Are You Publishing a Book Series?
January 8, 2012 by michele52
Filed under Book Cover Design, Book pricing, Title Writing and Back Cover Copywriting
Publishing a book is a huge undertaking, reserved for the truly courageous. Launching a series is more challenging than launching a single book, because it’s difficult to recover from a false start. Here are a few pointers:
(1) Before launching any book, but especially a series, a survey of the competition is in order. When buyers search your topic, and even when they enter your title word for word, your cover will be displayed alonside similar best sellers at Amazon. Your cover can borrow credibility from these best sellers if it is designed to look like them. If your cover concept is significantly different from others on display, it can scare buyers away.
(2) The titles and subtitles of all the books in your series should be written well in advance of the text. An experienced book title consultant will ensure that the words resonate with, and don’t repel, buyers.
(3) The cover design of the first title will become the foundation for all the books to follow. Keeping the above research in mind, your book designer will ensure that the design is flexible enough to accommodate the longest and shortest title in the series as well as consistently highlight the brand. (See the “For Dummies” books. The subject “pops” in white, but the series title is nearly as large. It takes second place visually because it’s yellow.)
(4) Just as with cover design, pricing research is important when launching a series. Buyers who enjoyed your first book will expect the price of the others to be similar. Pricing your book accurately from the start will deliver this consistency and ward off unpleasant surprises.
You may have guessed by now that 1106 Design offers all of the above services and more. Our team of dedicated experts will hold your hand throughout the book preparation process to give your book or your book series the best possible chance to succeed. Contact us today!



I couldn’t agree with you more! I messed up on the first book in my series and hired a new illustrator. He redesigned the first book cover to match the next two books in the series. the problem is the internet! I can’t remove all of the first edition books in this series. Consequently, that mistake cover will always be on display. Take your time and get it right the first time around.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Lisa. It should be relatively easy to update the cover image at Amazon or other online retailers who draw most of the visitors. When you find the unwanted cover on display elsewhere, why not contact the website owner and offer a replacement?