Once again, I come to you asking for help (hey, you’ve only got your selves to blame. Had you not been so wonderfully helpful and supportive, I would not bother).
Specifically, I have three questions I felt you could help me with.
Enough is enough
The first, concerns this very blog: I’ve experimented with posting anywhere from once a week to once a day. I don’t want to clog your inbox, nor to disappear, and I’ve found this to be a fine balance. So, I’m putting it to you: how often should I post? Please use the poll below and the comments’ area for your thoughts.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Yeah, right…
Next question: Mad Water, book 3 in my epic fantasy series, Pearseus, is now with my editor, Lorelei. It will be published early July (unofficially and at a generous discount – don’t worry, you’ll hear all about it) and officially on July 15th. However, I haven’t started working on the covers, yet, and I’m now stressing over it. You may remember the covers of the two previous books in the series (pictured above).
What I tried to do with these, is have the Pearseus name at the top serve as a “brand”, with the scales serving as a supporting brand element. The scales change from book to book, to illustrate the survivors’ progress: the first one is stone, the next copper, the next will be iron. At the same time, as the Whispers (the corrupting ethereal entities pulling the strings on the planet) get stronger, the scales (symbolizing justice) increasingly crumble away.
My question to you is: How much of this is clear on the covers? Should I make it clearer which one is Book 1, 2, 3 etc? One idea was to use the stone scale for Book 1, much as it is now. The second book would have this and the copper scale on its cover, only smaller, making it clear it is Book 2. The third one would have all three scales etc.
Another idea was to simply increase the font size of “Book # in the series”.
And yet another idea was to change the covers altogether, getting rid of the scales, and using instead a character from the story. This could be a Whisper for the first book, a Fallen for the second, an Iota for the third etc. Or it could be a human character: Lucas for the first, Parad for the second etc.
I haven’t gone down that route yet, for two reasons: one, there are already too many book covers with heroes on their cover. And two, I don’t want to impose how I imagine my characters on the reader. They should be free to paint them in any colour they choose.
What’s in a name?
And the final question: I have come to have second thoughts about the title of the first book, “Pearseus, Year 18: The Schism”. A simpler form might be preferable. I’ve been toying with the idea of changing the title to “Pearseus: Torn” or something similar, to capture the feeling of a group of people torn away from home, but also splitting up in 3 groups by the book’s end. Do you think it’s too late to change the title, and that titles (or book covers, for that matter) should not be changed at this late stage?
If you’re reading this going, “Gosh, what were you thinking when you came up with that title”), do you have a better suggestion for the new one?
Finally, should I also change the title to the second book, “Rise of the Prince”? The current title was my nod to Herodotus, the Greek historian who inspired the story and author of “Rise of Cyrus, King of Persia.” I don’t think anyone got that, though! 😀
So, there you have it. Your thoughts and feedback are, as always, much appreciated!
Hi Nicholas, I apologize for the delay in responding to this. My work schedule has been hectic as of late.
Okay, here are my thoughts/suggestions:
Post Frequency: Once a week or so. Information overload is a serious problem today.
Cover: I would suggest increasing the font size. You can always re-work the covers later, if you choose.
Title: Personally, I’m a fan of simple, easy-to-understand titles because authors have very little time to grab a reader’s interest. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of “noise” out there which competes for the time and attention of our readers/followers.
I hope this is of some help. And by the way, congrats and best wishes to you! xoxo 🙂
It’s always helpful to hear what others think. Many thanks for sharing! 🙂
As you may have seen, I’m now posting a couple a times a week instead of daily, and have increased the cover font size, while making the title briefer (Pearseus: Schism).
It appears that the suggestions were pretty much unanimous! 🙂
I love to reply to posts, but I really can only ever manage to reply to one post a week per blogger that I follow. So my vote for blog frequency says more about my sense of falling behind than it says about your question, lol. Sorry about that!
As for the covers, I like them. I like them even better after reading your description of what they signify to you, and why you chose them. My only suggestion would be to put the series indicator (Book One, Book Two…) in the same location on each book. This would make it easy to skim over the series and know which book is next in a sequence. With the series indicators in different places, I have to spend some time reading all of the text on a cover, rather than being able to key off of a particular location.
Best of luck with your cover decisions!
-aniko
I’m touched that you chose to reply to this post, thank you. 🙂
You are absolutely right, the series indicator does need to be in the same location. I’ll also enlarge the font to make it clearer, especially for those checking out the covers on Kindle, with its black and white screen.
