just because I felt like posting covers ...
ETA: I have moved the covers below the fold so they will not slow the loading of the blog for slow machines.
The Forbidden Rose book cover is centered at the top. That's the new book, out in June. The Spymaster's Lady reprint in trade paperback is above, to the right. It's out in May. Good for gifting, if you know a Taurus or Gemini.
I put this detail of the Spymaster's Lady stepback up here. In the comment trail, I was asked which was my favorite cover. That's it.
The Forbidden Rose cover is the cover for your next release?
ReplyDeleteYessireebob. Isn't it pretty?
ReplyDeleteYou can click on the picture to make it bigger.
The cover people have all their clothes on, which is so competent and clever of them.
I find the rose ... umm ...
Sigh...I wish I could read The Forbidden Rose right now.
ReplyDelete...reminiscent of a Georgia O'Keefe painting? :)
ReplyDeleteI think the overall effect is pretty gorgeous. I'm sure it won't be so... ummm... on an actual cover. :)
Are we playing 'which one doesn't belong'??? I can't figure out what country could have possibly translated the title of one of your books into "Grandma's Christmas Cookies". *grin*
ReplyDeleteAnd that Forbidden Rose cover is HAWT!
oh hey! So that's the title and cover of the new book! WOOT! (but we have to wait HOW long?)
ReplyDeleteOh. Oh.
ReplyDeleteI added the new cover for Spymaster's Lady. The trade paperback that's coming out in May.
Ooo, I like it! Which is your favorite?
ReplyDelete@ Kaige --
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought.
*g*
I was very lucky with this Forbidden Rose cover. I was able to send the artist some images as suggestions.
One of the images was a red rose. They used that as the inspiration, I'm pretty sure.
@ Sandy --
ReplyDeleteMy little children's book. It's sorta cute. It has cookie cutters in the back.
I did a whole bunch of non-fiction and travel writing too.
My favorite of all the covers is the upper half of the stepback of Spymaster's lady. That one in the upper rght corner.
ReplyDeleteI like the part that's Just the faces, with the young woman touching the man's chest.
I am not fond of the lower half of the stepback. It is so odd, the way Romance heroines keep having their leg held up in the air in that awkward way.
I love the Lady reprint cover! I'm not a huge fan of the he-man-ripping-his-shirt-open-to-reveal-twinkie-abs look, I must admit. And I'm sure the Rose cover will look less O'Keefe-y in real life. And, hey, at least it matches her dress!
ReplyDeleteIt is so odd, the way Romance heroines keep having their leg held up in the air in that awkward way.
Mmm, yes, I've noticed that. Perhaps they all come with lame [usually left] legs that need to be supported by the heroes?
Oh my! Wherefrom can I get a copy of Grandma's Christmas Cookies? I love books like that :-) I made the cookie recipe at the back of Franklin the Turtle's cookie book once...
ReplyDeleteOff to search Amazon!
@ Lynz --
ReplyDeleteIt's taken me a while to warm up to the Spymaster's Lady trade cover. I have very strong notions of what Annique looks like. Not so much this.
BUT, the young lady on the cover does look like she'd grab a broomstick in the dark and engage in a hopeless fight against two men. Looks like she could pass as an adolescent boy, too.
I am becoming fonder and fonder of it. And her dress is impeccably period-accurate which warms the cockles of my fussy-scholar soul.
So, kudos to the art department at Berkley, says I.
The Forbidden Rose cover is striking and unusual. I'm delighted with it and I think it'll 'pop' on the shelf.
More kudos for the art people.
Is everyone going to think Georgia O'Keefe when they see it?
Or do I have a particularly indelicate mind?
Quibbling away here, I have to say that the clothing is slightly off-period. The man's cravat arrangement and starched collar come from about a decade later. In 1794 France the collars were still soft and the shirt front often ruffled.
That said, I see why the marketing people went for the later style. That upstanding collar says 'gentleman' right through the Nineteenth Century. They're trying for a C19 feel to the cover, rather than a Georgian feel.
The woman's dress is further afield. That red brocade -- I'd put that material before 1789 or after 1820. The cut says post-1820.
I'm sympathetic to the inaccuracy, though. The brocade is part of the whole 'lush' feeling they want to convey.
I like that blatant sensuality -- it's far more sexy than a Nekkid clinch.
