Touch of Frost cover revealed (again) …

• Posted in About Books, Mythos Academy series

Well, it looks like I posted too soon.

My publisher has decided to change the cover art for Touch of Frost, the first book in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. I’ve known about this for a while. In fact, my editor told me that they’d decided to change the cover a few days after I posted the first cover here. That’s how it goes sometimes. LOL.

At left is what the new cover will look like — aka the girl cover. Below, I’ve posted what the old cover looked like — aka the gargoyle cover.

It’s not uncommon for cover art to be changed. Like the books themselves, the cover art goes through several different rounds of development and lots of folks have to sign off on the cover art before it’s finally approved.

I like both covers, but I think the girl cover is a better fit for the book/series. To me, it’s a little hipper and edgier and says young adult urban fantasy more than the gargoyle cover did. I think that’s important  since Touch of Frost is all about my heroine, Gwen Frost, and is told from her first-person point of view. Here’s the back cover copy for the book:

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Acad­emy — a school of myths, magic and war­rior whiz kids, where even the lowli­est geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spar­tan guy in school, also hap­pens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jas­mine Ash­ton was mur­dered in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties. Then, some­one stole the Bowl of Tears, a mag­i­cal arti­fact that can be used to bring about the sec­ond Chaos War. You know, death, destruc­tion and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m deter­mined to find out who killed Jas­mine and why – espe­cially since I should have been the one who died …

So now that I have the final cover for the books, I can go forward with things on my end, like getting flyers and bookmarks made. I’ll post here when I get the bookmarks and let you guys know how to get some.

By the way, I’ve seen the preliminary cover for Kiss of Frost, the second book in the series, and it is freaking awesome. I can’t wait to share that cover with you guys. 😉

Which cover do you guys like better? Share in the comments.

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20 Responses to “Touch of Frost cover revealed (again) …”

  2. Amy H. says:

    I wish I had constructive feedback. I do like the new cover, but it seems very typical of everything else that’s been printed for YA paranormals (and since the powers that be make the decisions – they must know what sells?). The gargoyle cover was a bit different and I thought made for a lovely change.

    Either cover, I’m really excited to get my hands on it!!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      I understand what you’re saying, but I think the new cover fits the books better. And the cover for KISS OF FROST is in the same style and is really cool.

      Anyway, glad you are looking forward to the book.

  3. MaryK says:

    Well, as visually pleasing art, I like the first cover better. But yeah, it doesn’t say YA at all. I agree the girl cover does give a better representation of the book, and that’s what a cover is for, after all.

  4. Elie says:

    I am a fan of the new one. The old one, while different, wasn’t as attention grabbing. The new one seems to tell more about the story. I shared on my blog to help spread the word.

  5. Tabitha says:

    Oh I really love the new cover! Its more eye catching and alluring for me. The other cover, while different and more mysterious, isn’t something I’d want to display on my bookshelves. I have been debating buying this book in print versus eformat. Now I’m definitely picking up the print bc this will go on my shelf display!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Cool. Glad you like the new version better. You know, displaying the cover art isn’t something that I’d really thought about. I may have to do a blog post on that someday. 😉

  6. Diana says:

    I like the new cover, it’s very eye catching and I just couldn’t keep my eyes of “Gwen’s” eyes, are they purple? Very Liz Taylor. I cannot wait to get my hands on this books!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Yep, Gwen’s eyes are violet. Her mom has a saying in the book, “Violet eyes are smiling eyes.” It’s funny that you mention Liz Taylor. I’ve seen lots of articles on her eyes these past few weeks.

  7. Erin says:

    I think the new cover will be lovely for the young adult market. If you look at all the top sellers you’ll notice the dark cover books with one or two bright key objects. It’s eye-catching. I haven’t seen a best seller in a long time that had a different sort of cover (for the young adult section that is.) It is modern and hip, and that’s what young adults want.

    But who judges a book by a cover these days? pfffft. (a bit of sarcasm there.)

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like all the top YA authors have covers that have a darker, spookier look to them. And it seems like most of the YA covers have girls on them too.

      A bad cover won’t keep me from trying a book, but it won’t catch my eye in the store either. It’s a Catch-22 …

  8. Julie says:

    The new cover is definitely more eye catching. And you’re right, I think it says UF more than the original. I love it when an art department gets it right. 😉

  10. Karen Mahoney says:

    Oooh… I love the new cover! Personally, I prefer it over the first one, even though that looked cool in its own way. I agree that the new cover seems far more appropriate for the series. Huzzah! 🙂

    Kaz

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks! I like the new cover better too. I think it’s a much better fit for the series/world building.

      BTW, I love the cover for The Iron Witch. I love how you can see the alchemy branding on her hands.arms. I think it’s a really striking image. 😉

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