Thank you! 🙂
Sounds like you have a perfect plan!
Have fun with the cover editing! 🙂
-aniko
As far as frequency of posting goes, my feeling is that posting every day may be great for SEO but it may tire some followers not happy with this frequency, in effect running a risk for you to lose them. I always think less is more when it comes to submiting info to other people, so my ideal frequency (if only I could manage it myself though!) would be 3-4 times a week tops. Keep a nice balance and choose the best ones among the ones you get inspired to make. About the book covers, I think it’s too late to change the names BUT you can simplify the first one that’s long. I suggest to take out Y18 and just call it, The Schism. Remember, posts are eternal and you’re already all over the internet with these book titles. Changing them altogether would confuse readers and they might give up researching you, let alone buying your books. As for the book cover design, I say stick to the scales and make the book # bigger and also clearer. Just say, Book 1, 2,3 etc. No need to say its book 1 in the series etc. Just book 1. It simplifies the writing, too much lettering and it becomes clogged up. Keep it simple and sharp. In the same sense, keep one scale only. Dont go for this smaller scale by the big scale thing. I get warning bells about a cluttered look just thinking about that. Hope this helps. Hugs 🙂
Thank you! I believe I’ll take up your suggestions, ie to publish somewhat less and remove “Year 18” from the title. Also a good idea, to simplify the wording on the cover to Book 1, 2, 3. Thanks! 🙂
Covers look good to me. I’d drop the year 18 from the first one but if it has been out for awhile I’d leave it. Readers get too confused when there is the same book floating around under different names such as in Mark Zusak’s book which is both the message and I am the messenger. Too confusing. I’d increase the font of Book 1, 2 and 3 which will make it clearer. Don’t ever consider combining all books in one. I am reading IQ84 at the moment where Books 1, 2 and 3 have been put in the one book. The book is so fat that it can’t be held which detracts from the reading experience markedly.
As far as blogging goes I think once a week is the minimum and daily the optimum but when you feel like it is probably the ideal.
Good luck with it all.
Cheers Irene
Welcome to the blog, and many thanks for the great suggestions! 🙂
I believe a consensus has been reached regarding the title, so I’ll remove “Year 18” from the next edition (probably early July, to coincide with the launch of Book 3, Mad Water).
Interesting point about the box set. I think box sets work nicely for ebooks, but can be terrible for print editions.
Cover images.. Cool. Keep them as they are. I get the brand thing and it seems smart to me. Blog. I’d post once or twice a week. No more or readers will skim. Depends if you care whether they read all or some. I am always sad to miss a post but my favourite blogs are the ones that post once a week. Not so great doe a.e.o. But great for readers. Nobody has time to read more than one or two posts a week unless this is the only blog they read.
Titles, follow your heart. 🙂
Cheers
MTM
As always, very helpful! I’ll relax my daily post rule, although it might be more frequently than once a week; probably closer to 4 posts. I can email them to you, if you wish, so you don’t miss on my great words of wisdom. 😉
I googled your cryptic “doe a.e.o.” comment. I assume you didn’t mean the “Annual Energy Outlook”? 😀
Nope, it was what my iPad thought I meant when I typed several times a day incorrectly. Sodding thing. User friendly my arse. 😉
That’s not to say you shouldn’t post several times a day if you want to but I’ve now reached the point when I have 200 blog posts to read every day – mostly from bloggers whose words I really don’t want to miss – so the ones of those who blog once a week are a godsend because I don’t miss anything and therefore don’t have to feel guilty. Anyone posts more than three or four times a week and I have to cherry pick a couple of posts from a weekly digest. I always feel guilty and I always feel that I will miss stuff.
Cheers
MTM
You’re a Christian Orthodox, aren’t you? We invented guilt (then taught the Catholics all about it)! 😀
I’m a high church Anglican which is pretty similar actually! All incense and dingly bells. 🙂
Ah, yes, the sweet smell of incense and guilt… 🙂
Hi 🙂
I have not read the comments of my dear co-writers here now and want to say briefly:
1.: title I would not change it now.
2.: Third Book as you have also planned with “steel” as background.
3.: I guess sooo exactly your readers will not see the cover in order to perceive the crumbling of the scale
4.: One cover what you have to explain to be understood is not a good cover;-).
5.: Each book in addition to the different cover design with “Volume 1”, “Volume 2”, etc.!.
6.: Not to get bogged down!
