Which One Won? How one tiny difference can change everything

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Have you narrowed your two favorite choices for a book cover down so much that there’s only one tiny difference between them? If so, don’t think you can skip testing. As one author recently discovered, that small difference between covers can make a huge impact.

The author asked a group of 50 fiction readers who identify as Christian to help decide between two covers.

Options A and B are identical except for the tinge of red running through the sunset scene in Option A. Option B’s colors are slightly less vivid.

Can you guess which one won?

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Which One Won? The fine line of sci-fi book covers

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Sci-fi book covers can become so iconic that people buy them as posters for their offices and homes. If you’re working on a sci-fi novel, your book cover design should aspire to that level.

Let’s see if this recent PickFu poll clears the bar. The author asked the question, “Based on the cover, which book would you rather buy?”

Option A shows a blue-black color scheme and an intriguing eye staring out at potential readers. In Option B, the color scheme is totally white and resembles an anatomy textbook. The covers also feature different titles (which we don’t generally recommend).

Can you guess which one won?

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How to Outline a Nonfiction Book

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Header image for how to outline a nonfiction book

Not everyone is as lucky as fiction writers, who can get away with being pantsers.

That’s writer-speak for “drafting by the seat of your pants” instead of following an outline — and it’s virtually impossible in nonfiction.

Nonfiction demands the use of facts and flesh-and-blood experiences that can’t be dreamed up on the page. There’s no other way to keep your facts straight and build them into a compelling narrative: you have to know how to outline a nonfiction book.

How to outline a nonfiction book

In this article, I’ll show you exactly how to do that.

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Which One Won? To give a puppy a PhD…or not?

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A good book title hints at what’s between the covers while also piquing reader interest. It can’t be too confusing, too long, too short, too cheesy or too pretentious.

A title is often one of the most difficult parts of your book to write. That’s why one author recently created a poll on PickFu to weigh two title ideas:

  • Option A: D.O.G., Ph.D.: A Year of Conversations With One Very Smart Dog
  • Option B: Conversations with Minnie: One Dog’s Perspective on Life

Can you guess which one won?

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Which One Won? Book covers for the third book in a series

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Even authors who’ve been writing and selling books for years can benefit from split-testing their book covers.

Take Trevol Swift, for example. Author of two previous books in the Justicar Jhee series, Swift took the third book to PickFu to find out which cover stood out best. Swift wisely tested with an audience of 50 fiction readers, stating that the book is a science fiction murder mystery.

Option A features a mysterious purple cover with a cityscape, water, and a moon (or two?).

In Option B, the cityscape changes. Swift does away with the enclosed feeling of the first cover but retains many of the same elements, including the super-cool type treatment of the author’s name and book title.

Can you guess which one won?

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5 Google Analytics Metrics that Will Move the E-commerce Needle

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Business Experts Discussing Data Coffee Table

Editor’s note: Thanks to Spela Miekuz of Databox for this guest post on Google Analytics metrics.

To generate more e-commerce sales, sellers need to get good at analyzing data and spotting trends in Google Analytics. Because it’s easy to focus on vanity metrics like pageviews or get stuck in analysis paralysis, we’re sharing five crucial metrics to look at to help you move the needle.

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Which One Won? Subscription box packaging design

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What’s the best way to display an array of products? How can you organize the multiple photos into a single, attractive, and enticing photo to feature online? This was the question at the heart of this PickFu poll, in which a seller asked 50 Amazon Prime members to select the subscription box packaging design they preferred.

Option A uses more white space and highlights “20 snacks” in the bottom right corner.

Option B fills more of the image frame, including the sides of the box, and moves the 20-snack highlight to the top right corner.

Can you guess which one won?

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