I mentioned earlier the three things that serve as leaders to bring a reader even to try the sample-- title, cover, and product description (i.e. promo). Of those three, I cannot change a losing title without totally resubmitting the book; and since mine are in the Select program to enable free days, that's not happening.
What I did, when I came to believe something wasn't working for one of the books, was to pose the question in the Kindle Author Forums-- When a book doesn't sell? I didn't get a lot of comments but what I did get was valuable for me to gather some ideas on what went wrong with Golden Chains in terms of its promos (try everything and not capturing the real feel of the book in any of the three).
I wish I'd used a different title since frankly this one didn't seem to help people understand the theme as I had thought it would. I will use something that more gets to the story of Prometheus when I redo that title. I am still not sure what it'll be. Prometheus's story is in my book and, besides being the subject of a sculpture, is also a clue to the kind of man I see my hero as being.
Now I really liked the first cover but several people put a tag under it that indicated it was erotica or adult fare!! Say what!! Eeek. Yes, all of my books are adult in that I wouldn't want a young girl to read them-- they have sex in them. But erotica, no, they are not. Unfortunately, you cannot undo such a tag although I guess you can ask other readers to put up a disagree. I won't do that; but when I can (which is when its Select contract runs out), I will redo the title and resubmit the book with a new title (I hope) which might get rid of the erotica tags.
Now I do get why they labeled it that way. It's something in our culture where nudity is somehow seen as erotica or porn. Being an artist, I don't see it the same way. I have worked with painting and sculpting the nude. I already know how much flak galleries get for even putting up a nude sculpture of a male and heaven forbid (literally) that in our day and age it would be in a painting. It simply doesn't happen. Women yes. Men no. Yet, my story is about a college art class where you do have nude models of the male and female sort. They are not considered erotica. They are a study of the human form. I get it though that in our culture-- all nudity is porn.
So listening to suggestions from my question in the author forum, I tweaked my cover by first shifting the woman's eyes to give her a less assertive manner, and then put the model into a pair of jeans. Modesty is protected and it does not damage the meaning of the story.
Anybody, who bought this book thinking because of its cover that it was erotica, will be disappointed. Yes, I have read erotica (it's different than male porn), and I know this isn't it. Someone looking for erotica will be disappointed. Unfortunately it also probably will scare off a few people who might have liked its subject matter.
One of the critics in the Forum said the cover looked amateurish. I think they are used to the slick, stock models that are so common. The thing is I dislike those models for the slickness; so that is not going to happen. My covers look painterly. They depict my characters or will now hopefully capture the 'feel' of the book. I've seen covers like mine, but there is no good in being defensive about it because it's a different world in Kindle and indie authors are looked at with suspect. But I was open to changing that cover.
Overnight I thought about it, debating what kind of concept would work for the cover if not the main protagonists. I thought of using Prometheus himself, except that would look like a sculpture textbook. Although sculpture is in the story, it's not the heart of it. Then it came to me-- rivers..
Since a lot of this book happens on the banks of the Tualatin River, it was the right choice for this one (I am also changing another cover, not because its been labeled erotica, but because I got into the idea of using scenery for some instead of the monotony of it always being people. Unfortunately the new cover won't erase the tags I don't like but so goes life. When it has its free day next week, maybe more people will find it interesting enough to read the sample (always a smart move for the reader) and take one free.
One commenter to my Forum question said she had been told it takes six months for a romance author to catch on with Kindle. It's not like I don't have the time to wait on it. I didn't put money into the books and will take the small amount of money I get from them and use it for advertising or promotional ideas.
Finally, the question an author has to ask themselves when one book out of six is simply not getting any attention (other than the wrong kind)-- maybe it's the subject matter. If that's the case, I can't change it as this is the story it is and should be. I like second chance love stories, this setting, and had fun writing about the art world because I know it better than many other worlds.
I had however been told, some years back when I was working with editors, that artists for heroines or heroes are simply not popular with readers. Maybe they can't identify with that career. I don't know, but anyway the story is what it is. My heroine is not about to become a nurse. If her being a sculptress is what turns off readers, there isn't anything I can do about it.
Frankly where it comes to what a reader likes, they cannot be wrong. It is what it is. The only thing a writer can try is to tempt them to try something new to their world-- or not.
One good thing about this learning process is I have four more contemporaries where I can consider the title and cover more ahead of their being published later this spring. Maybe I should not have done six so fast but frankly what I have to sell is my name where if someone likes one, they will look for others. Having up more than one or two is how I hope to do that. Meanwhile I'll look at that blurb again to see if I can better get across what the book is about in a few short paragraphs. When a reader won't even try the sample, you know the blurb isn't working!
Golden Chains will be on free next week, not sure which day yet but it will definitely be after the cover is right.
And my next blog here will be on the other problem my books all face.
