Republishing old series

I don't know where people stand on republishing old series but I've decided to do this with my very first series. It was back in the day when I didn't know what deep POV was and so I have head hopping though not nearly as bad as I thought I was. I've learnt so much from back then. This series doesn't sell anymore but I look at others who republish and I always think that it is kinda cheating, after all it is just revamping. Boy am I wrong.

First it is painful

This is my baby, my first, the one that made me realise I could be an actual writer so every word is precious to me. So there I am like a gardener in the an overgrown mess and I'm yanking out left, right and center. Painful as anything. I've read my reviews for that book and I know that some elements don't work so I'm pulling them out and reworking things. It looks great already even though I'm only on chapter two of the rewrite.

Second it is time consuming

I find this true of all edits but this is a book that has been edited. It isn't typos or spelling mistakes or where to put in that errant comma. No this is about to add layers to the meaning, to make sure I've described things. Mostly it is taking out the cringe-worthy sentences. I'm dyslexic so even though I read a lot and fast; mostly I'm skipping over the extra fluff that is often in books. So when I'm forced to slow down and read every word it is almost painful and time slows down to the same speed as a work meeting that has ticked over your usual home time.

Thirdly the details are *****

So part of the re-release is new covers and new blurbs. I do my own covers and I've already had a go at revamping these covers but I've decided to play down the science part of the books and up the fantasy elements and re-brand it as an urban fantasy. And urban fantasies have very specific type of covers. Unfortunately that means either illustrations or the perfected posed main character. My main character is Asian. Not only that but with unique hair. I've spent literal days trawling through stock photo sights hoping for at least one that I can even work with. I've given up on the perfect image. I'm almost tempted to take my own photos but I can't afford that.

Fourth people are mean

I'm part of a group on Facebook that you can post your covers and they can give you feedback. So the downside of this is that everyone on there is someone that needed help with their covers in the first place. So their feedback is hit or miss. Some of it is downright mean. My favourites are the ones that tell me to look at covers on Amazon. These are my favourite as I have and I've literally made a list of things that they all have in common and made sure they are in the cover and yet I still get, "Doesn't look anything like UF." And what do you write? Oh that's right you write Horror. Thank you but no thank you. The worst part is I opened myself up to this so I can't even be mean back.

Fifth I have to make hard decisions

I love the title of my book and while it wasn't such a problem when it was in the science fiction genre it really doesn't fit in with the urban fantasy. So I have to change it. I say have to but really it is the hard choice I have to make. It will also affect the rest of the series which had linked titles. I'll lose one of the themes in the book which I'll have to change to fit the new title. But mostly it is just a little sad that I will be saying goodbye to the first iteration of the book.

I'll keep you guys posted about the changes I'm making. In the mean time I'll post the image of the girl that is closest to the character and you'll see what I have to work with. Do you think banging my head on the desk will help?