ANYTHING that takes Romance covers in the direction of sensual-with-clothing-on
is a Good Thing and
To Be Encouraged.
@ Deniz --
ReplyDelete*g*
I'm pretty sure it is available at Amazon. It never seems to go out of print.
I should warn you that it is a very sweet picture book and intended for the under-eight crowd.
Oh, the Forbidden Rose cover is gorgeous!! Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteAnd on the Georgia O'Keefe issue (ROTFL)--the text breaks it up, so it's not overly suggestive. Just subtle and tasteful, in a very, very mildly Freudian sort of way.
It is a lovely cover, truly!!
Doyle in a cravat! I'm giddy with excitement! I love The Forbidden Rose cover, which is going to be striking fronted on the new-releases shelf. I'm obviously a bit slow, because I didn't think Georgia O'Keefe until I read the comments, but now I'm all focused on the positioning.
ReplyDeleteMy copy of Spymaster's Lady is so shabby from over-use that I feel completely justified in buying the new trade paperback in May. It's lovely.
Hi Elisa --
ReplyDeleteIt's a really pretty cover. And compelling. I feel lucky.
The Freudian helps, I think.
Hi Annie --
ReplyDeleteOh my, that's so kind of you to tell me.
I have no idea how reprints work. Do they go into the stores?
I'm hoping the reprint and Forbidden will be on the shelves at more or less the same time.
Hehe, the cover doesn't match what I think Annique looks like, either, but I've found that covers with faces on them rarely work for me. I guess I have less of a personal stake in it, though.
ReplyDeleteDo they go into the stores?
Not that I'm speaking from actual industry knowledge here or anything--just personal experience--but I think so. I know that my local Chapters has the mass market version of SEP's It Had to be You as well as the trade paperback reprint of it. And I'm pretty sure they have both versions of Heaven, Texas too. Maybe it's just for SEP, though?
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ReplyDelete@ Lynn --
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to think of a book where I picked it up because the cover was great or didn't buy it because of some awful cover. I guess I'm kinda a 'cover ignorer'. I buy pretty much on the author's name.
But they say many books are sold on cover alone.
I worry about my covers in an anxious and obsessive way, when I run out of other things to worry about.
Romances tend to have faces on them. I guess Marketing figures this is what works.
If we're going to have people, I do prefer faces that aren't just 'pretty girl'. I like faces that have some 'character' to them even if they aren't exactly 'my' character.
And the color themes mean something.
'Forbidden' is red-and-blackish, I'd say. The red-and-black Romance covers tend to be suspense or urban fiction. This is good because I think of myself as writing 'Romantic Adventure', which fits in there somewhere.
I have no idea how reprints work. Do they go into the stores?
ReplyDeleteLike LP, I'm only speaking from personal experience and a tiny bit of experience with marketing non-trade books, but I can't believe Berkley would miss an opportunity to market an outstanding backlist title when Forbidden Rose is released. The trade paperback will also give a big boost to your new novel. I mean, what's the point of putting "Award-Winning Author of The Forbidden Rose" on the cover if not to suggest (ie, shout), "hey, if any of you missed your chance to give this newish author a try when SL was first released, RITA-award winner here!"
Releasing SL as a trade paperback is a huge vote of confidence by your publisher, I think. There are a lot of, ahem, obsessives (she says, looking self-conscious) who like to have all the books in a series lined up on the shelf. Since your books are all connected, I am sure there are many readers who will want to collect all the titles in the Bourneverse. Those readers of historical romance who are not so much in love with the nekkid covers will be especially happy!
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ReplyDeleteHi Annie --
ReplyDeleteYou remember that scene in Star Wars where they're escaping from the Imperial Guards and Luke grabs a rope to swing across the empty chasm over to the control panel?
Leila takes hold of him and kisses him on the cheek and says, "Good Luck."
That's how I feel about Berkley marketing and the trade paperback of TSL. 'Good luck, guys.'
Ah well. That worry can be put off till May.
I am feeling particularly obsessive right now because I just finished the copyedits a week or two back. Copyedits are a veritable breeding ground of obsession.
I seem to be double posting my comments for some reason. I've removed the duplicates. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteSquee! So excited to read your next release! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Katiebabs --
ReplyDeleteIt'll still be months and months and months before it hits the shelves. June 1.
Feels like a long time to me.