Re-branding the Horse Book Series
Old and new editions of Dark Horse at Oak Lane Stable (Book 3)
When I took over the publishing of the middle grade Oak Lane Stable Novel Series, I knew I wanted to make a completely fresh start with them, especially since Ghost Horse at Oak Lane Stable (Book 4) is being added to the mix. Although I thought the old covers were fine, I wanted to find images that spoke more directly to the younger readers, something they could relate to when they were curious about reading the stories. - an added human factor that I thought was necessary for the books.
Three different book covers for Mystery Horse at Oak Lane Stable (Book 1)
Since Mystery Horse at Oak Lane Stable (Book 1) was first published in October, 2017, it has undergone three cover changes as you can see in the photo above, mostly due to having new publishers. The first cover in the upper left hand corner was something I thought would be interesting. I was given three photos to choose from and thought this one was the best of the choices I had. Although it is definitely a show jumper rider, if you look at the hands you will see it is a man riding the bay horse. I also hadn’t given much though to the direction of the photo. I was taught a very basic lesson in design school: we read from left to right and from the top down. Images carry direction and this rider is galloping away from opening the book. It might have worked better if the image had been reversed and it was a young female rider.
The second cover in the upper right corner does have the horse looking to the right, so the direction is correct. He (or she) is a lovely horse. I liked this cover much better than the first one. The only thing was that it didn’t clearly reflect the book being written for young readers 9 to 12 or so. Being someone who gravitates to any book with a horse on the cover, I wasn’t too worried about it not attracting attention from my readers.
The newest cover on the bottom is my favorite one so far. I love how the girl and her bay horse have this great connection between them. It was exactly what I was looking for. I then had to find three other photos for the other books in the series that had a similar feel to them so they all read “this is a series” better than it had. Fortunately, I was able to locate them after a long search.
In the photo above, the old covers in the series are on top and the new editions run along the bottom. There is a definite “series” feel to the new covers when they are all together. I think they clearly read “books for young readers” much better than before, but that’s my opinion of them. You may not agree.
Of course, Ghost Horse at Oak Lane Stable (Book 4) stands alone in its only cover so far. I had a few other covers I tried, but this one stood out for me. Who knows how its cover may change over the next few years, if it does. I never thought Mystery Horse’s would change, but then we can never predict the directions our lives will take us. That’s one of the great things about life - its miraculous unfolding.
Author Kerri Lukasavitz and the middle grade Oak Lane Stable Novel Series: Books written for young readers, but enjoyed by horse lovers of all ages.
