Spanish and Catalan Covers!

I'm excited today to be able to reveal two more foreign publisher covers for The False Prince!

This first cover is for the Spanish version, titled El falso príncipe. The publisher is Alfaguara, and should be available on May 23, 2012! The Goodreads link is here, or you can see just the cover below.

The second cover is for the Catalán version (Catalán is a language spoken in regions of France, Italy, and Spain, and is the official language of the country of Andorra, a small country bordered by Spain and France - thank you Wikipedia!), and I think this is released in the same week as the Spanish version. I don't have a Goodreads link, but did find this article here talking about it. This cover sort of blends the original US with the Spanish version. 

If you have Spanish or Catalán speaking friends, please feel feel free to share with them this link! It all works toward my secret (well, admittedly, less secret now) master plan to sell well enough that a trip overseas becomes mandatory!

The UK Cover is Here

I love to see what publishers abroad do with book covers that are meant to appeal to their readers. So this is the cover for Scholastic UK, where this paperback version of THE FALSE PRINCE will officially launch on June 7, 2012.

I love the way this cover plays with light and shadow, and I think so much of the story is perfectly communicated in the artwork.

If you want to see the Amazon UK description of the book (same as the U.S. version except for one added line), click here. Or if your best reading buddy lives somewhere in the UK, feel free to share the link with them through this tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/7heldao

I'll share other covers when I get them! Until then, enjoy!

INFINITY RING Cover Reveal

I am very excited to present the cover for Book 1 of THE INFINITY RING: A MUTINY IN TIME. This book, written by James Dashner, will be released on August 28, 2012. I've read it, and it's fantastic!

BUT....Blogger is being a pest for me today and nothing I try can get me to upload an image. So you can visit here at Goodreads.

But it only gets better. Because it's not only James' twisted and brilliant mind at work. Subsequent books will be written by Carrie Ryan, Lisa McMann, Matt De LaPena, Matthew Kirby, and in some amazing bit of luck, I'll be writing book 6 (my fingers are itching to start on it, by the way - it's going to be an exciting adventure). Then James returns for book 7 to wrap things up in the way only he can.

The PW announcement is here, and you can see it on Amazon here. Here's a description of the series:

History is broken, and three kids must travel back in time to set it right!

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel -- a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring -- they're swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course.

Now it's up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak's missing parents while they're at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny!

I'm telling you right now, if you have middle grade readers, they will love it. Just trust me. And you may as well go pre-order the book right now. Just sayin'...

BIg Announcement 1!

Big Announcement 2 is coming soon, I promise. And I'm not sure which news is the best or most exciting. So Announcement 1 and Announcement 2 aren't in any particular order; it just makes sense chronologically.

FINALLY, I can publicly announce the cover for THE FALSE PRINCE, to be released in April 2012 with Scholastic. It was done by the very impressive Tim O'Brien (who also did the cover art for Hunger Games - squee!).

For me, I love this. Love it. I'm considering having the design printed onto linen so I can wrap myself up in it to sleep (Just kidding - but no, not really kidding at all). My thanks to the many people at Scholastic who put so much time and heart into the development and direction of this cover.

Here is the story description:

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

Big announcement 2 will come tomorrow. Unless I get too eager and post it tonight!

The Twilight/Wuthering Heights Cover

Just a little p.s. on book covers...


Maybe you've already seen the new cover for Emily Bronte's star-crossed lovers story of Wuthering Heights. Published in 1847, let's just say it's not still on the top 10 list. Here is an old cover. Several exist, but here is one I grabbed. Not likely to get that many teens picking it up, right?

Now check out the new cover.

If you've paid any attention to book covers lately, you might notice it has a certain similarity to a wildly popular series about two star-crossed lovers,

Bella and Edward. Yep, here's the Twilight cover. Look also at the little star on the Wuthering Heights cover. If you can't read it, it's just a reminder

that it's Bella and Edward's favorite book.

I'll be very interested to see how this affects sales.

Movie Posters and Book Covers

Okay, I know there are differences between movie posters and book covers, primarily because the mediums are different. However, I think they have more in common than not. Both are intended to garner audience interest off a quick visual. Both have to rely on that one image to convey enough story, theme, and tone to let a reader/watcher know if this is for them. And both have to decide what the balance will be between images and words. Sometimes the actor’s name – or the author’s name – is big enough to sell the book or movie. Sometimes not.

So I was very interested to see this list of 100 best movie posters of all time. It’s a subjective list, obviously. But what drew my attention is the T.C. Candler’s explanations of why a certain poster worked for him. I think there are some great lessons to be learned for

book cover designs.

Lord of War. Nicolas Cage’s expression here is a brilliant capture of his character of Yuri Olov. Contrast the effectiveness of this cover with another one that was released. The second one is fine, but lacks the drama of the first.Some of my favorites.

Shawshank Redemption. A little bias here because this happens to be one of favorite movies of all time. But I guarantee this poster would make me see the movie, and if it were a book cover, I’d be in the checkout line with it already.

Rosemary’s Baby. I’m with Candler. Baby carriages in sillouette are just freaky. And how terrific is that creepy green light?

Minority Report. That eye…is watching…me.

Star Wars: Episode 1. Okay, so everyone was going to go see this movie whether there was a poster or not. But while the movie was disappointing, the poster does its job well. Even if I were from another universe and had never heard of Star Wars, I’d want to find out more.

And for fun, if you’re interested, here is someone’s list of the ten worst movie posters of all time.