Posts Tagged ‘book covers’

One of the best/most nervewracking things about publishing is the big cover gamble. 

I’ve been incredibly fortunate with Harper, who took the time to ask me my thoughts about the original cover and made sure to get it right. 

The paperback is in the capable hands of Harper Perennial, which is known for their paperback editions of new and young fiction and non-fiction authors and their nail-it-every-dang-time editions of classic novels (including some that are featured in The Heroine’s Bookshelf). 

When my editor told me the paperback division wanted to take a stab at a new cover, I sucked in a deep breath.  But I love the first cover!  Uncertainty!  Strife!  But when the cover you see here was presented to me, I was overcome by not just relief, but a giddy feeling.  The paperback cover feels fresh, thrilling, and plenty booky.  Bonus:  it has gorgeous fonts AND a blurb from the fascinating and wonderful Wendy McClure, whose The Wilder Life is a can’t-miss for Laura Ingalls Wilder fans and those who want to know more about the Little House books. 

So…here it is! I hope you like it.  And I hope you’ll be around on November 15 to celebrate the paperback release. 

Click to enlarge.

Sometimes Google Alerts brings the most tantalizing surprises.

Example:  News that my book was featured on both Vogue Italia (as “Obsession of the Day” – I’ve linked to the English version) and Elle Italy‘s websites and that La biblioteca delle donne, the Italian translation of The Heroine’s Bookshelf, was released by Orme in Italy and timed to coincide with International Women’s Day!

It was the first news I’d had of the Italian edition since the rights sold and my first glimpse of the awesome cover (click to enlarge), so you can imagine my excitement.

Those who know me well know that I’ve had a long-term obsession with fashion magazines…for better or for worse.  Suffice it to say that I am gushing, swooning, dying of fabulousness.  Dying.

Speak Italian?  Ready to be tickled by phrases like “la Blakemore” and “Da Rossella O’Hara”?  Here ya go:

• Fascinating slideshow on Elle Italy’s site, which features other books about women.  Great cover art, if I do say so myself.
• La Goccia
• Donna Moderna
• The first pages of the book in Italian [pdf, per 10 Righe dai libri]
• Tutto Libri’s women’s edition (scroll to page 3):

Tuttolibri n. 1755 (05-03-2011)

Ah, Jane Eyre. You have sucked up innumerable hours of my time and God knows what kind of space in my head and heart over the years.  And your covers always tend to feature bland, bleak, gray-clad governesses who don’t really point to an appealing book within.  In honor of Charlotte Brontë’s timeless classic (and as a way of announcing my intention to play along with the Brontëalong over at An Accomplished Young Lady), here are some Jane Eyre covers that won’t bore you to death (click to enlarge!):

From left to right, top to bottom:

1)  Perhaps my favorite modern-day cover, Megan Wilson‘s silhouette for the Vintage edition;
2)  White’s Books’ gorgeous, somehow-still-moody floral take;
3)  Dame Darcy takes on an illustrated Jane Eyre for Penguin;
4)  The edition I first encountered in the library at Blessed Sacrament Parish in San Diego…Fritz Eichenberg’s incredibly illustrated box set from the 1940s;
5)  A pulp fiction fake take on J.E. that made me giggle;
6)  A gorgeous 1950 cover by Grau Sala via Jane Eyre Illustrated, your source for even more gorgeous Jane Eyre covers, dust jackets, and illustrations through the years.