Finding the Right Cover

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here, today writing as Kathy and following up on my last blog about revising Firebrand, a 1993 historical romance, into historical fiction (tentatively titled Treacherous Visions). The manuscript is now “resting” for at least a month, after which I will do at least one more revision before publishing it in trade paperback format. It is currently 78,514 words in length, down from the 90,628 I started with. The original novel was even longer than that, since I did some judicious cutting when I reissued it as an e-book back in 2005.

It’s at this point that I need to consider cover art. When rights to a piece of writing are returned to the author, that’s all she gets back. The cover art is not included. In this case, that’s just as well. Firebrand had three covers, one for the U.S., one for the U.K., and one for the German edition. None of them were an accurate representation of the book’s content then and they certainly aren’t now. Here’s the original U.S. cover:

And the one from the U.K:

And the German version:

And, oh yes, the cover on the e-book currently available:

So what kind of cover do I want for Treacherous Visions?

The story is set in the 1630s. It starts in London but moves to Colonial New England for most of the action. Everything was wilderness back then, but what is now the State of Maine was even more so. The artwork on the back cover of Firebrand came closest to representing my characters’ Pilgrim neighbors, but again, I can’t use this artwork

Shalla, a novel I wrote for young readers age 8-12 and self-published a couple of years ago, is also set in Colonial New England. In an early incarnation, I created a cover using part of a painting in the public domain, but when it came out as a paperback, I hired someone to design a cover. I’m quite pleased with it, but I don’t want to duplicate it for Treacherous Visions. Here’s my version:

And the one I now use:

At the same time I’ve been working on revising this novel, I’ve also been proofreading and formatting the first book in my Face Down Mystery Series, Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie. It should be available very soon in a trade paperback edition, the first print edition since the original hardcover and mass market paperback editions went out of print. The other books in the series will follow. The titles, all starting with the words Face Down, let readers know they are connected, but I also wanted the covers to convey a common theme. Since the books are set in Elizabethan England, I’m using maps published in the sixteenth century—they’ll show the county or city in which that particular mystery takes place. Here’s the first one, designed using Canva by my clever husband.

I’m tempted to use a map background for Treacherous Visions, too, since setting is so important to the story. I have a wonderful 1570 map of the area showing the old place names. Norumbega was the one given to New England and is also the name of the legendary lost city my heroine’s love interest is trying to find.

What do you think? Would this map work as cover art for historical fiction with a hint of the paranormal? Or would it just confuse readers into thinking this novel is part of the Face Down series? Comments and alternate suggestions are very welcome.

 

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new omnibus e-book editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.