Calling Me Home gets a new face

By Julie

You may remember my post from six weeks or so ago about seeing the U.S. cover of for the first time. But I bet you never expected another post about seeing my U.S. cover for the first time, did you?

I found out a few weeks ago that my publisher decided to go a different direction with the cover art, and at first I was fairly stunned. Even when it takes a few minutes to decide you love something, it eventually wiggles into your heart and brain. It becomes the book, in a way. When you learn the cover is going to change -- quite dramatically, in fact -- it's kind of like discovering that your baby, the one you thought had brown hair and cornflower blue eyes, is really a blonde with eyes the color of coffee.

I needed a few minutes to adjust. And then I remembered that it's packaging. And that the packaging may change several more times over the course of the book's life -- as it moves from hardcover to trade paperback eventually, then (crossing fingers) to mass-market paperback, and even (crossing everything) to a movie tie-in edition.

And I also remembered that, in the end, even if the packaging looks a little or a lot different on the outside, the story is still the story. And holding to that truth, I trusted the folks in the marketing and sales departments to know what will draw people in and what will allow the story to sell the very best it can.

I took a deep breath, and then took my first peek … again. And soon, I was sure I'd love the new cover at least as much as the old one, if for different reasons.

I will miss my pretty little gold and silver leaves. I love metaphor and loved all the symbolism and resonance in the original art. And so I say, R.I.P. Dear Old Cover.

I also love a cover that tells a story, and the new art tells my story! I think you will love it, too.

It's making its way onto the various sites little by little, day by day, but I wanted you guys to be some of the first to see it.

What do you think?