U.S. Cover Proof for ECHO

Diana just posted on her blog a picture of the proposed cover art for the U.S. edition of AN ECHO IN THE BONE. I would strongly encourage you all to go take a look at it!

That's a caltrop on the cover, in case you were wondering. Diana says the "shape" of the book looks like this. For more on caltrops, book covers, and the shape of the book, look here for some of my previous blog entries:

ECHO's Shape: It's a Caltrop

ECHO's Cover Design

UK Cover Design for ECHO

I think it looks fantastic, about as good as I could have hoped for. In fact I'm quite excited to see it!

As Tess pointed out on Compuserve, if we're talking about jewel-tone covers, this one is apparently the black diamond. I like that idea a lot.

What do the rest of you think? Feel free to comment here, or on Diana's blog, or join the discussion on Compuserve.

12 comments

Kristina said...

Dear Karen,

I finally posted my first three blog responses on Diana's blog - how exciting! And she answered back, of course, because she is so awesome!!

I am also loving your blog site, as of today. It is very sweet, informative, personal, and community building - keep up the great work.

I just started reading the Outlander series in April of 2008. While I was terribly ill - I have Systemic Lupus so I occasionally have long periods when I'm down-for-the-count. Well, what a huge blessing to finally have dusted off a copy of Outlander that my childhood best friend had lent me years ago, but, during several moves to and from Tokyo and Los Angeles, had gotten shuffled into a box and forgotten... Talk about a life saver, it drives me crazy to "veg-out" in front of the t.v., and my more technical research books were literally giving me migraines - enter the Frasers and gang.

I've read through them twice so far! I've even negotiated my husband (Carl) into reading it - the deal being that I'd read a book of his choosing, in this case World War Z, and he'd read Outlander (at least). (Z is a zombie-apocalypse saga that Brad Pitt's company has optioned and are, theoretically, making into a movie.) While I'm pleasantly surprised by Z - not bad, not bad at all, Carl is now hooked on Diana! (He is even contemplating what he should get her as a thank you gift for the emotional healing her books have effected in me. (That of course is a "teaser" for a whole other story of tragedy and joy, if your ever interested in hearing it that is!)[g]

Anywho, we finally bought a new MAC, in which we will be making our first feature film with, the old one was from 1999, yikes! Now, due to more modernized computer power, I am enabled to be more than a Watcher/Lurker on her blog; I'm hoping to remedy my Watcher/Lurker status in the CompuServe Forum as well. (I've only been Watching/Lurking in Compuserve for about a week, but I can stand it no more!) Heck, it might even prove to be Providential, in that, we are in desperate need of accountability when it comes to finishing the screenplay for our film, which begins principal photography in December of this year (I'm imagining that there is probably a screenwriting forum).

Alas, I tried signing-up and got a message saying that they "couldn't sign me up at this time". Is it simply a matter of downloading the software do you think (which I did find a link for, eventually), and if so, then what happens? As I'm asking you this stupid question, I'm realizing I just need to do it... Sorry, I'm a bit paranoid about downloading stuff that I don't have any idea about first...in their "Customer Service; FAQ" section they don't really describe anything about signing-up, what the subscription is, or what the downloading entails, etc.

Is CompuServe a paid service/subscription? If you have any suggestions about which type of subscription to go with, assuming there are choices, I'd be most appreciative.

In addition, I googled CompuServe and saw that supposedly there are some issues with charges from CompuServe that people signing-up with the "Free-Trial" offer weren't aware they'd end up with, as in hundreds of dollars worth for "extra usage". Is this still a problem do you think? (The listings seemed to be from 2000.)

I realize you're not the CompuServe technical/customer service expert, per se, but I didn't know who else to bug since I can't find a clear way to emailing them.

Plus, I just like you, your blog, and the comments I've read thus far from you on CompuServe, so I wanted to send the personal hello at the beginning as well.

Best,
Kristina

P.S. I tried sending this to you as a private email since it's so darn long, but my outgoing mail server needs my attention and I don't have the patience right now to wait until I've fixed it. Sorry.

