Sometimes we authors like to test different book covers to see if one might resonate better with readers. And Whispers in the Code, being a spin-off from the Distant Horizon series, has been through several iterations in my attempt to signal just what kind of book it is. (Genre-mashup. It’s very much a mashup with a lot going on… though horror underlies the entire trilogy).
Part of the job of being an indie author is figuring out which cover attracts the right readers (or rather, which cover is conveying the genre that best fits your book). It’s something I’ve struggled with for the Glitch saga, because it’s a genre mashup.
While I really like the original cover, I think it might convey more of a space military vibe… which it isn’t. Someone who goes in looking for the tropes of a space military story probably isn’t going to find what they’re looking for.
So, around October of 2019, I got the inspiration to test a new cover for Whispers in the Code.
My thought was, depending on how it goes, I’d either change the rest of the series to match it, or switch it back to the original.
Original Cover (February 2018)
Version 2 (October 2019)
While I still really like the newer cover, which I redid in hopes of hitting a more cyberpunk/dystopian vibe, and it did pick up a few more readers in KU (Kindle Unlimited)… it seems that those readers didn’t get very far before they stopped reading (in contrast to Huntress, where they typically finished in a day or two and moved on to Changeling).
Though I didn’t have a whole lot of data to back that up, since Whispers in the Code wasn’t getting many readers, I did wonder if it’s possible that either A: Something was wrong with the book, or B) Readers were picking up the book expecting one thing, and finding something else (such as getting a lot more “magic” or a style of writing that’s more similar to what I’ve seen in YA and urban fantasy than solid cyberpunk).
So…
In February of 2020, I decided to try giving another cover a trial run for Whispers in the Code.
I put it together fairly quickly, and there’s a few things I wanted to change if I switched to this cover style for the series. But I hoped to convey more of the horror elements and more of the “magic” sense of things, while still hinting at the fact that technology is present (since it is set in the future).
Version 3 (February 2020)
I left the new cover up for a few months to see if it would get a better response from readers, though I knew I also needed to consider how to drive traffic toward it. I had hoped putting it in Kindle Unlimited would give more people to take a chance on it, but that wasn’t going to help if I’m not targeting the right readers.
In August of 2020, I did one more revamp to the Glitch series ebook covers. While I really enjoyed writing the series, it still hadn’t gotten much attention from readers.
At this point, I attributed that to a few factors:
- Wrong cover for the audience
- Very cross-genre, hard to market
- Jumps right into the action without a lot of explanation
And so the August 2020 cover marked the fourth version for Whispers in the Code. For this version, I drew in part from the style of Distant Horizon, but tried to play up the paranormal aspect a bit more.
I also redid the blurbs.
Though I’m still iffy on the blurbs (and which one is really better might be a blog post for another day), these covers are the most true-to-the-book representations, I think.
(And while I haven’t analyzed the data on the different downloads, especially since for a time they were in Kindle Unlimited before I launched them wide and made Whispers in the Code permafree, I do see a handful of downloads of Whispers in the Code without extra marketing.)
Version 4 (August 2020)
I’m hoping these covers will attract readers interested in science fiction, thrillers, and stories with paranormal elements.
And one of the things about the Distant Horizon universe is that it has a lot of different elements to it. The issue that creates is knowing which readers to target when marketing.
For example:
It’s science fiction… with a lot of technobabble jargon and what-if world building, set in the future of a world similar to this one except that super powers started showing up sometime in the ’50s and an organization of super villains took over around 2012 to 2016.
It’s paranormal… because there are both the technical equivalent of ghosts (the Legion Spore’s glitches haunting the airship), and very literal ghosts (the spirits like Benjamin… a mad scientist who attached himself to an enchanted artifact).
It’s steampunk (actually gaslamp)… because there’s a lot of clockwork type references and aesthetics pointing that Victorian/Edwardian direction–though now that I’m more familiar with gaslamp fantasy, I’d say it’s gaslamp because of the heavier focus on “magic” and secret societies with a mysterious agenda (the Camaraderie of Evil).
It’s fantasy… because there’s a lot of epic type world building, enchanted artifacts, “magic,” lords and ladies, ballroom dances…
It’s a psychological thriller… because of the page-turning, high stakes element and mental games the main character faces…
An important part of marketing is knowing who to target and how to let them know this is the kind of book they’ll want to read. But with so many elements, it can be hard to pinpoint which genre is the best fit to work with (and some authors will switch marketing focus over time to bring in different readers).
This time around, I’m trying to lean into that gaslamp, paranormal sci-fi route… though I’m still not sure I’ve quite nailed that yet.
From a technical standpoint, an issue with the book itself is that it jumps right into the action and doesn’t take time to explain what’s happening, unlike Distant Horizon or Deceived. With that in mind, it may be that this series is better for readers who have already read the other series, rather than starting with this one. It’s a spin-off, and that may be hurting its chances of being read on its own.
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So there you have it… four versions of the Glitch series covers. Eventually, I want to redo the box set cover. I’ve got ideas… I just need to set aside the time to revamp it.
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Read the books whose covers keep changing… but at least now they match the mood!
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Happy reading and writing!
Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist 