At WILDBLUE PRESS, we’re a true-crime book publishing firm like nobody else. Why? Because we consider your input essential in our most vital work. It’s a known fact that many readers of all shapes and sizes make a decision whether to buy a book based on the title and based on the cover.
Over the past week, we’ve received hundreds of comments from TC readers all over North America as we posted several different dummy designs of the possible book cover for my upcoming True-Crime Feature book, DIXIE’S LAST STAND: WAS IT MURDER OR SELF-DEFENSE?
At WILDBLUE PRESS, we know that loyal fans of true-crime books know what works and what does not. And that’s why our publishing company conducts a rigorous sample testing of our book covers and our book titles before we send everything off into the final production stages.
“The cover judging was interesting in that in this case we didn’t end up going with one cover over another but rather a merging of the two covers that got the most votes,” explained Steve Jackson, co-founder of WILD BLUE PRESS.
One voter remarked that she definitely felt that the book cover NEEDED to include a photo of Dixie Shanahan, the key subject of the book: “It makes it more interesting to have a view of the person involved,” the TC voter commented.
In the end, we agreed and we made several tweaks and adjustments to our DIXIE’S LAST STAND cover.
“We noted that a large number of readers, rather than just saying ‘I prefer Cover X over Cover Y’ made some sort of comment, such as ‘I like seeing the face of the cover’ or ‘I think the WildBlue Press should be in blue.’ Voters also noticed the structure of the three underlying photos and their relationship to the type, so we took that into account too.
“While we can’t please everyone, including the voter who said he hated them all, we think that what we came up with–with the help of those who voted–is a great blend,” Jackson added.
Now that the TC fans have banded together to finalize our title and come up with our DIXIE’S LAST STAND cover, it’s time to forge ahead and encourage readers to pre-order the book.
“Have January 15th written on the calendar since I pre-ordered it! Looking forward to reading!” TC reader Nanci posted in the Serial Killers Authors FB reader fan club.
Just like Nanci, I encourage everyone to consider pre-ordering DIXIE’S LAST STAND between now and January 15, when it’s tentatively slated for release on Kindle.
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