That would be my advice … I hope I have now forgotten nothing. Much success.:-)
Welcome, and many thanks for the great suggestions! I love how you bulleted them – you must be one of those well-organized people I keep hearing about! 😀
You’re right; the crumbling scales probably work best as an Easter egg (as Charles suggested).
Many thanks again, I hope to hear more from you! 🙂
” I love how you bulleted them – you must be one of those well-organized people I keep hearing about! :D”
Haha, well, that once belonged to my job as a graphic designer. Is indeed a long time ago, but apparently old residual memories have crept into *now *. * Laughter *
Greetings from Vera 🙂
I like your covers! For branding purposes I would follow through with your current style for the third one. Once the series is complete you could come out with a second ‘edition’ where you could explore other ideas for the cover graphics.
Thank you, that’s high praise indeed coming from a wonderful artist like you! The idea for a second edition once the series is complete is excellent, I’ll probably rethink the issue then. 🙂
(For some reason, I can’t log in so can’t hit like but)
Loril is right. I’m probably not alone in that I view most books on my black and white kindle screen. The covers would look very similar there.
Thanks, Chris! That’s a very good (and disturbing) point. I have to give it some serious thought.
I would like to see a little more differentiation in the cover styles. I like the recurring theme – and I think the scales work much better than a hero image – but they’re just a bit too similar. In thumbnail size especially, someone may struggle to figure out which is which at a glance. For the title, have you considered “Pearseus: Schism”? It’s a bit simpler and starker but retains the power of that lovely word, schism. I love “Rise of the Prince” as a title – whether anyone gets it or not 😉
Thanks! You’re making a great point, which hadn’t occurred to me. How will they look in black and white, and how can readers tell them apart at a glance? That’s why I had the idea for the multiple scales, but, as Frostie suggested, that will clutter the cover. Perhaps simply enlarging the book number will help.
I believe I will follow your advice on the title, I love “Pearseus: Schism”! Thanks! 🙂
I won’t read the other comments because I don’t want to be influenced. But first, if your intent here is to make people want to read the books, you’re succeeding, because they are beginning to attract me! LOL
I don’t think the symbolic intent of the scales is going to come across to most people. For one thing, they won’t necessarily see the covers next to each other, so the progression is lost. I tend to like covers that illustrate the story, so I guess I would prefer something figural, if it can be done in a style that isn’t a cliche. And I would think if the first volume were entitled simply The Schism, it would be more parallel with Rise of the Prince. The type size could be larger on the series. In fact, I would probably not repeat the Pearseus bit at the bottom because it’s already at the top. I would have probably written at the top: Pearseus / A Series, 1 Or something like that. On my books, I draw my own covers and I’ve used pictures that illustrate the book. I’ve used different fonts on the 4 volumes published so far in my series, but I think on the first one particularly the font was too small.
Lol – my cunning plan is succeeding, then. 😀
Actually, I just checked out your FB page (and added you as a friend), so your plan is working, too. 🙂
You’re right, following this discussion, I’ll change the title to “Schism”, increasing the Book 1, 2, 3 etc font size to something clearer. I’ll also make the placement more consistent – that was an excellent tip.
Many thanks for the great suggestions! 🙂
I like short titles and also covers that convey feeling of the book content. I really don’t know about changing things once published, but think you could standardize your covers along the font size and location of the volume number. Unless someone reads the book the scale symbolism is totally a mystery so using the scales could be standardized to a recognizable graphic throughout the series.
I want to believe that the covers do convey the feeling of an epic fantasy series that has to do with justice (the first Justice, Barrett, in Book 1 and the mad Justice Styx in Book 2).
You’re right; the symbolism will be lost on most, but I like the concept of maintaining it as an Easter Egg, like Charles suggested. I suspect that most people won’t even notice the different materials, though! 😀
Many thanks for the great comment!
With the covers, I think the eroding scales is a great idea and can work as a discussion point for readers. Think it the symbolism as a fun Easter Egg like with some books where the covers combine to make a full picture. I will admit that I didn’t see the ‘Book 2’ mention on the second cover right away. The confusion was partially because of the font size, but mostly because it was in a different part of the cover than ‘Book 1’. So my only suggestion here would be to put the volume number in the same spot to make it easier to find.
I like the use of ‘Schism’ in the title. You see ‘Torn’ a lot, so the word carries a uniqueness. It also sounds a lot less violent and forced. Torn makes me think the separation is happening against everyone’s will. Schism means decisions are being made and arguments are ensuing. A little lost on the ‘Year 18’ part though. Not sure how it would work to change a title at this point. I know people who change their cover art every month or two, but I’ve never really looked into title changing.
