I’ve just launched a new newsletter for the Champions of St. Euphemia series. This series is complete, so the newsletter offers a series of five newsletters. Each one focusses on the writing of each book, giving you a glimpse behind the scenes. There are also discounts for shopping in my online store. At the end of the sequence, you’ll be automatically unsubscribed.
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And yes, there are still MORE new covers to show you!
The Rogues of Ravensmuir series originally had “candy box” covers. This means they had no people on them: candy box covers have flowers or ribbons instead of people. The covers for this series were done by Alan Ayers and intended to evoke the style of the original Bride Quest covers, which he also designed. The difference was that the Bride Quest titles had step-back covers (well, the first five of them did) with the candy box on the outside and an image of the couple on the next page. This is kind of the best of both worlds—each reader gets the kind of cover image he/she prefers—but makes for an expensive book in production. It has two covers, and the second one (the step-back) has to be tipped into the finished book by hand. Step-back covers are also more inclined to be damaged in distribution, so they have a higher waste rate even when returned to the publisher for credit.
Here are Warner’s original covers for the mass market editions of The Rogue, The Scoundrel, and The Warrior:
When the rights to publish the books reverted to me, I wanted to have the heroes on the covers. I “met” Eithne O’Hanlon, a very talented illustrator, on Facebook and she offered to work on cover illustrations for me. This is when I learned that illustrators who create cover images for publishing houses don’t create the type. These are the covers that Eithne created for the books:
I LOVED these images, but wasn’t as happy with the type. Hmm. I had a talk with Kim Killion, who has a wonderful talent for type, and she expressed concern about the amount of space left for the type. After attending a conference and hearing about the selling power of man-chest, I decided to redo these covers. This is the next generation of covers for this series, created by Kim Killion:
By this point in time, Kim had created some lovely branding for Claire’s name, which is used consistently across the list. I loved the type on these and was happy with these covers. The magic selling power of man-chest didn’t happen for these books, though, and I think it’s because they’re not that sexy. Readers wanting a sexy read might not like the suspenseful Gothic medieval romance they get and readers wanting a suspenseful Gothic medieval romance wouldn’t expect it from these covers. So, we tweaked to make the covers better convey the books. Here are the new covers:
This also means that there are MORE print books in the sale bin in my online store.
What do you think?
It’s that time again! Today’s audiobook prize as part of XmasAudio’s month of daily audiobook prizes is…
The Rogue is the first book of my Rogues of Ravensmuir series of medieval Scottish romances, and our first introduction to the families at Ravensmuir and Kinfairlie. This audiobook is narrated by Ashley Klanac.
Booktalk with Eileen said this about the audiobook production:
“I was entirely enraptured with Claire Delacroix’s spellbinding gothic medieval romance between Merlyn and Ysabella. Ashley Klanac’s voice with its fiery portrayal of Ysabella sharpened the enjoyment of an already remarkable sensual story, taking me beyond myself and thrusting me into the castle of Ravensmuir with its secrets and dark, damp passages hidden within its walls and floor.
This is one of those stories which I shall happily read or listen to again. The descriptive detailed scenes, the conspiracy within, and eloquently phrased dialogue with wonderful dialect and thought put me in awe of the author and this production. She has entranced me.”
Read an interview with narrator Ashley Klanac.
The Rogue in audio is available at Amazon, Audible and Apple.
For your chance to win, add a comment to this post explaining why you like audiobooks – or why you’d like to try one. Only those who have not already won an audiobook from me this year are eligible to win. As always, if and when you win an audiobook, it’s lovely for you to leave a review. 🙂
There are four prizes, one for each of four days, so we’ll pick and post winners on Tuesday. There will be another audiobook giveaway posted then.
Good luck!
This digital bundle includes all of the urban fantasy romances in the Prometheus Project, which features fallen angel heroes and the women who love them in a dystopian future. Included in the bundle are Fallen, Guardian, Rebel and Abyss.
This boxed set is available only at iBooks and Kobo, and can be pre-ordered for December 29.
The digital edition of my medieval Scottish and gothic romance, The Rogue, which is book #1 in the Rogues of Ravensmuir trilogy, is free this weekend.
Remember that The Rogue is available in audio, too!
You can pick up your copy at these portals:
Deborah Cooke & Her Books 