Comments on: Time for a Second Edition

By: Linda Ruggeri Editor

Linda Ruggeri Editor — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 20:27:56 +0000

When I published a memoir I co-authored we went back and forth with two different book covers that tested positively with two different audiences that were our target market, so it was hard to decided and which one was the "right one". We went with our first choice (a darker cover with a young man looking out a train window seeing his reflection). It's a beautiful cover (imo and so representative of the book) but after a year of weak sales, we decided to change it to the "other" cover which sold the concept of the book apparently better (rural life, small town feeling, wholesomeness). That's the cover we kept, but it was hard to choose to do so. And I agree with you John, typos, grammar, spelling if any of those are wrong, they should be always be corrected without making it a new edition.

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 04:20:26 +0000

Wonderful insight and advice.

denise

By: Kris Maze

Kris Maze — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 14:00:34 +0000

I've been mulling over how and when to do a deep dive on a book published by a smaller press. It would be better to make major revisions and get feedback and potential reviews through ARCs.
You've outlined great considerations. Thanks for the technical advice, John.

By: Terry Odell

Terry Odell — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 12:01:56 +0000

I suppose, technically, I've had new editions of some of my books. When rights reverted to me, I went through them and made changes/improvements. I've changed covers on some as well. But I've never felt the need to regard them as new books; I simply put an explanation in the book description so readers would know what they were getting. Example: "Finding Sarah was previously published by Cerridwen Press. This version has been revised, updated, and includes some material not found in the original." I did something similar if it was only a cover change; I don't want readers getting angry thinking it's a new book when it's just a new cover. The most "drastic" changes I made were to books that had out of date references, such as floppy discs or a lack of cell phones. In one, I put back a scene I liked. But I never called it a second edition. I suppose that because this was the first edition published by me, I didn't think of it that way.