Are you looking to bring new life to one of your older books? It can certainly be a challenge for a book you’ve published previously to hold its own today in a world full of new releases and contemporary bestsellers. However, there are some solid strategies you can follow in order for your older work to still be relevant and attract a whole new generation of readers.

Times change, new trends come and go, and there are now more book genres than we might have ever dreamed possible even just a decade ago. What resonated with readers then just may not have the same impact today. But you can absolutely revise past work with updates that make it more attractive to a brand new audience of readers.

Keep in mind that revising your book doesn’t just mean making updates to the content inside. It’s also very much about presentation and promotion. While content updates will make your book more relatable in today’s market, you still need to polish your book in such a way that it stands out to readers before they even open the cover. Your overall goal is to attract new readers without taking away any of the original charm that made your book appealing in the first place.

Here are some of the key things to focus on when refreshing a previously published book for a whole new audience:

Evaluate Your Original Content

• Consider Your Story and Characters:
  • Does your plot still hold up as is? Are there some plot points that might need to be updated since you first wrote the book?
  • Do your characters need a refresh to make them more relatable? Are they still believable in today’s society; do they need a career change? A change in setting? An updated vocabulary?
• Review Your Pacing and Structure:
  • Do you have a strong opening? Will it pull readers in and keep them eager to turn the page? 
  • Does the story flow well? Consider updating the structure, remove any unnecessary subplots, or tighten the narrative to make it more engaging.
• Outdated References & Language:
  • What seemed current when the book was originally published may feel out of place now. Your characters shouldn’t be using dial-up internet or rotary phones if the story is supposed to be a contemporary one.

Update Your Writing Style

• Tighten the prose: Today's readers typically prefer a quicker, more lively style. Think about revising overly detailed or repetitive sections to maintain a steady pace.
• Ensure Sensitivity: Revisit any potential language or themes that could be considered offensive or insensitive today in order to avoid alienating new readers.

Give Your Cover a Makeover

• Refresh the Look: A book’s cover is one of the most important aspects of attracting an audience. There are so many different covers out there, and if your existing cover feels outdated, downplayed, or stale, potential readers may not even give it a chance.
• Keep in Mind Your Target Audience: If you’re aiming for a particular demographic, your design should reflect that. Consider their tastes when you’re choosing colors, fonts, and imagery.
• Back Cover Content: Don’t just paste a short blurb on the back and leave a lot of blank space. Determine what the strongest selling points are for your book and highlight them: a great review, a compelling description, and an interesting author bio can help distinguish your book from others in the same genre.
  
  

Revamp Your Marketing Information

• Revise Your Book Blurb: The blurb you choose to use when marketing your book is your initial pitch to potential readers. It needs to resonate with readers in today’s market. Make sure your blurb is strong, engaging, and fits in with current trends and interests.
• Keyword Optimization: If you’re updating your marketing info for an online audience, be sure to include current keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Use relevant terms that modern readers are likely to search for when looking for books in your genre.
• Update Your Metadata: There is so much information that can be added to your metadata to help the right reader find your book. Make sure that the subject categories you're assigning to your book are accurate yet relevant to today’s trends and interests. If your original book was categorized as Science-Fiction/General, you might want to enhance that to better target your intended audience. 

Incorporate Additional Content

• Bonus Materials: Including bonus content can provide extra value and make the updated edition feel exclusive. Consider adding an author’s note, a new chapter, a preview of your next novel, or an author Q&A about your writing process.
• New Preface/Introduction: Including a new preface or author’s introduction can entice readers. Reflect on how the book has evolved, why you're updating it, and what’s changed since your original publication.

Formatting & Layout

• Update Formatting to Include New Platforms: If your original book was only available in print, think about updating your work to include an ebook format as well, and possibly even an audiobook version.
• Ensure consistency: Check for consistency in the formatting, especially if your book's being updated across different platforms or editions (e.g., paperback vs. ebook vs. audiobook).

Develop a New Promotion Strategy

• Take a Fresh Marketing Approach: Once your book has been updated, don’t assume your previous marketing strategies will work. Build a new plan that targets current reader habits, taking into consideration social media trends, influencer collaborations, or using new platforms and tools such as BookTok, Instagram reels, etc.
• Re-launch Your Book: Treat your updated book as a new edition or a re-launch in order to grab people’s attention. Offer special promo materials to particular audiences, or limited time discounts—IngramSpark’s Share & Sell purchase links are an ideal vehicle for just such a book promotion.
• Expand Your Reach: Consider new ways to reach more readers, such as reaching out for influencer reviews or translating your book into another language and optimizing it's global discoverability. 

Legal Considerations

• Copyright Updates: If you’re making significant updates to your book, you’ll want to check the copyright implications. You’ll likely hold a new copyright for the updated version, in addition to your original copyright. Make sure your intellectual property is protected in all new formats. Ensure you own the copyright or have permission for any artwork used on your book cover.
• ISBN: If your changes are substantial, you’ll possibly need a new ISBN for the updated version to differentiate it from the original edition. Here are some circumstances in which you’ll likely want to obtain a new ISBN:
  • Adding significant new material such as new chapters or a change in theme
  • Reorganization of the content such as changing the order of chapters or rewriting sections
  • A change in genre or focus, such as turning a novel into a nonfiction book or a textbook into a workbook

By revising your book in a thoughtful and strategic way, you can not only bring a fresh, new perspective to your existing content, but you can also appeal to a whole new audience of readers. The results of this can include a wider audience, increased book sales, renewed interest in all your work, and even a creative push for you to try writing something new.