Changing a Book Title for a Self-Published Book

I used to think that you couldn't change the book title of an already-published book, because you'd lose all of your reviews and ranking, and have to start from scratch.

But, that only applies if you want to change the title of a book that was traditionally published, and then self-pub it with a different title (you will lose your reviews in that case). By keeping the same title as another edition, the reviews will transfer over.

You won't lose your reviews of a self-published book, however, even if you change its title!

You CAN give your title a makeover, by changing the book title (and cover) for a book that is already for sale. Here's how you do it:

1. Go onto your self-publishing Dashboard (I'll use KDP as an example).
2. EDIT the book details for the book whose title you want to change.
3. Change the title (again, you're *not* uploading as a new book)
4. Upload a new cover with the new title.
5. Upload a new book-file that has the title page and copyright page updated.
6. Change your blurb to include a notice to your readers, like this:

**Originally published in 2012 under the title Dominatrix Fantasy Trilogy Set: Spanked, Denied, and Collared

If the reader has already purchased the book, Amazon will stop them from re-purchasing it, and will send them the new updated covers, etc, to their Kindle. That way you don't confuse people, which would piss them off, if they bought the same book twice by mistake!

As you can guess, I gave the Dominatrix Fantasy series a makeover! As review after review came in, saying they were surprised to discover the books were romances, (not pure erotica as the titles and covers suggested), and as sales waned, I realized I needed to showcase what the books *really* are, by branding them properly.

BEFORE:

AFTER the makeover:

As you can see, both covers are professionally designed and look great, but the first cover and title screamed "FemDom P0RN" --not that there's anything wrong with that ;) 

The new title "Becoming Hers" and new cover says "erotic romance" - emphasis on romance!

These are the new individual novella covers and titles:

For more information and for blurbs, excerpts, and buylinks, go to:
http://shoshannaevers.com/becoming-hers-series/ or click on the covers!

Do Free eBooks Increase Backlist Sales?

Hello, Fellow Writers!

I'm doing a marketing experiment. I recently got the rights back to Taste of Candy, a short novella originally published in 2011 by The Wild Rose Press.

After re-editing the book and giving it a shiny new cover, I self-published it for free by making it free on Smashwords, and having Smashwords distribute it to Apple and Barnes and Noble at the free price point.

Of course, at this moment it's still stuck in Apple's notorious "naughty jail" where all erotic romances go to do time before they're approved. ;)

Anyway, Amazon price-matched from 99c down to free once B&N had it up for free.

Right now, going through Smashwords seems to be the only way to get a perma-free book on iTunes, B&N, and Amazon. I uploaded it directly free to Kobo.

The first week the downloads were intense, getting me to #154 overall Free in Amazon, and up to #3 on the Free Amazon Erotica Bestseller list (which is higher than my paid books have ever gone, including Overheated and Enslaved, both Paid Amazon Erotica Bestsellers).

The book's gotten great reviews, but so far it seems like the Also-Boughts on Amazon are other free books, or other rockstar romances. We can compare that to Enslaved, where the also-boughts are the rest of the Enslaved Trilogy, or to books like Snowed in With the Tycoon or The Man Who Holds the Whip, where the also-boughts include the rest of my books.

So the experiment is still up in the air! So far, I'm happy reading reviews that say the reader loved my voice and will read my other books. Free for the win? Perhaps!

If you're an author, have you experimented with making one of your books free?

Read an excerpt from my free rockstar erotic romance Taste of Candy here.