Jennifer Lyon

Archive for February, 2015

« Previous Page

Monday, February 9th, 2015
Weekend Roundup

I’m trying so hard to write this book. I will get it done and into the editor by March first, but between now and then…it’s crazytown here.

So, my weekend was good. We saw a really cool two-legged Chihuahua mix on the news, and looked into maybe adopting him. BUT…apparently a lot of people saw the same story and were going to line up to adopt him Sunday morning for the chance to adopt him. Saturday at lunch I explained I’d called the shelter and they’d explained the Sunday Morning Lottery plan. Wizard asked me, “Well why don’t you go to that animal shelter today and just see the dog?”

I stared at him in shock. Usually he’s the one saying don’t do it. But this time, apparently, I was going to have to be the voice of reason. I hate having to be the grown up, but I stepped up. “Because if I go, I’ll fall in love with him. Then they’ll do a lottery for him, and I’ll be an emotional mess if I don’t get him.”

The reality finally dawned on Wizard. “Dang, you’re right.”

I laughed. “Hey, it happens.” So I stayed away. My promise to myself is to finish this book (Please, God, let me finished and don’t let it suck because right now…I just don’t know), and then I’ll THINK about adopting a dog. But of course, there’ll be another reason not to do it then too.

So how was your weekend?

Friday, February 6th, 2015
New Covers for The Plus One Chronicles Series

As promised, I’m going to talk about why I’m doing new covers for The Plus One Chronicles Series. If you want to skip all this, you can scroll down to the bottom and see the covers. Or you can read on to see my reasoning/explanation. Okay, for those of you still reading, I debated doing this for a long time. This is a risk, I’m investing a good chunk of money in the covers—I need five of them.
–A new cover for each book: The Proposition, Possession and Obsession.
–I need a new 3D cover for The Plus One Chronicles boxed set
–And because not all vendors take 3D I also need a flat cover.

And then I need to reformat the files with the new covers and do some promo. All told, once I’m done, I’m going to spend a thousand or more on this.

So why am I doing it? There are several reasons, so let me start with some background. Last year alone, at iBooks, I sold 103,000 copies of The Plus One Chronicles Series. That’s my biggest vendor, but I’m giving you an idea of what kind of sales I had at one vendor.

By the end of last year and into this year, it’s dropped dramatically (down to hundreds and tapering off) as is the natural course of things. It’s the law of diminishing returns. Let’s not get into a bunch of economics here, the basic premise is simple: Buying excitement and motivation is high in the beginning and sales track up, and if all things remain the same, sales then plateau and fall. (A simplified explanation for MY purposes).

So basically, with all things being the same, I’ve reached the audience I’m going to reach for the most part. Sure I’ll get a few more, but not a lot. But if I change things up, I’m hoping to reach a NEW audience for this series. This means rebranding the series to go outside the reach I currently have. And part of that reach is the covers.

Covers mean a LOT in sales. They are one of our strongest tools to catch reader’s eyes. Story blubs, tag lines, and other promotional tools are useful too. But covers, particularly in this social media world where readers are scrolling through life and we only have one to three seconds to catch their attention, covers are key. As the old adage goes: A picture is worth a thousand words. A cover will, I believe, stop a scrolling reader to take a second look.

And a second look can add up to more sales.

So I decided it was time for new covers to see if I can breathe new life into the series. So here are the things I was looking for with a new cover.

1) Branding. The old covers, I think, were beautiful but they were very different. The first one showed a dessert, the second one showed a sensual woman, and the third a couple. They lacked cohesion and didn’t quite tell the story of the series. One could easily believe it was three DIFFERENT stories, not one over-arching story told in three segments. The new covers show the same couple on each book. And shows the progression of their relationship: First they are looking at each other in The Proposition which shows the beginning. In Possession they’re turned toward each other, clearly growling closer, and in Obsession they are intimately together, clearly in love. This gives a stronger concept an emotionally erotic love story.

2) My name and bestseller status. I am an international bestseller, and my name has become my brand. I had to get over my resistance and put that on the very top of my covers like a smart businesswoman.

3) All the titles and cupcake emblems are in the same, creating a more uniform brand.

4) The older cover for Possession was in the “dungeon” at Amazon. What that means is that it was suppressed in the search engines with an adult only tag due to the cover. Amazon has tightened their cover restrictions. I’m hoping the newer covers will be okay, however I want to say that I’m not complaining. Amazon has the right to make their rules, and I can choose to use them as a vendor or not. I choose to use them, and if these covers get tagged, that’s life. A side note: I’ve been in long discussion with another vendor, and so far we have not agreed on terms. I’d never bad mouth that vendor either—they have the prefect right to set their terms. This is business, not personal.

