Tuesday, September 6, 2011

3 Books, 3 Formats, 6 Covers

Keith here.

The reading world is in the midst of a war over formats. We've all been following the back-and-forth between Kindle/Nook partisans and those who defiantly hold on to their paper-and-ink books. Here's which side I come down on: both.

Don't you think we authors should strive to ensure our novels can be read however our readers want to read them -- whether as words on a paper page or on an LCD screen? And what about those who might want to use their ears rather than their eyes to "read" a book? Fine with me. Let's add one more option to the mix then -- audio books.

My first two books have just hit the format trifecta. Dot Dead and Smasher are now available as audio downloads for iPods, MP3 players, and such on both Audible.com and Amazon.com. (You can listen to samples here and here.) Both are still available as ebooks and trade paperbacks. (Readers, pick your poison.) My third novel, Drop By Drop, is currently available only as an ebook, but if it continues to sell well (fingers crossed), I'm hoping it will be offered in print and as an audio book as well.

One side benefit to all these different formats is a flowering of covers. Dot Dead has one cover doing double duty for the ebook and trade paper and another for the audio version. Smasher -- lucky fellow -- has a different cover for all three formats. Drop By Drop is available in just the one format and hence has only one cover at present. If my arithmetic is correct, that makes a total of six covers. I'm pretty fond of all of them, but I do wonder which ones you prefer. Please let me know in your comments!











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10 comments:

Robin Allen said...

Congrats on all the versions of your book, Keith! Out of the six covers, I like #3 for Smasher. It seems to move and is dramatic and interesting without being cluttered. It also has a kind of X-Files feel to it, which is one of my favorite shows.

Sebastian Stuart said...

I like the first cover for dot.dead, it's simple and sexy and arresting. congrats on all the different formats, so cool to know people are enjoying your work in different ways.

Alan Orloff said...

Congrats on moving to audio. Now fans can hear your terrific stories, too! I like all the covers (diplomatic enough?).

Beth Groundwater said...

I hope you'll keep us posted on your experiences with audible.com, Keith. I pushed my agent to contact them, and she has, and I'm waiting to hear if they'll pick up my books, too.

As for your covers, what's with all the female body parts? ;-) The Dot Dead ones are about the same, I think, but I like 3. and 5. for Smasher a lot better than 4., which doesn't say "thriller" to me.

Shannon Baker said...

For me, covers are fraught with angst. So nice you like all yours. I do, too. For Dot Dead I like #1 and Smasher I like #3.

Keith Raffel said...

Thanks, Robin. X-Files, huh? Okay!

Sebastian, didn't like that Dot Dead cover at 1st but it's grown on me.

Alan, take a stand, man! Shannon did. (Thanks, Shannon.)

Beth, in the name of gender equality, I'll see what I can do to get some male parts up there.

Lisa Bork said...

I like #3 and #6 best. Congrats on your audio releases.

Darrell James said...

cKeith- I've always been a fan of audio books, so can't complain. It's the way of the world and as authors, we'd better get used to it. Nay, embrace it as you have.

Good luck with all of them. (ps. I like the first Dot Dead cover too.)

Deborah Sharp said...

I can't name just one, since they're all good, but my two faves are #5 for Smasher and # 2 for Dot Dead. Be interested in knowing how your audio format goes. Did you get to choose the voice?

G.M. Malliet said...

I'm for the #3 Smasher.