️love you Courtney ♥️♥️♥️
Back at you, my friend! Thank you again!