More Cover Reveals: The Sum of Its Parts and A Home for the Holidays

More cover revealsMy wonderful editor contacted me this week to tell me that my publisher will be reissuing another of my older books as an eBook.

While I have the rights to many of my back list novels, my publisher still has rights to a few. The original title of the one she was interested in was A Stranger’s Son, and if you read the book, you’ll know why. A Stranger’s Son is a longish novella, originally published for Mother’s Day in a collection of similarly themed novellas. Now we needed a different title.

Title changes are never meant to fool readers into buying a book a second time. Here’s how publishers think, and it makes all the sense in the world.

My new book, which debuts in June, is titled A Family of Strangers. While I’ve written lots of women’s fiction, this book is different. My editor calls it suspenseful women’s fiction, and that’s a perfect description. The plan was to reissue A Stranger’s Son the same month–it’s since been moved back to May–and we didn’t want to confuse readers, who might think the books had a connection other than my name on the cover. Plus we didn’t want readers to think that A Stranger’s Son is suspense, as well. It’s a romance–and a good one, if I do say so myself–but very different.

Editor thought the word “surprise” would be perfect in the title, because there are lots of surprises in the story. After playing with this, we came up with The Surprise of a Lifetime, and a brand new cover. Stress free all the way around. I’ll show you the cover once it’s finalized and I’ll let you know when it appears at your favorite digital bookstore.

Thinking about this, I realized that I haven’t posted covers for several back list novels that my publisher has already reissued. I shared them in my  last newsletter, but never here. Apparently I should stick to writing and not selling books, because this happens too frequently.

So today, I’ll rectify. The Sum of It’s Parts, (pictured above) which came out in mid-December, is described this way:

Four stories about the relationships that define a life, making it greater than the sum of its parts. Chosen for your enjoyment by the editors at MIRA Books, and available for the first time in a value-added box set.

Isn’t that cool? I do know that Iron Lace, my contribution to this anthology, is one of my readers’ favorites and well liked at my publishing house. I’m anxious to read the other three full-length novels in this collection by some of Mira’s top authors.

And to show just how far behind I am? I’m finally getting around to showing you a Christmas novella, which came out last October. Better late than never, here’s the cover of A Home for the Holidays, the first novella I ever wrote–but originally titled Naughty or Nice.

At the time being asked to write a Christmas novella was a little like striking gold. These books sold and sold, and yes, for a long time I made more money on this cutie than on any other book I wrote. Being asked to write it was a gift. And yes again, I still love this book.

By the way, again, the title was only changed because Naughty or Nice sounded more like erotica than a sweetish romance. And I suggested A Home for the Holidays after rejecting several options, because the heroine runs a home for children in foster care.

I know that title changes can be confusing, even upsetting. Sometimes readers buy books they’ve already read. Thankfully my publisher explained the title change in the book description at the very beginning, and included the original publication date, title and the name of the anthology it was originally published in. Good for them!

On the subject of title/cover changes? I have another big one coming very soon. This time for a book I’m reissuing. The original title was confusing, and the cover just didn’t tell readers enough about what they’d find inside. I promise I will do the same as my publisher, making sure if you’ve already read it, you don’t buy it again–unless you want to. But more about that later.

New “old” books, and I’m glad to see them both easily available again. I hope you’ll take a look.

I’ve linked all the books to Amazon, where I am an associate and receive a small bonus when you click. The books are available at all bookstores that sell eBooks. Please choose your favorite. 

2 Comments

  1. Nancy Lepri on January 16, 2019 at 1:15 pm

    WOW, Emilie, this is AWESOME!!!! I don’t have to wish you luck, for you’re a fabulous author! Keep ’em coming!

  2. Terry Guerra on January 20, 2019 at 7:06 am

    How did I miss this earlier in the week? Thank you for sharing this information – now I need to get this book!

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