When a Cover Isn't Working

As a published author, I'm constantly checking the stats on my sales reports. It's part of an OCD behaviour, I think most indie authors acquire after they've self-published. It's not a bad thing, per se, but just part of what naturally happens.

Now, my Regency romances have always sold well. (Thank you to all who've bought and reviewed them.) It's an amazing feeling to think that so many people have read them and I appreciate all the support. These aren't the problem.

If you were around a couple of weeks ago, (maybe 6) I was just getting ready to upload the long awaited REMEMBERING YOU, my contemporary women's fiction/romance. My topic of conversation revolved around the use of my name. Should I publish under Anne Gallagher, or some other form of that, or should I possibly have a different pen name altogether.

For the informal poll I posted, you overwhelmingly thought I should publish that under the name Robynne Rand. However, there were good arguments to be had in that, I built my Regency brand under Anne Gallagher, and I should take some of that juice and use it for the women's fiction.

Well, I thought and thought and thought, and took all the opinions under consideration. I decided to publish under A.R. Gallagher. It seemed the best of both worlds. I published that almost a month ago. I asked a writer, who doesn't read women's fiction to write a review, (which she did, and for someone who doesn't read w-f, she loved it.) So I thought it was all good. I mean, I had a 5-star review listed for it the day it came out. It was also listed on my author page on Amazon, so my Regency readers would see I had something else out there.

To date, I have sold one copy. (And I know who bought it.) One copy. To say this doesn't hurt is an understatement. I love this book. I cried when I wrote this book. I cry every single time I read this book. This is the one that is closest to my heart. And nobody wants it. This, my friends, is a writer's worst nightmare come true.

Now this isn't a plea for anyone to buy it. ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is a statement of what I am now going to do with it so that if any of you are experiencing the same thing, perhaps you will find comfort in that you are not alone. (See what I did there with the bold and italics and font color. This is not a plea. Besides, by the time you read this post, this incantation of this book will probably not even be up for sale anymore. (**note, it's not as of 5/10/12)

I am changing the cover. Now, this cover above is a picture of Bristol Harbor, Rhode Island where the book is set. I thought this was a good cover. Yeah, good. Not great, not wow, but I thought it did the novel justice. But, I've been thinking it's just not doing it for me, and obviously it's not doing a damn thing for sales.

I'm also going to republish it under the name Robynne Rand. I had a gut feeling about this, right from the get-go, and although the discussion was persuasive for the other, I should have listened to my guts. (Believe me, sometimes guts are the best thing to go on, no matter who says what.)

And thirdly, I'm going to market and promote this book, something I didn't do for my Regencies. I don't believe in cramming things down people's throats. But I think this is a good idea for this one. My Regencies speak for themselves, you know what you're getting just looking at the cover. This is a whole different animal. (So if any of you would like me to interview, or guest post, or whatever on your blog, now would be the time to email me. piedmontwriter at gmail dot com  Anne R. Allen had a post a few weeks ago, that said I should be the one to ask. I didn't know that. I thought YOU were supposed to ask ME. I hate to be pushy. But now I'm asking.)

With the advent of self-publishing, you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, and if that means unpublishing and republishing, hey, it's not that hard and it only takes a few clicks of the mouse. But once it's all said and done and republished, I'm hoping that this little experiment will be a viable one, not only for me, but other indie's out there. I'll keep you posted.

Tell me -- If you are self-published, have you done this? Changed a cover? Changed your name? And even if you're not, what is your opinion on what I'm about to do? Do you think it will help in any way? I mean, what have I got to lose, right?

As of yesterday, this is the new version of the cover and pen name that is now published on Amazon. What do you think? Do you like this one better?  I do.