Relaunching an Old Book: When a Rebrand Goes Too Far

If you’re thinking about relaunching a book that didn’t sell the way you hoped, it’s tempting to change everything. New titles, new descriptions, maybe even the stories themselves.

For years I had felt like our Ambria series needed a total rebranding to succeed. Now I’m realizing that rebrand went too far.

I still want to give these books another chance. I’m reconsidering how much I need to change before I can do that.

In the meantime, I want readers to be able to find the books I’ve already written on my author website.

The Rebrand I Tried

I had come up with new titles and descriptions for all four books:

But whenever I tried updating the stories to match, I was never really satisfied. Getting to the point of being satisfied would involve editing the books so much that they’d be different books.

That’s a much bigger project than I’d meant to take on. And it’s a project I hadn’t been able to finish.

The actual book updates on Amazon weren’t live yet. So I could still take it back.

When a Book Rebrand Becomes a Rewrite

For me, the warning sign was how many years I’d spent trying to get it done.

I kept trying to make the stories fit the new titles and descriptions. At some point I needed to reconsider those titles and descriptions.

There are things I’d like to improve about the books. There probably always will be. But I don’t want every attempt to introduce them to new readers to turn into another rewrite.

I need a smaller project I can actually finish.

A Smaller Way to Relaunch an Old Book

If you’re considering republishing or rebranding your own books and getting stuck the way I did, these are the steps I’d start with:

1. Back up the rebrand and put it aside. Save the covers, titles, and descriptions in a folder in Google Drive or whatever backup system you use. You’ve done that work. You can keep it without having to finish every change it would require.

2. Update your author website with the books as they are now. Use their current titles, descriptions, and covers. Don’t change anything about the books yet. Let them be what they are, with all their embarrassing flaws.

3. Decide what belongs in a smaller update. That may mean keeping the title and giving the book a new cover. Write down what you want to change and check whether you can do it without rewriting the story. If the list keeps growing, make it smaller again.

4. Start with one book. In my case, I have a whole four-book series I want to update. I’m just updating the first book to start.

If your website supports separate pages for different editions, you can keep the current edition’s page and add a “Coming Soon” page for the update once you’re ready to commit to it. Make it clear which edition readers can get now and which one is still in progress.

You don’t have to announce a new edition just to give an older book a page.

Your Author Website Is for the Books You’ve Already Written

Your author website isn’t just for your future books. The books you’ve already written belong there too. It’s work you’ve done.

It’s alright if they’re marked out of print or aren’t featured on your landing page. Someone who remembers an old title should still be able to find it and understand what happened to it.

Each book needs a page that introduces it clearly. If it’s available, include a buying link. If it’s out of print, say so. If you’re planning a new edition, give interested readers a way to hear when it’s ready.

With WriterStead, you can give each book a page with its cover, description, and buying links, and show readers where it fits in a series. You can also post updates as you work on a new edition and give readers a way to join your mailing list.

Start with one of the books you’ve been meaning to get back to. Put it on your website as it exists today. You can decide what to change next.

Give the books you’ve already written a home on WriterStead.