Karen Henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen Henry said...

Hi Kristina, and welcome! <g>

I saw your comments on Diana's blog. It's always a thrill to get a reply back from her, especially the first few times. (I've long since gotten used to talking to her online, but I haven't forgotten what that felt like in the beginning!)

About getting access to Compuserve: First of all, are you using the Safari browser to try to access the site? If so, DON'T. That is very likely your problem. Safari and the Compuserve forum do NOT work well together at all, and so our recommendation to Mac users is to use Firefox instead. You can download Firefox for free at www.firefox.com.

The second thing I wanted to mention is that you should make sure you are trying to access the Compuserve forum at the correct URL. The link is here.

The Compuserve forums are completely free of charge, so if you are getting a message telling you to sign up for some sort of free trial offer, you are likely looking at the wrong page. Try the URL I just mentioned and see if it works better.

Good luck, and feel free to email me if it still doesn't work for you. Hope to see you on the forum soon!

Karen

Kristina said...

Dear Karen,

My incoming email is fine, if you choose to reply that way. Just not my outgoing.

K

Kristina said...

Dear Karen,

Thank you so much!

Firefox was on my list of things to "do" this weekend -perfect.

And seemed fishy to me that it was pay service, since Diana never mentioned that, which it would seem like her to do so.

I'm sure it will work now, I'm glad I asked you!

Kristina

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love the proposed ECHO cover -- evokes somethings dark and sinister to come (the color black and the wicked looking caltrop), with a beautiful Celtic pattern to give us relief from the darkness.

I had to chuckle when I read some of the responses on Compuserve about the chicken foot. Of course, if I had not read Diana's blog peviously (and your), I would not have know what a caltrop is, but I would have thought it looked like a wicked type of weapon or torture device. So I grabbed my 12-yr.-old daughter, who is very farmiliar with the jewel toned books because she sees me reading them on a daily basis, and asked her what her first impression was of the new cover. Her response: "Ooooh, that's so pretty and evil looking! It's going to look good next to the silver book (ABOSAA)." Then I asked her what she thought the thing in the center of the book was, and she had no idea but she said it looked like something used a long time ago to hurt people. Smart girl.....no chicken foot!

Kristina said...

Dear Joanne,

Very funny, "...pretty and evil..." - kids can be so intuitive!

The cover is so elegant, I love it - it might even be my favorite.

It really does remind me of the "Anarchist Flag" though, which isn't necessarily bad, I think it's actually a great comparison from a historical perspective. Especially considering the Revolutionary War was anarchy, at least from the English Crown's perspective.[vbg] (Google's listing is "Anarchist Flag" - they have a great picture of it. You'll see what I mean, I think.)

Anonymous said...

Oops, I meant to say that I read the chicken foot comments on Diana's blog, not compuserve. And I think my daughter is right -- the black will look stunning next to the silver book on my shelf! The US cover is striking and elegant. (I like it much better than the UK version, but any true DG fan will take ANYTHING! Just get the book in our hands!)

Karen Henry said...

Joanne:

Your daughter seems quite insightful. I love her comments (I happen to agree, it will look terrific next to the silver cover of ABOSAA on the shelf), and I bet Diana would find them amusing too, if you want to post that anecdote on her blog or on Compuserve.

Karen

HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said...

I love it and am just so excited for it to come out!!! I am addicted!

Karen Henry said...

Hi HealthNut, and welcome! :-)

Yeah, I'm excited, too. Somehow, just seeing the cover art has made the book seem real to me, tangible, in a way that it wasn't before.

Karen

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen,

I think the cover is beautiful as well (and definately not a chicken foot!). I haven't been able to check out your blog, or anything else, for a week or so (two little girls with ear infections take up alot of time!!) and it was such a nice surprise to see the cover. I can't wait for it to come out. I just finished A Breath Of Snow and Ashes, again, and am now going through withdrawls!

Janny

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