5) Late this year (or possibly early next year if things don’t go as I hope) I want to launch a new series that will be very loosely tied to the Sloane’s world in The Plus One Chronicles. Freshening up the covers could possibly bring new interest. It keeps my name alive while I get new books ready to release. And having The Plus One Chronicles more clearly branded will separate it from the Shattered Illusions series, but my name and bestseller statues will connect the two. So if someone reads the new series the Jennifer Lyon, International Bestselling Author, and search for more books by me, they’ll find The Plus One Chronicles.

6) THE ONE THING I DON’T WANT TO DO—trick readers who’ve already bought the books into buying the new ones. The titles, release dates and blurbs will all be the same. I’m openly discussing this to get the word out and will probably put both covers labeled “original” and “new” on my website.

So to wrap it up, I basically felt that the covers I was using had gotten a little stale, and freshening up the series with new updated ones might breathe new life into the series and reach an untapped readership.

It’s a risk. I have no way of knowing if it will pay off, but that’s the beauty of self-publishing—I’m in control, and I can try new things as long as I determine that I can afford the risk if it doesn’t pay off.

I expect the new covers will go up in most places in a week or two. After a month or so I’ll report back with the best numbers I can to let you know how it’s working.
And now…here are the covers!

The Proposition, Possession and Obsession designed by Patricia Schmitt

3SamplePlusOne_allthree_C

The Plus One Chronicles Boxed Set; 3-D version

Sample revised boxed set PlusOneBox_c (1)

The Plus One Chronicles Boxed Set, flat version

PlusOne_BOX_FLAT

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
Wednesday Worthy

Ok guys, you know the drill…do you think this guy is worthy?

Strong Athletic Man Fitness Model Torso Showing Six Pack Abs.

Aye or Nay?

Hope everyone is having a good week! On Friday, if I have time, I’ll talk about why I’m redoing all the covers on The Plus One Chronicles Series :-)

Monday, February 2nd, 2015
Weekend Roundup

Okay so who watched the Superbowl? Wizard turned it on when he got home from racing and I saw some of the half time show. But I was tired and a little achy from…well even I can’t even make this stuff up:

So some of you may have seen on FB where I mentioned that last Tuesday night I was coming down the stairs, missed a step, hit my bad ankle and twisted it. It was a MINOR twist. I limped for a couple days, and then just had to be careful not to pivot on it. It didn’t even bruise and was healing fast. Just a minor twist. I wouldn’t even call it sprained.

Then Saturday morning I’m coming down the stairs and thinking/worrying/stressing about the book (why can’t writing be easy???) and then shifted my thoughts to, Hmm, my ankle’s pretty good now, I bet I can clean the bathrooms…

BOOM The very next step I slipped again. In front of Wizard.

Cue the explosion from Wizard. I mean for about thirty seconds, he lost it, yelling that we were moving to a one story house. As in PACK UP THE HOUSE RIGHT THIS SECOND WE’RE MOVING.

Okay…as soon as I got upset he calmed down instantly. Aside from terminal embarrassment I was okay.

We decided against moving :-)

So Wizard went off to do something with middle son and I decided I should try putting on on shoes (I hadn’t been wearing then to rest my ankle)  I went upstairs and got my shoes, and came down stairs fine. See? All good. I learned my lesson to pay attention to what I’m doing.

So I’m sitting on my chair at my desk, and I bend over to adjust my shoe where it’s tied close to my ankle…THE DESK CHAIR ON ROLLERS SLIDES OUT FROM UNDER ME AND I FALL ON MY ASS.

I swear I can’t make this up. That has never happened. NEVER. I’ve worked at this desk since 2002! I’m sat on the floor, laughing so hard, I had tears. Because…seriously? Who does that? I’m not even particularly uncoordinated. I can balance on one foot in yoga poses, but I can’t sit in a chair and adjust my shoe?

I told Wizard when he came home and held my breath. I wasn’t sure if he’d lose his temper or fall over laughing. He tried, really tried to keep a straight face but within two seconds he was laughing.

I told BLB (Youngest Son) the next day when he stopped by. Same thing, he laughed too. Plus they could both see I was moving around fine.

Feel free to laugh too. I have a few minor sore muscles that kicked in about 2am Sunday morning but by the time you guys read this, I’ll probably feel much better.  However I am wondering: Do they sell seat belts for desk chairs?

Otherwise my weekend was busy juggling some projects,  and I am going right into panic mode on CAGED MAGIC (we all knew it would happens. And I’m pretty sure that has something to do with my suddenly clumsiness).

How was your weekend?

« Previous Page

JenniferLyon.com