New Publication Date for The Scot & the Sorceress

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve moved out the pubilcation date for Murdoch and Nyssa’s story, which will now be published on July 15. I apologize for the delay but I want the series finale to be just right. If you’ve pre-ordered the book at any of the portals, you probably got a notification of the delay.

Amazon would not allow the publication date to be moved, so I had to cancel the pre-oder there. The book will be available at Amazon on the publication date, but you’ll have to order it again then. It’ll have a different ASIN.

I had planned to switch to creating pre-orders at Amazon only after I have a completed book, beginning in 2024. This just makes the change occur a little sooner.

I have two pre-orders remaining without book files – One Knight’s Desire and The Stolen Bride – and it is quite likely that I’ll have to cancel OKD at Amazon for the same reason as S&S. Although I’m writing more than usual this year, I’ve still fallen behind. I apologize for the inconvenience.

The Scot & the Sorceress, book two of the Blood Brothers trilogy of medieval Scottish romances by Claire Delacroix

Embittered by his losses and thwarted in his pursuit of vengeance, Murdoch is sworn to avenge his father. The sole means of striking a blow against his enemy, the Silver Wolf, is to seize that man’s beloved wife, Alys—but Murdoch cannot bring himself to injure a woman he has known all his life. When the wise woman of the woods offers herself in exchange for Alys’ freedom, Murdoch cannot resist temptation. The mysterious beauty lights a fire in his blood, a need for more than vengeance, and Murdoch finds himself enchanted. He never expects Nyssa, his apparent opposite, to burn with a similar desire for vengeance—but once she asks for his assistance, Murdoch swears gladly to do her will.

Nyssa is a healer and a wise woman, blessed with visions of the future to come. When her dreams fill with horrors for her kin in the distant north, she knows she must return to aid in their defense, no matter how long the odds against her. She strikes a bargain with Murdoch, a man with fearsome fighting skills, to aid in her quest, never guessing that her need to heal his hidden wounds will be so overwhelmingly powerful. Her visions warn that she has made an unholy alliance and that Murdoch’s anger will destroy her utterly—yet Nyssa cannot resist his fiery touch or the gift of watching him heal.

Bound together by passion and fury, Murdoch and Nyssa journey north, where they find her family snared in a battle that pits brother against brother. When Nyssa’s father surrenders her to his enemies for the sake of peace, Murdoch realizes that he must defend justice everywhere, beginning with the rescue of his beloved—no matter the cost to himself.

Series finale coming July 15, 2023

Pre-order available at some portals:

The Bride Quest 25th Anniversary Kickstarter Campaign

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

Today’s the day! My Kickstarter campaign has launched, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Princess with new mass market and hard cover editions of all six Bride Quest medieval romances.

Visit the Kickstarter campaign.

There’s a new cover illustration for each book. That illustration is the image on the mass market edition. It’s also the case laminate on the hard cover, which has a dust jacket similar to the existing trade paperback. These new print editions will be available at retailers in November – the pre-order links for the two new editions of The Princess are at the bottom of this post – but you can get yours early and signed or personalized during this Kickstarter campaign. There’s also swag that will be available only during the Kickstarter campaign.

The two new editions be available in my next Kickstarter campaign, running from today through June 10. After that, you’ll have to wait until November to add to your keeper shelf.

Here’s the pretty new cover illustration of Luc and Brianna:

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances, 25th anniversary commemorative edition, new illustration for case laminate and mass market paperback

Here are all four current editions of The Princess: from left, the ebook, the 25th anniversary commemorative mass market edition with new cover art, the current trade paperback edition, and the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition at right.

All four editions of The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroic

The new hardcover editions are really pretty. They have a dust jacket similar to the current trade paperback – but with the new seal for the anniversary editions. But instead of a plain case, these books are case-laminated, which means there will be an illustration on the actual book cover. The idea is to evoke those stepback covers we knew and loved. You get BOTH covers with the hardcover.

new hard cover edition of The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix

Here’s a photograph of the actual book, because I ordered a copy to check it out myself. In this picture, I’ve removed the front of the dust jacket and you can see the case laminate. The illustration continues around the back without type – there’s just the bar code on the back.

The Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition

The commemorative print editions will include a new letter from me and the hardcover editions include the Bride Quest family trees. They’d be too small to read in the mass market edition, but you can download them free right here and print them out.

The trade paperback and the ebook editions will remain as they are.

The Bride Quest 25th anniversary commemorative editions seal

There will be similar new editions of the other five books, and they’ll be revealed during the Kickstarter campaign. The new cover for The Damsel will be revealed there tomorrow and I’ll show it here on Wednesday.

There also will be a new bonus epilogue to catch up with the family called Christmas at Tullymullagh, which will be included in the new print editions of The Heiress. It will also be available in ebook in November from the retailers – the pre-order will go up once I have a cover.

Since we have all of these cover reveals, there’s a schedule for the Kickstarter campaign. I’ll also share the covers here on the blog.

The schedule for the 25th anniversary commemorative editions of The Bride Quest at Kickstarter, May 30 to June 10

Get them early.

Get them signed or personalized.

Get the swag.

Get the books at Kickstarter.

You can also pre-order the new editions for November delivery from your favorite retailers. The links are live now for The Princess. The other books are formatted and loaded, and will set up for pre-order after their cover reveals at Kickstarter.

Order the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition of The Princess for November 20 publication:

Order the 25th anniversary commemorative mass market paperback of The Princess for November 20 publication:

A Sneak Peek at the Bride Quest Kickstarter Rewards

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

Monday, I talked about Kickstarter in general and why I like using it. Today, let’s talk a bit more about those perks for backers that will only be available through the campaign (running May 30 to June 10.)

First, there are the books.

The Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, all print editions

This image shows all four editions of The Princess: from left, the original mass market paperback (out of print so included here for scale), the new MMPB, the current trade paperback and at the right, the new hardcover edition.

The hardcover has a case laminate, which means there’s a second image on the case of the book. It’s the new illustration, so with the hardcover, you get both images.

While you can order the new 25th anniversary editions of the books from your portal of choice (the pre-orders for The Princess are up now, for both the new hardcover edition and the new mass market edition), those books will be delivered in November.

By ordering them through the Kickstarter campaign, you’ll get them early.

You’ll also have the option of having your books personalized or signed, which is a great touch for your keeper shelf.

You can also save money on the hardcovers, if you buy entire trilogies through the Kickstarter campaign on the Early Bird specials. Sooner, signed or personalized, and cheaper too!

One of the interesting things about Kickstarter is that readers in different genres and subgenres find different perks appealing. I noticed in January that my readers really liked new content – the most popular tier was a new book in that world. So, for this campaign, every backer will get a copy of the ebook of the new bonus epilogue to the Bride Quest I, which is called Christmas at Tullymullagh. That story will be included in the new print editions of The Heiress.

There will be a stretch goal for a second bonus epilogue called Easter at Airdfinnan. If we reach the stretch goal, that ebook will be supplied to all backers and the story will be included in the new print editions of The Temptress. The first story at least (and the second if we achieve the goal) will be packaged in ebook and put up for sale by the end of the year —again, you’ll get them early if you back the campaign. These stories are an opportunity to catch up with the characters and check in with them. I’m working on the stories now and am having such a good time with them – it’s fun to revisit old friends! 🙂

I also thought it would be fun to incorporate the cover reveals for the other five new editions in the Kickstarter campaign. That gives me a good reason to post an update every day and switch out the graphics. Here’s the schedule for the campaign:

The little green clocks indicate Early Bird specials. Essentially, you save by committing to a trilogy (or both trilogies) before all of the new covers have been revealed.

For example, the hardcovers are priced at $39.99US at retailers. My campaign is priced in Canadian dollars because Kickstarter doesn’t give me a choice. $39.99 US is about $55 CA. That first Early Bird special is for the three hardcovers in the Bride Quest I trilogy, signed, for $135 CA. That’s about $100 US and it includes postage to US addresses, along with all physical and digital swag revealed during the campaign. That offer is only available for the first 24 hours of the campaign – it’s an Early Bird Special! – but I think it’s a great deal.

I’ve also gone through my books and have listed some of the original mass market paperbacks for sale as add-ons in this campaign. If you like the older editions, here’s your chance to get out-of-print copies.

There will, of course, be other surprises during the campaign, but here’s the one that I particularly like. I had a version of the dust jacket for The Princess printed on cotton (it has a lot less type) and am making fabric jackets to fit the hardcover books. If you order any of the signed hardcover editions, you’ll get a fabric book cover made by yours truly to protect your book while you read. You’ll have to wait for the reveal on June 8 to see exactly what they look like but I love them. I’ll only make enough of them to fulfil the rewards. (So, yes, if you back that $135 CA tier, you’ll get the fabric book cover, too.)

The final thing to remember is that you don’t have to buy print books during the Kickstarter campaign. You can back a campaign for digital rewards (like the ebooks of the short stories). You can shop for other medieval romances of mine – they’re ALL available in the add-ons – or save on my audiobooks during the campaign. You can even back a campaign for no reward at all, just to support the author.

