Marla Cooper, Mysteries

Behind the scenes of a book relaunch

Friends, I did it. I finally relaunched my Destination Wedding Mysteries on Tuesday, starting with book one, Terror in Taffeta. Now that the dust has settled and the flurry of last minute duties is over, here are some thoughts I wanted to share.

I loved the cover design process as much as I thought I would. About a month before launch, I had a perfectly good book cover that I was 90% happy with. But I couldn’t stop thinking about this other style of book cover. Was it a good idea to change things up just over a month before my pub date? Probably not. But hey, that’s one of the perks of indie publishing! (Luckily I hadn’t done a cover reveal!) Future Me is going to be so relieved I chose this format that will be easy to sustain over the series. And I was so excited when I got my proof copy and the background color was exactly what I’d hoped. (If anyone wants to geek out with me about the hazards of CMYK color conversion, just say the word!)

The Abernathy Pass. I had so much fun writing the overbearing mother of the bride, Mrs. Abernathy, because she’s the WORST! But some people genuinely could not get behind her. So one of the last things I did before hitting publish was read through of all her scenes and take out a few of her most egregious comments. But then I realized something after seeing a GIF from Arrested Development the other day. She’s Lucille Bluth! She’s meant to be comic relief, but I think I may have triggered some people.

On being a “control enthusiast.” Going indie is a ton of work, but it’s fun if you enjoy that sort of thing. You decide the price. You pick your launch date. You have final approval on the cover. But the ironic part is you can’t control everything. I know — shocking! So when Amazon decided to disappear my paperback sales page on my launch date and there was nothing I could do about it, I had to remind myself that control is just an illusion. No matter how meticulously you plan, when your page suddenly doesn’t show up in search, you just have to take a deep breath and remember you’re in it for the long haul.

Trying out Kindle Unlimited. Conventional wisdom tells me I shouldn’t constantly refresh that KDP dashboard that tells me how many books have sold. But WAIT! My book is in Kindle Unlimited and it’s been low-key thrilling to watch the page reads stack up! The first time around, my e-book was $12.99. Now that I get to set my own prices, I wanted to get it into as many hands as possible. Which means my e-book is only $4.99 and if you’re in Kindle Unlimited, it’s free. Plus, I get to watch people’s reading progress in real time.

My low-key second-time-around book launch party. I did a launch party the first time the book came out, but this time I was too busy juggling sales pages and Vellum formatting and Pantone color guides. So even though I didn’t want to do a bookstore event quite yet, we still celebrated the moment. My husband got me flowers that match my book cover (!!!) along with a massive quantity of Mexican wedding cookies, champagne, and “Bride’s Cake” ice cream. I’m still not over the sugar high! 10 out of 10. Highly recommend.

Readers, what’s your passion project — whether completed, in progress, or just a glimmer of a plan?

About the Book (ICYMI)

Wedding planner Kelsey McKenna is just a few hours away from wrapping up her latest job: a destination wedding in the charming, colonial Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende. The reception is all set up, the tequila donkey is waiting outside, and the bride and groom are standing on the altar, pledging their eternal love. But just as the priest is about to pronounce them husband and wife, one of the bridesmaids upstages the couple by collapsing into a floral arrangement… a definite wedding “don’t.” Kelsey soon discovers that the girl hasn’t just fainted—she’s dead.

Losing a bridesmaid is bad enough, but when the bride’s sister is arrested for murder, the demanding mother of the bride insists that Kelsey fix the matter at once. And although Kelsey is pretty sure investigating a murder isn’t in her contract, crossing the well-connected Mrs. Abernathy could be a career-killer. Before she can leave Mexico and get back to planning weddings, Kelsey must deal with stubborn detectives, a rekindled romance, and guests who didn’t even RSVP.

Now available on Amazon — and free on Kindle Unlimited through June 24.

21 thoughts on “Behind the scenes of a book relaunch”

  1. Congrats and welcome to the world of indie publishing. As a fellow “control enthusiast” I find indie so much better than traditional in so many ways. I suspect if you’re with a Big 5 or a Big Name, it’s different, but the rest of us mere mortals, traditional can’t do anything for us we can’t do ourselves (and we can probably do it better and faster). The only thing I would suggest, going forward (8 years as indie and wrote two books on publishing, one on self-publishing, won awards…) is that I would not go KDP Exclusive next time out and I would hop off that immediately after the 90 days. That’s because all your initial marketing efforts are in the first 90 days and anyone not on Kindle will forget about you. I actually earn more from Kobo (they have an exclusive program that in not “exclusive” and tons of free promotional opportunities). You have to be Kobo direct (Kobowritinglife.com) and not through D2D. Everything else, besides KDP/Amazon, go through D2D (Draft2Digital) for other markets and libraries. For what that’s worth.

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    1. Judy, thank you so much for the great advice! For the first time out, I went KU for simplicity’s sake, but now that I’ve gotten over the initial hump, I can work on expanding. This is the perfect strategic advice right when I’m ready to hear it! 😄

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    2. Everyone, just a PS that Judy is the author of the fabulous SELF PUBLISHING: The Ins and Outs of Going Indie. An awesome reference and step-by-step guide–highly recommend!

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        1. Thanks Marla and I consider you and every one of the Chicks a friend — if you are working on going wide and have a question, you know where to find me 🙂

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  3. Marla, can’t congratulate you enough on the paperback (and indie!) debut of TERROR IN TAFFETA! You’ve worked so hard, and the result is smart and gorgeous. I have a hardcover copy from the Before Times, but this new cover (and spine stamped Chicks on the Case, woohoo!) will look bee-yoo-tee-ful beside it!

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    1. Thank you so much!! You know now people talk about birthing a book? I feel that metaphor so much harder with this one! Now that the bun is out of the oven, I feel both proud and exhausted. I want to show my newborn to everybody. And I keep thinking I deserve ice cream. Thanks for being there since the beginning, back when we just had manuscripts and a dream!

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        1. That was a new one for me! “Brides Cake Ice Cream is a popular, limited-time flavor from Blue Bell Creameries featuring almond-flavored ice cream, white cake pieces, and a swirl of amaretto cream cheese icing.”

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  4. Yaaaay, Marla!! The cover is gorgeous and it’s a wonderful book. A wonderful series! I’m so excited for you – and for readers.

    I admire anyone who successfully self-publishes. And I also know if anyone can do it, it’s you. Xox

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    1. Thank you! That means a lot to me! I’m with you — I’ve always admired people who can pull it off. It’s like running an entire business! xoxo

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    1. Thank you so much, Jen! This is technically the fifth cover, all told. There was the original baby blue draft from St. Martins that looked more like a baby shower than a wedding in Mexico, then the bright blue one that was published. For round two, I had a placeholder cover for a while, followed by what I thought would be the real cover. But I couldn’t stop thinking about this direction, and you know what they say: fifth time’s a charm! 😂

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