Greetings, Champions! I’ve been busy working on the still unnamed Red Rope of Fate sequel. I’m in the editing stage, so everything is looking good for that mid to late July release.
But I have some fun news! With the launch of the sequel, both books will be getting illustrated covers. This was a tough decision. I like the current Red Rope of Fate cover a lot, but in the end it had to be a marketing decision. The current cover is more of a fairy tale style, and I’d like to make it a bit more clear that Red Rope is more of a fantasy-romance story.
So I asked Nibleart–my illustrator for my Second Age of Retha series–to create the covers! (I felt so bad for him though, because Solus from Second Age of Retha and Arion are the only two male protagonists in all my books who have the dark hair/blue eyes combo and wear armor! So this was a testament to his styling skills.)
But, without further ado…here is the new cover for Red Rope of Fate!
In addition to the character art, I have to say he really NAILED the background. I asked him to put them inside a castle since they spend the whole book in Haven, and wowza did Nibleart deliver! (Also, Tari’s dress brings me such joy since it’s very reminiscent of her practice uniform. Loveitloveitloveit!)
He’s still working on the cover for the sequel, but it is in a similar style. I can’t wait to show you all the final product, though! This cover will be going up this weekend, so if the photo covers are more your style, you might want to snag this book now.
That’s all for today, Champions. Stay tuned later this week, though, as I have an exciting announcement I’ll soon be sharing!
OHMYGOSH, JUST SAW THE COVER FULL SIZE ON MY LAPTOP SCREEN!!!!! ITS EVEN MORE GORGEOUS THAN WHEN ON MY PHONE!!!!!!!!!
Ok, sorry, that was unnecessary…no, actually, that was completely warranted 😉
Thank you so much, Kitty!
This cover is unbelievable! I love illustrated covers a lot more than photo covers, because the artist gets to decide how the characters portrayed look like rather than deal with a model. 😀
I love the new cover! It shows – or suggests – so much more about the characters and the story world. It feels much more specific to the story world.
Yes, I do like how much easier it is to portray the characters through illustrations! And Nibelart I feel does an especially good job at my covers because he’s read the books he illustrates–which really takes the covers up a notch since he has “seen” the characters so to speak.
I absolute love the cover, and it so could double as a Second Age of Retha cover. 😍🤗
And since you brought it up… do you have more information on when The Revived will come out?
P.S. have you thought about doing a small competition allowing fans to pitch in title ideas for the Red Rope of Fate sequel?
I was thinking about that, too! I will gladly sign away all rights to suggestions in exchange for participation! Not to mention a title-idea-brainstorm in the comments would be SO much fun!
Part of the reason why this title is so tricky for me is because of all the marketing considerations that work into the process as well–which is about as fun as it sounds–so I’m not very likely to ever hold a contest to name a book.
HOWEVER!! Sometime in July or August I’m going to hold a contest to give readers a chance to name a couple of Second Age of Retha characters! 🙂 (That’s a lot easier to work in, particularly because I can give short descriptions of the characters and let you guys run with it.)
What kinds of marketing things do you have to consider?
Eeeee!!! That sounds like so much fun! I cam hardly wait!
I’m a cover buyer. I do judge a book by its cover and if I don’t like the cover I often don’t even read the blurb to find out what it’s about. This cover stopped me dead in my tracks. I was a little disappointed that I had already read it! LOL! It made me want to read it again! I loved the book the first time through. I do want to read it again though, before reading the next book coming out!
Oohhh I’m glad you liked it that much! 😀 Hopefully you’ll enjoy the cover for the sequel, too! (The illustrator is working on it right now–it’s going to be beautiful!!)
Love the new cover, and very much looking forward to the sequel.
What could the new announcement be about? Does it have something to with the Second Age of Retha books 3 and 4, or the Timeless Fairy Tales Snow White book? Hmmm. I love it when you announce the release of books I’ve been waiting for. 🙂 (which is pretty much all of them you release.) 😉
The official annoucement is going up tomorrow, but I’ll give you a bit of a sneak peak: All July and most of August I’m holding a Summer Reading Program! There’s lots of facets to it–including book recommendations and giveaways–but what I think everyone will be most excited about is that I’m giving away a novella for free! 😉
EEEEEEEEEE!!!! Free novella!!!!!
The new cover for Red Rope of Fate is gorgeous! Being my all time favourite book I am so glad that it got a beautiful illustrated cover to match. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out. Thank you for all of the amazing book you write and your dedication to your readers.
Awww, thanks Abigael! 😀 I hope you enjoy the sequel! The same illustrator is working on the cover art for that one as well so it’s going to be so beautiful!