Before and After
Most of my books have retained the same cover as they moved from hardcover to paperback. Two– The Masque of the Black Tulip and The Betrayal of the Blood Lily— have undergone dramatic transformations.
For fun, here are the before and after pictures:
The Masque of the Black Tulip (2005, 2006):
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily (2010, 2011):
I have to admit, I rather like having two different images for hardcover and paperback. Do you prefer different covers for different formats, or the same cover for both?
I’m not really sure. I guess change is good, but I will admit I like having the same cover for both. However, each version is beautifully done.
I agree with Carole. I like the original covers with the exception of the Masque of the Black Tulip, considering when I found your series this one was already in paperback 🙂
For me, I like having the painting covers for paperback since I’m a paperback girl, but for hardcovers, more is less and the simple covers work best! But that’s just my opinion.
Still I like the different cover designs. Doesn’t it make you feel special?
I am so used to the ‘original’ style that the pb cover for Blood Lily caught me a little off guard – but it is very nice! The only thing I don’t like about when they change covers is if I haven’t been paying attention, I think that somehow there is a magical NEW novel that I missed hearing and then am somewhat disappointed to find out it’s not 🙂 But I’d rather re-read one of your novels than most others I’ve read lately!
I have to agree with Jery. The new cover for Blood Lily caught me off guard, however nice it is, and I do have to admit that I love an original. It is my one weakness.
Different covers for different formats is cool, but I’ll say it again–I like my books to match… I suppose as long as they’re all the same size and similarly floral they all still look lovely together 😀
It drives me a little nutty when I am building a series collection and the covers don’t match in style or theme…and I buy paperbacks almost exclusively, so after Emerald Ring, the cover style changed, and now after just Crimson Rose and Night Jasmine, it’s going and changing again. The OCD part of me is a little miffed. The covers are all lovely, and the paperback Black Tulip is my favorite of all, but the style of Blood Lily makes me think this should be shelved in the torrid romances section, not the historical-fiction–about-spies-with-some-romance-in-it section.
Agreed. i love the original covers. i even thing Blood lily was a bit out there because it was so bright and colorful compared to the others. It just did not have that historical fiction look to it the others did. Plus her outfit wasnt even close to time period and i hate that. when i look at the cover i want to see the characters, not some girl with the wrong dress and hair color. just a pet peeve of mine. I like the paperbacks being the same. But i buy mostly the hardbound.
I vote same covers for both paperback and hardcover. Only because having the two different covers makes me want to have both!
I would vote for the same covers on both, and I really, really, really like the style of the covers of Crimson Rose, Night Jasmine, and Blood Lily as they are on the hardback editions.
I like historical accuracy; and, if the entire figure of the woman is visible, you have the complicated issue of whether the costume-period is correct. But with only the head & shoulders visible, the person searching historical paintings for a good match to the main character doesn’t need to deal with costume – only the apparent personality of the woman in the portrait. With the covers of Crimson Rose, Night Jasmine, and Blood Lily, I really felt as if the women in those portraits could have been Mary, Charlotte, and Penelope.
I really can’t see why they would go to all the trouble of changing the cover, only to be less historically accurate. And I can’t see Pen, the rebel, in that picture … Pen being contemplative!?!?!
I don’t really care if the hardcover and paperback have the same cover – I will either collect one or the other – but I agree with some of the previous comments that I would like all of the covers to match. When I buy a series (whether books or DVD box sets), I want them to look like a set on my shelf.
I also agree with comment that the paperback Blood Lily cover looks like it belongs in the strictly romance section, rather than literature. In all honesty, had I not read/owned the previous books in the series and saw just the paperback Blood Lily in the store, I wouldn’t even pick it up. It just looks like not my type of book.
I think I’m kind of agreeing with most of the other comments – although I do like both types of covers, I also REALLY like it when all of the books in a series match when I put them on a shelf. And I think the paperback Blood Lily cover looks nice, but I agree that it looks like it belongs in the romance section and I definitely prefer all the others!
I have to say that the new cover fits better with your UK version than the US paperbacks. It’s not bad I just like the previous stylization of the books