25th anniversary commemorative editions of The Bride Quest at Kickstarter, May 30 to June 10

The Kickstarter campaign for my Bride Quest 25th Anniversary commemorative editions launches on May 30 and runs through June 10. I hope to see you there!

You can follow the campaign right here.

Why I Like Kickstarter

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I talked about Kickstarter on my Deborah Cooke blog last December before launching my first campaign there, but haven’t discussed it here – beyond announcing the upcoming campaign for the Bride Quest 25th Anniversary Commemorative Editions.

Let’s change that today.

As ever, the book market is changing. Taking advantage of new opportunities is key to continuing to survive and thrive as a creator. For example, once upon a time, every author had a website, a blog and a link to their Amazon page. Now, opportunities abound for connecting with readers and selling books, and each author can develop a custom mix. It’s not possible to do everything, so I try to pick things that are fun or make sense to me. I like having the websites. (Some authors now eschew them.) I like having the blog, even though it’s a bit old-school – and WordPress is now promoting the subscribe feature, which makes the blog into a kind of mini-newsletter. I like that. I have mixed feelings about monthly newsletters, mostly because I personally don’t love them – but what I like isn’t necessarily what my readers like.

And I like Kickstarter. The environment is fun, and the interactions with readers are fabulous. I find the enthusiasm very inspiring and like being able to easily talk directly to readers. It feels more intimate than the blog or a newsletter. My first campaign was quite intense but a lot of that was because I didn’t know what to expect. I think it’ll be easier (and more mellow) this time.

I like making all the graphics and organizing the campaign. The tools are evolving all the time – this time, for example, I can add images to all of the reward tiers, which looks much better. Here’s one of the images for the upcoming campaign:

Graphic for the 25th anniversary commemorative editions of The Bride Quest at Kickstarter, May 30 to June 10

I also like that each campaign is for a very specific (and limited) period of time. When I had an online store, there was a constant drip of things to do. A quarterly deluge is easier to manage, in a way. Although many authors are opening their own online stores, I’m not in a hurry to do that again. The main category of items that sold in my store was signed books, but the cost of postage from Canada is prohibitive. For the foreseeable future, I’ll only offer them through my Kickstarter campaigns. Shipping personalized copies directly from the printer saves money and works out well, especially if it can be done in batches, for example.

On the reader side, a Kickstarter campaign is a chance to participate. You can make a difference in the creative journey of the authors whose work you enjoy by supporting their campaigns. This process makes projects possible that might not have happened otherwise, which I like a lot. I would never, for example, have undertaken the work and expense of creating these new Bride Quest editions without Kickstarter to launch them and help to finance the upfront costs. In a way, they’re kind of a test, to see whether it’s worth doing new packages for other series and launching them this way.

And of course, there’s an upside to being a supporter. There has to be! There are perks that are only available through the Kickstarter campaign to backers. I’ll talk a bit more on Wednesday about specifics for the Bride Quest campaign, and give you a sneak peek of what’s in store.

In the meantime, you can follow the campaign right here.

The Bride Quest 25th Anniversary Kickstarter Campaign

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I have an update for you on my upcoming Kickstarter campaign, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Princess with new mass market and hard cover editions of all six Bride Quest medieval romances.

There are two details in this update. The first is the link to follow the campaign, since the landing page at Kickstarter is now live. The second is that I’ve moved the date. Things always seem to take longer than I expect, so instead of running early in May as originally planned, the Kickstarter campaign will launch May 30. This means that all twelve books will be repackaged and I’ll have copies of them all before the campaign even starts. That way, I can focus on the campaign instead of madly coordinating things in the background at the same time.

We will launch on Tuesday May 30 and the campaign will run through Saturday June 10. The two new editions be available in my next Kickstarter campaign, through June 10. After that, you’ll have to wait until November to add to your keeper shelf.

Just to remind you, here’s the new cover illustration of Luc and Brianna:

This is the cover on the new mass market edition – here it is, alongside the original mass market edition, for scale. They’re pretty much the same size:

The Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, both mass market editions

The new mass market editions are also printed on creme paper instead of groundwood – the groundwood used in the original mass market edition changes color with age and isn’t quite as thick. I like the creme much better.

There also will be a new bonus epilogue to catch up with the family called Christmas at Tullymullagh, which will be included in the new print editions of The Heiress. It’s been added as a digital tier to every reward in the campaign, so all backers will get the ebook of this story.

Get them early.

Get them signed or personalized.

Get the swag.

Follow the campaign and get the books at Kickstarter.

Order the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition of The Princess for November 20 publication: