swan_tower | new faces for old books

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new faces for old books

I got cover flats for the re-issues of Doppelganger and Warrior and Witch yesterday, and in looking today, I see that Amazon has them listed. So if you've been curious about them, they've been recast as Warrior and Witch -- not the most original retitling ever, but man, I tried and failed to come up with anything better. At least this way it's easy to tell the books go together, both in terms of titling and covers. (And no, they didn't just flip the picture over for the new cover, though obviously it is meant to be extremely simliar. It is a new picture.)

So yeah. August street date for those, both at the same time, so anybody who finds me via Midnight Never Come will easily be able to lay their hands on other stuff I've written. I have no idea if the old versions will get pulled when that happens, of if they'll coexist for a little while on the shelves. At least they've printed on the backs of both that they're reissues of old titles, so people won't feel like we're trying to pull a fast one on them; also, they've made the sequel's cover copy a little bit less spoilericious. Not completely so, but I'm not sure it's possible to write useful cover copy for it that won't have any spoilers.

It'll be neat to see myself suddenly jump up to a more substantial shelf presence, with three books out there at once. I don't know what quantities they'll be shipping of any of them, but it should be pretty good.

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The new covers are beautiful!

Apparently Warrior and Witch is threatening to break the rule about sequels not selling as well as first books, and all my publisher can figure is that it has a much better cover. So they redesigned that one a bit, and totally redid Doppelganger.

What I like the most?

No butt shots on either cover. :)

<lol> Indeed. I much prefer the arresting effect you get from the figure looking straight at you.

They look good! But...which one is which? :p

<g> That was part of the Great Re-Titling Debate. I pushed for Warrior and then Witch because I think the first book has much more to do with Hunter business, and the second much more to do with the witches. This does lead to the oddity that the picture with the sword is on the book called Witch (and don't ask me what that staff is supposed to be), but hey -- maybe curiousity about that will get somebody to pick the books up.

Or so I can hope.

Also, I pushed for and got the triple knot on the spines of both books, with a number showing which order they go in. So they're easier to sort out now.

That makes sense! lol Thanks for clearing that up for me. And the numbers on the spine will help too. I mean, when my boyfriend first bought me one of your books for Christmas, (and also since there was only Warrior and Witch in the store at the time), I read the books out of order. *blush* lol

But once I got smart and looked up your name online, I actually found out that Doppelganger came before W&W. ...I was wondering why I couldn't really understand anything while reading W&W. LOL

Guess that means I'll have to pick up both books when they come out. That way I'll have both versions. :D

A lot of people seem to have done that; the miracle is that anybody becomes a fan of mine, going that route. I mean, you went and read the first book despite not understanding the second one! And you're not the only one.

Well, at first and for a little while, I didn't understand. But after a while, everything fell together, it made sense in my head and clicked. I'm not trying to be some scary fan sort, but when I was explaining the book to my teacher (in order to get credit for it) I went on and on explaining every little detail and thing. The two books are either my favorite and close to my favorite books, once again, not trying to suck up or being some scary fan stalker. :p lol

Oh, my thought isn't "omg scary fan stalker," but rather "uh, I can do way better." <g>

Of course, a reader's fondness for a book has to do with many factors besides its quality. I'm sure Midnight Never Come is a better book, but it won't necessarily be the kind of thing all my readers are looking for; to use an example not me, I think Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is a better-constructed book than Snow Crash, but I'll never like it a tenth as much, because it doesn't have a tenth the psychotic energy Snow Crash does.

And heck, I read Daniel Keys Moran's Continuing Time books in reverse order, and that one worked out. Those are less closely connected than my two are, but it still illustrates the point.

You're just being modest. :p The fact that you were even able to get them published and asked for a reprint should make you feel better about them, though not saying you hate them, just view them in a better light. :)

No, I'm looking at those books with the perspective of time passed. I wrote Doppelganger literally YEARS (and six other novels) ago. And while W&W is more recent, I was still having to work within the conceptual constraints I set up in the first book. I don't think they're bad, but I also know I can do -- and have done -- better.

This is a good thing. If I weren't improving, I'd have a problem.

Obvoiusly, the second book is absolutely brilliant :)

I'm flattered that people think so.

Wow!! Those new covers are awesome!! I shall have to buy them they are so pretty. :)

Thanks for sharing your experiences about being a published author. It is very fun.

I'm curious to see how many people who already bought the books before will re-buy them, just out of enthusiasm or a liking for the new covers.

I like the new cover! Congrats! *g*

Thanks!

Are these the ones coming with the UK reprint? *Woots*

I'm actually not positive if there will be a specific UK release of these. I should look into that.

Yay - I have your original covers before they get dumped...yay! :-) Thank you, Borders and eBay...

Have a lovely day! :-)

<g> I can hope that someday they will have value as collector's items.

hmmmmm....so now I get to go buy them again??? *grin* works for me.

If you think of it in terms of "get to," then be my guest. ^_^

Pretty cool repackaging!

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing those hit the shelves.

I find it both cool and annoying that they're getting retitled/recovered. Mainly it's just cool that they've sold well enough to warrant being reprinted. The new titles make much more sense as a series. I both like and dislike the new covers. I like them because I always thought the Warrior & Witch cover was muuuuuucccchhh better than the Doppleganger cover, so it's cool that they're based on that. I dislike them because I think they're a little too similar, same face just holding a different thing in her hands, and backgroundish colors/printing are a different color. Too similar for my tastes but that's a personal preferance so eh.
I find it annoying because I think ultimately I still like the new covers better, and I would espeically like to replace doppleganger with the new cover but, since the names are changed, I couldn't just replace one I'd have to replace both, and it seems stupid to have two copies of the same books, and I've also got a personal thing that I prefer to have original copies of books instead of reprints (I feel it gives me old school cred), not to mention that you've already signed my current copies so I'd have to walk the whole hundred feet over to your apartment to have you sign the new ones. (run on sentences for the win!)

Besides I still think you should write a book about two hetero-lifemate, psychic, FBI agents. ;)

Tony
(Yes I do read livejournal from time to time, bum bum buuummmmmm.)

I think that pretty much sums up the situation for most of the people who bought the books initially.

As for the FBI agents, dude, they're going to have to get in line behind the other 27 books I want to write. (And the sad thing is, that's an accurate number, not one grabbed for the sake of hyperbole.)

Woot for the new covers! (I am so behind the times). I like the retitling, even if I am sad to see Doppelganger go away. I have such a strong recollection of sitting in Gryffindor tower at Hogwarts in Carrickmacross, talking with you about Doppelgangers as you midwifed the first book.

Sniff.

goes off to cry.

Uh. That was me. I have no idea why it anonymoused me.

I'm not wild about the retitling, but it was the best we could come up with. And I'm at least okay with it.

I wish we could have kept the first title, too, but I'm getting the impression my editor was never all that pleased with cramming a twelve-letter German word onto the cover.

(And btw, before I saw the second comment ID'ing you, I was highly amused to see the Gryffindor Tower reference, since it narrowed the list of possible commentators down rather sharply. <g>)

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