Reader, did you know that my first published novel, and the first in The Land of Schism series, went through three previous book covers before the fourth was finalized as "the one"? Yup! There are two other "published" book covers for Claimed: The Land of Schism Book One that other readers might not know about - and one that was never published - but you get to see them all in this blog post!
You might be wondering why there are three previous covers for Claimed, and the honest answer is - because I oopsied. Uh huh. I committed a BIG "No No" in the realm of publishing that is not recommended by anyone with publishing experience! There is only one exception to this rule: you are a talented cover artist in addition to being an author. There are some authors who can actually pull this off very well! But...I am not one of them.
Why did I commit the "No No" even knowing that it was not recommended and could go all kinds of sideways on me? Well, the short and blatant truth is: I was too cheap to hire a cover artist. *Winces* I know! I know! Not only should I have heeded the advice of others, but I should have also known better than to disregard it as not being applicable to me (because, in case you did not know, I am not a cover design artist).
In my defense, trying to finance publishing a single book as an indie author is a huge financial undertaking each and every time a book comes out from one of us (which is why your support, Reader, is so important!). I was trying to cut corners where I could to ease the financial burden of this output on me and my husband, but it only ended up causing more strain and stress on me as I delved into learning what I could about book covers. And, in the end, I bit the bullet and hired a cover artist anyway (who is bardzo duzo wonderful!). If I had been smart, I would have realized my own limitations at the time, but I wasn't and - alas for us all who make oopsies - hindsight is truly 20/20.
Wondering what the previous covers look like and how they compare to the current one? Keep scrolling to take a gander at them below!
Here they are in order of version 1 - 4!
My favorite version of the covers is the professional one, of course. But what about you, Reader? Which one among the four is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! :)
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