I’ve been working on the Kickstarter campaign of the Dragon Diaries YA series in the upcoming hardcover omnibus edition and finalizing the files for the book itself. The printer I’m using for these books has just launched some new features, so I’ve been deciding which to include (most of them LOL) to make this book even prettier. Let’s have a look.

First of all, the book is enormous, coming in at 780 pages. It’ll probably be fatter than it looks in the digital mock-up above. The printer has added the option of having foil on the case laminate and the dust jacket, which was what I’d been hoping would happen. The designer and I were ready for this one, so there will be gold foil on both (Yay!) On the dust jacket, the gold foil will be highlights, while all of the gold imagery on the case laminate will be in foil.

One of the fun additions is colour on the interior pages of the book. (The paper will be cream.) There will be a full colour page for me to sign each book right at the beginning. It’ll look like the image at the right and I’ll sign it with a metallic ink pen.

This edition will also include the images of Zoë on the original paperbacks, created by Juliana Kolesova. That’s the one from Winging It in the orange banner. I’ve also licensed some dragon drawings, that will look as if they’ve come from Zoë’s own sketchbook and am creating pages that will print in colour and look as if they’re from Zoë’s bulletin board. I’m enjoying the process of designing this book interior and will show you those next week.

The printer has also added the option of printed end papers, so I went back to the designer for that addition. Ours will be scales. And they’ve added the option of a coloured binding at the top and bottom of the pages at the spine, as well as a ribbon bookmark. We’ll have both.

I’ve ordered a sample copy of the book so we can all have a look at it.

The designer has also laid out a bookmark for the omnibus, which will have gold foil when it’s printed. I’m going to add a gold tassel to each one. This is a digital mock-up but it gives you an idea – the bookmark is big, about half the width of the book page and just a little shorter.

I also received the character illustrations from the artist Jaka Prawira – showing Zoë, Nick, Garrett and Liam in both their human and dragon forms – and have decided to print them as postcards available in the campaign as well as including them in the book. You can see them once the campaign launches.

I do have a few sets of the original NAL trade paperbacks left and will include them in the campaign, and the Dragonfire Novels in either the hardcover omnibus editions from last year or a set of eleven hardcovers of the individual books will also be available.

The books will be printed in the UK, then shipped to Canada for me to sign and send to backers. The art is all created by human artists, with no AI-generated art in the campaign at all.

These new editions will be available at Kickstarter, then later in my online store. They won’t be available at retailers, and you’ll only be sure to get the bonus goodies (the bookmark and postcards) if you order your copy at Kickstarter.

There will also be a plainer version of the book – same cover and dust jacket imagery but no foil, and no colour illustrations inside or printed end papers – that will be available drop-shipped during the campaign and at retailers in the fall. This one can be printed in the US, the UK, AU or EU – the printer will use their closest facility, which will save on shipping costs.

I’ll show you both sample books when they arrive.

Follow the Kickstarter campaign for the Dragon Diaries omnibus here.