Before
and
After:
Have
a look
at the
changes to
changes to
Witchlanders’ cover!
Emails flew back and forth last week between my editor, my agent and myself about this small but important addition to my cover. Did I like it? At first I wasn’t sure. I was used to the gorgeous original, but agreed wholeheartedly that the cover without the sword was more suggestive of a paranormal, maybe even a paranormal romance, than the sword-swinging high fantasy that it is. Because we have a girl on the cover and my protagonists are boys, the fear that, beautiful as the cover was, we weren’t appealing to our target audience was a real one.
Now that I’ve lived with it for a few days (and after a few title-sizing tweaks were made at the suggestion of my agent) I can’t imagine the cover without the sword. I think it makes it much more dynamic and, as my friend Erin Thomas put it, adds jeopardy.
I hope you like it too!
11 Comments
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About Me
Hi! I'm Lena, a young adult fantasy author from Toronto.
Great cover! I am looking forward to reading your novel.
Wow! Thanks Denise!
I like it! The title stands out a bit more to me now and I love how it’s underscored by the sword. I think the addition of the sword does add visual clarification to the genre.
I loved the original cover, but I think the little tweak with the sword makes it just a bit more eye-catching and definitely lends to more fantasy than paranormal. I can’t wait to read it!
Loved it before, love it even more now. Sword makes the red scarf look like blood, and suggests the book is cutting edge.
It looks great! I really like it. Congrats!
Yay! I’m happy that you like the sword cover now. 🙂 Can’t wait to see the book for real!
I’m SO glad people seem to be coming down pro-sword. It really does give the reader more information about the book they’re picking up. I’m also delighted to read some of the things you’re all seeing, some of which I hadn’t noticed or hadn’t seen in the same way–that the sword acts as an underscore, that it makes the scarf suggest blood, and that it makes the whole cover more eye-catching. Yay!
I love it! The original was great, but the sword makes it even better. Definitely eye-catching! Have I mentioned how excited I am to read this book? 🙂
Seeing them side by side like this, no question – the sword has it!
Thanks all! It means a lot to me that you like the sword and want to read it!