New Cover Sneak Peek
You lovely people who subscribe to my blog are the first to see this — the cover for my new book that the Berkley Art Department designed for me. Isn’t it lovely? I’m thrilled. Covers are hugely important in an author’s career. I know we were all brought up with the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” but alas, it’s not true. People buy books all the time because the cover or the title appeal to them, and reject books if the cover puts them off. I’ve had experience of that — to my cost. My career was almost ruined by a dreary cover — one I hated, but could not get changed. So wherever I get a lovely cover, I’m endlessly grateful.
This book follows on from The Scoundrel’s Daughter, and is also set in one of the houses surrounding the beautiful Bellaire Gardens. It’s about two sisters who have just come to London. In fact, they’re half-sisters, but very close. The heroine of this book is Isobel (Izzy), who is illegitimate. (Her sister’s book comes next.)
Izzy’s father and maternal uncle wanted nothing to do with an illegitimate child orphaned before she was nine, and Izzy was destined for the nearest orphan asylum. But Clarissa, her lonely little half-sister was having none of that. Next week I’ll post a snippet from the start of the book, showing how, almost ten years before, the two little girls met.
In the meantime, feast your eyes on this gorrrrgeous cover. What do you think of it? The summerhouse in the background isn’t exactly how I described it, but it plays quite a big role in this story and I’m delighted it made it onto the cover. And I know you can’t really see Izzy’s face, but I like that. Whenever I read (or write) a book, I get images in my mind of what the main characters look like, and the people on the front cover almost never look how I have imagined them.
I think it’s lovely! And the summer house is more the way I pictured it, I think, from your description. I can’t wait for this one. I don’t remember seeing any dreary covers on any of your books though and I went back after your Perfect series and bought your early ones and trust me, they’re first printing early ones so original covers!
Thanks, Theo, I love it too. The dreariest cover I have is the one for To Catch a Bride. The cover is yellowy-brown with a bunch of flowers in the middle. IMO it’s completely generic and shows nothing about the story. It has sold the worst of all my books, and yet it was listed in Library Journal’s (USA) Best Books of 2009 and was an ARRA Awards Finalist (Australian Romance Readers Association)
When I read this last night, I immediately dropped everything to look at To Catch a Bride. Wow, that is beige and generic! The best I can say is it somehow reflects the sands of the Egyptian desert? On a positive note, I got sucked in by the first two chapters in the online resource I consulted and ended up checking out an electronic copy from our library and reading it in one day! That is a great story. I am feeling a bit guilty, since I won a copy of the Scoundrel’s Daughter from you, but don’t worry –… Read more »
To Catch a Bride really does have a very boring cover, doesn’t it, Robin? I think they were desperate NOT to have any hint of Egypt on it. I argued against the bunch of flowers and when my editor wouldn’t budge on it I asked could the central flower at least be a lotus. Her response was that the art dept didn’t know what a lotus flower looked like — which I don’t at all believe! Oh well . . . water under the fridge now . . . ;) Glad you like the start of the book, and thank… Read more »
I love the cover and I agree with you about faces on a cover and covers in general. Now I need to find “To Catch a Bride.” P.S. Your books are ones I re-read knowing I am in for a lovely time.
Thanks so much,, Melissa. And if you find To Catch a Bride I hope you enjoy it. I had fun writing it.