I love the concept of an Easter Egg for really observant readers (or people reading my blog)! Thanks!
You’re right, the font size has to increase. I’ll also follow Frostie’s suggestion to make it shorter (“Book 1” instead of “Book 1 of the Pearseus series”), and I’ll make placement consistent between the books in the series.
“Year 18” is as good as gone. You have all made excellent suggestions, and one of them was to keep the word “Schism” on its own. Thanks for helping me decide between that and “Torn”.
Thanks for the great ideas!
You’re welcome. Good luck with the 3rd book.
Number of blog posts is a slippery slope type situation: posting everyday helps your views but if it reduces the quality it ultimately hurts your overall followers. So you have to do a juggling act to get the right balance.
As for the covers, I really thought book one was beautiful. I personally prefer the non-character covers unless you are paying for some great artwork. Anything less than big publisher quality art is going to lose sales, because it is just a fact that readers do judge a book by its cover. The previous posters who said leave covers like they are then do a change later might be spot on.
I prefer the shorter title. Something easily remembered. Most casual buyer are never going to put deep thought into a title, so a meaningful and long title will be wasted on them.
All points are excellent – and high praise indeed from someone who regularly blogs posts like “the 10 best fantasy covers” and “the 10 worst Fantasy covers” (whenever you post one of those, I rush over to make sure mine is not included!) 😀
I agree with you, it’s very hard to illustrate a character book. I would probably use a photo instead, preferrably something with enough grit and shadows to hide facial details.
As for the title, I think the consensus is that the phrase “Year 18” has to go. I’m trying to decide between “Pearseus: The Schism” and “Pearseus: Schism” now.
Many thanks! 🙂
Regarding the blog posts, I’d say go with the flow, meaning if you have two great ideas on a day you have free time to express them through blogging, go for it! If it’s less often, don’t fret about it. You’ve established yourself as a blogger with content worthy of your readers’ attention, and no matter how often we see you in our Inbox, we will check the post out. Your spot-on titles help as well!
As for the Pearseus book covers, I had initially expressed my concern over the fact that while the concept is truly awesome, it might not cross over to the readers easily, but still, the covers are beautiful, so I’ll agree with Chris. Keep the concept until you publish all books in the series, and then maybe do a big revamp with the relevant promoting. This way you’ll get the readers that might prefer character-strong covers (these enhance the idea of fiction and plot), but you’ll already have won those who have come to appreciate the philosophy supporting both covers and content. I totally agree with Chris on the matter of the titles as well.
(Hope my comment makes sense, as I’m multi-tasking right now) 🙂
You were the first to help me with the covers, so a big thank you! 🙂 Because of your comments, I stopped describing the book as “sci-fi/fantasy” and now use “epic fantasy” instead. I hope this is the feel conveyed by the covers.
The idea for a redesign once the series is complete is very intriguing.
Charles suggested I use the scales as an Easter Egg, and I’m excited by that thought. Most people will think it’s the same set, but my blog readers and really observant readers will know better. 😉
You’re making an excellent point about the blog post frequency, too, although I’m not sure about the “established blogger” part. Nevertheless, compliments are much appreciated, as always! 😀
Many thanks for your great comments!
I like the cover images as they are, maybe in a year, revamp all the Pearseus titles, if the current images have let some would be followers slip by, a new style may grab them without excluding your current readership (as they’ll already have your books!)
I think you could drop ‘Year 18’ and just keep The Schism as the title, don’t change Rise of the Prince at all.
As to book sequence / numbering, I’d be inclined to drop the bottom line completely and enhance the Pearseus logo with the sequence. Book 1 of the PEARSEUS … (and pick a suitable word… saga, covenant, archive, histories, only you know the most apt term).
Those are all great suggestions, thanks! In fact, I believe I will follow them all!
Yes shorter title defo. Post once a day mon to fri is manageable and acceptable to a follower… more gets annoying, less and your visits drop. Dont fret so much about making changes… its one of the advantages we have as Indies, make the most of it if you feel a change is needed. Having a character on the cover gives the reader an instant connection that a symbol or inanimate object doesnt. The reader is interested in how you percieve your characters appearance so go ahead.
Very interesting points, thank you! I’m very hands-off when it comes to descriptions, believing that they can easily constrict our imagination, instead of feeding them. It had never occurred to me that some readers may prefer a more proactive approach. 🙂