I loved that Jimmy Thomas took the time to mock up a cover, and I appreciate all the comments and suggestions from everyone here and on Facebook. For two days I’ve been going cross-eyed playing with pixels and searching for photos, but here’s what I think I am going to go with…unless there are resounding NOOOOOOOOOOOO’s from everyone. I tried to keep the same color scheme as the print books so far as the tartans went and used symbols associated with each book. POL has the Cameron badge, BOR has a battle sword,(no blood, no roses) MH has the Farquharson dirk. I think. Being cross-eyed and playing with pixels leaves residual effects on the brainbox. *snort*
As far as the books themselves go, I have Pride of Lions edited and formatted. I’m a third of the way through Blood of Roses. So now the question is, do I release the first two, which are directly related, as soon as BOR is ready…. or do I wait until all three are formatted and finished? *sigh*
And you thought I just wanted advice on covers. Hah.
Marsha Canham's Blog 
These covers, I love. As for releases? Hey, that’s all on you. 😉 Are you going to do a new campaign? Trailers, etc.? Do you want to present them as a unified whole? (Can anyone say Box Set Promotion? lol) I think one and two should be available simultaneously because anyone who reads one will be NEEDING two with their next heartbeat.
Comment by Sandi — January 18, 2014 @ 8:53 pm |
Love them! Simple, but fantastic!
Comment by Jen Brown — January 18, 2014 @ 9:11 pm |
Beautiful and eye-catching! Well done, Marsha. These are covers truly worthy of the stories. As for the release dates…even though I have the original print copies on my keeper shelf, I am eager to get my hands, so to speak, on the e-books. But I do agree with Sandi. Once I start re-reading the first, I want to know that the second story is downloaded and waiting.
Comment by JILLMETCALF — January 18, 2014 @ 9:14 pm |
great covers……stop it…get the first two out make us buy all three now send out third when finish………….
Comment by michael dougherty — January 18, 2014 @ 10:04 pm |
I love these covers. I would rather get them all at once as I would surely forget about the later books coming out. Senior moments you know.
Comment by Margaret S — January 19, 2014 @ 1:27 am |
They are beautiful, although… I personally still like the others better. The green and red with the subtle tartan image on the background.
As for the release date.. I would at least release POL and BOR together; or the three books at the same time.
Comment by Glymagly — January 19, 2014 @ 2:07 am |
These are great!! Sometimes simple is best. 🙂
Comment by Glenda — January 19, 2014 @ 2:40 am |
As much as I thought I really liked the subtle tartan red and tartan green covers, I ABSOLUTELY love these three covers. They’re the same, yet different, but definitely say “series.” I’ve already got each of the original books on my library shelf, but will probably purchase these 3 as e-readers where they’ll be easily accessed since I have my e-reader and an iPad with my Kindle app. Both keep my books readily at hand. Looking forward to the re-release of these awesome books.
Comment by Kathy Raymes — January 19, 2014 @ 4:34 am |
I still like the other #1 better. There’s too much white in these covers. Have you ever looked at the mostly white thumbnail-sized book covers on Amazon when doing a search? They fade into the white background of the Amazon page.
Comment by Denise — January 19, 2014 @ 1:54 pm |
Denise, that was why I put a dark border around each cover and tried to keep the tartans on the bright side. I guess I’ll find out how they work in a couple of weeks. *s*
Sent from my iPad
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Comment by marshacanham — January 19, 2014 @ 2:22 pm |
Oh, yes, and for your other question: if the third book can be out soon thereafter (like three months later), I think it would be good to have Books 1 and 2 out at the same time beforehand. They would serve as their own promotions and feed into each other. Meanwhile you could announce #3 is on its way, which tells readers there is #1 and #2 available now.
Comment by Denise — January 19, 2014 @ 1:57 pm |
I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand. Did Jimmy design these for you? They are wonderful, and no offense to Jimmy (a very prolific cover model), but are much more impactful than a cover with a buff and beautiful cover model. If Jimmy designed these for you, I’m certainly impressed.
Comment by lewistonbaker — January 19, 2014 @ 6:15 pm |
Jimmy did the one mockup, as an example of what he thought they should look like. Everyone, including me, agreed with his concept but the final three covers were done by me.
Comment by marshacanham — January 19, 2014 @ 9:30 pm |
Well, I think they are wonderful! Congrats
Comment by lewistonbaker — January 19, 2014 @ 11:47 pm
Marsha, when I said I liked the other ones better, I was actually referring to the second ones, the ones where you removed the man and the woman and replaced them with the subtle tartan background and the badge, the sword, and the dirk on top.
These made me ‘Wow’! https://marshacanham.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/cover-choices-the-results-i-think/#comments
I agree with Denise… there is too much white on these and also they look too much like the original covers. Why would you want to have a cover that looks like the ones made by old ones? I, personally, would try to do something as different as possible to the originals by trying to put my own seal to my books. Remember that they are completely and totally yours now. This is ‘Part Two’ of these books. They are yours, make them different!
Comment by Glymagly — January 20, 2014 @ 2:39 pm |
But I *liked* the original covers and would have used them if they weren’t copyrighted. I also think the tartan against the stark white makes them show up better in thumbnail size, whereas the solid tartan background…which I also like, don’t get me wrong (after all, I did design them *s*)…is more difficult to distinguish from a bazillion other books with solid backgrounds. Put the two thumbnail versions side by side, which I did, and your eye goes straight to the tartan-on-white first. Place it with a group of other covers, which I also did, and again, the eye tends to go to the one that is *different*. There may be more white showing, but that’s why I put the dark borders around them. As for them being “part two”, in truth, this is “part three” for these books. The first editions of both had people on them, and Blood of Roses had a solid tartan background. Neither sold very well, they sort of got lost on the shelves with all the other books with clinches on the covers. When Dell reissued them, the editor asked me what I wanted on the cover, and I said: no clinches. A sword and a swath of tartan. And that’s what they gave me.
This time around, I want to do what I think is best for them, and that was why I posted the question to the readers and friends whether to go simple or to have a couple on the front. My very first mock ups were tartan on white but I couldn’t get the visual right, so I tried it with the sexy couple, then the combo of both, then the faded tartan. But as soon as I saw Jimmy’s version, I liked it and knew it was the way I wanted to go. If I am copying anything, it’s Jimmy’s idea, which he was generous enough and took time enough to make a mock-up and show me…kinda like giving me a boff upside the head LOL.
If you look at all the responses, the majority are in favor of the tartan on white, and I am quite happy to agree with them. It doesn’t mean I’m going to throw out the solid tartan versions. I’ll keep them close at hand…just in case *S*
http://www.marshacanham.com visit my website Caesars Through the Fence, my pithy blog find me on Twitter @marshacanham
Comment by marshacanham — January 20, 2014 @ 4:17 pm |
Got it! 🙂
Comment by Glymagly — January 20, 2014 @ 4:28 pm |
I think the final choices are outstanding and very well done. I will also cheerfully wait until all three become available. I guess I figure if you release the first two together the people who are eager can have them right away and then grab the third when it happens, but I will wait for the “box set” of all three. That’s what I did with your the Pirate Wolf Series that was becoming a trilogy and had upcoming trilogy packaging. I really like having a whole ebook series ready to go whenever possible. Thanks so much for doing this, I’m so excited you now have rights to all of your books and I can finalize my Canham ebook collection!
Comment by quinn — January 28, 2014 @ 6:25 pm |