I’ve been thinking about creating pretty new hardcover editions of my Regency romance series, The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction. The plan is that this campaign will run next spring, and that book seven in the series, The Daughter’s Disguise, will be available first to backers of the campaign. There will also be additional rewards for backers that are exclusive to the campaign, and the books won’t be available at retailers.
I’ve put up a landing page at Kickstarter, so you can follow the campaign now to be notified at launch. That’s the best way to make sure you don’t miss out on any early bird specials!
I’ve added something new to the Kickstarter campaign for the new special editions of The Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances, coming in July.
I’ve told you about the special editions and the additional rewards for backers. The plan is for the books to be drop-shipped to backers to save one round of postage charges, and for me to mail signed bookplates separately. This weekend, though, I was thinking about those backers who would like actual signed books.
I’m adding a tier to the campaign with all five hardcovers signed. This means they’ll ship to backers from Canada, which might mean a tariff charge if you’re in the US. It should be fine for everyone else. I’ve made the set of vellum inserts part of this tier, since they’re difficult to mail alone – it’s much easier to tuck them into the books for shipping, which ensures they arrive in good condition.
To sweeten this tier with its extra shipping cost, I’m adding a beaded bookmark (made by me. I ordered the charms this weekend.) and a fabric book cover, sewn by me, to protect whichever of the books you’re reading. I’ll show you both of those once the materials arrive and I’ve made my first ones.
That will be my most expensive tier, and instead of having an early bird special, this tier will be limited in quantity. Once they’re gone, they’ll be gone.
I’ll be adding about a box, too, with one signed hardcover (your choice of the series, but it will default to The Crusader’s Bride) and the print swag from the campaign, as well as more goodies. I’ll work out the details of that by the time the campaign launches.
We need to take care of the people who like signed books!
I’ll also add a local pick-up option for signed books. You’ll be able to pick them up at the Ignited by Books Author Event in September, to save on shipping.
One of the fun things about setting up a Kickstarter campaign is deciding on other goodies to make available to backers. Let’s talk about those today.
Digital Rewards
Digital rewards are available to all backers, regardless of whether they back tiers with physical or digital products.
The map for the Champions of St. Euphemia is something I’ve wanted to have drawn for quite a while, and I’m excited about it. As mentioned yesterday, the map will be included in each of the new special editions, as a black and white double-page spread in the print books and as an image in the ebooks. It will also be offered as a two-page PDF digital reward to backers. That means you’ll be able to print it out on two 8.5″ x 11″ sheets, then tape those together to have a larger reference map. I’ll be able to show this to you by the end of the month.
I’ve also compiled a Readers’ Companion for the series, which will be a digital reward for backers. This ebook includes: • an overview of the series • a character list of the company • a synopsis for each book • a character list for each book • two family trees for each book (ten in total) • a brief history of the Knights Templar • a list of historical figures mentioned in the series with a short bio for each one • a brief history of the crusades. It started out as a character list and kept growing!
The ten family trees will also be available as a digital reward, sized for 8.5 x 11″ paper, so that you can print them out as a larger reference if you choose.
There are also five colouring pages, one of each illustration of the couples, which are a digital reward for all backers. Download them, print them out, and colour away!
Physical Rewards
We talked yesterday about the signed bookplates that will be mailed to backers of print books. There’s a different one for each book.
There is also a bookmark for backers of the sets of five print books. This is a larger format bookmark, showing all five of the new editions, and it has gold foil accents on both sides.
Just for fun, I’ve added a set of round stickers, each featuring one of the couples framed like a jewelled brooch. Backers will get the sticker for the print book they buy – one or all five.
Early Bird Rewards
I always offer an early bird reward, and this time, it’s a set of five vellum inserts along with the set of five hardcovers. Each vellum insert will feature one of the illustrations of the couple. I haven’t decided yet whether to limit this by time or quantity, but it will be for early birds.
Why Buy at Kickstarter
The simple answer is that you’ll be getting something special, unavailable elsewhere.
These special editions aren’t going into retail distribution, which means you can only buy them directly from me, either at Kickstarter or at Hazel & Honeysuckle Press after the campaign is over. They will also be offered in future historical romance Kickstarter campaigns BUT all of the additional rewards – the bookplates, the stickers, the reader companion, the colouring pages, the downloads of the map and family trees, the vellum inserts – will only be available from this Kickstarter campaign. You have this one chance to add all those goodies to your books.
This week, we’re going to talk about the new special editions of The Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances, coming to Kickstarter in July. I’ve wanted to give this series a special print treatment for a while, and now’s the time. 🙂
The new editions will be available in hard cover, trade paperback and ebook. The ebooks don’t have all of the features of the print editions but I’ll pack in as many as possible. (Page backgrounds, for example, aren’t supported in ebooks.)
Let’s take a closer look at the new editions today, and what makes them special.
First off, the books have new covers, designed by Dar Albert. Here’s a digital mock-up of the new hard cover edition of The Crusader’s Bride.
The hardcovers have one image (with type) on the dust jacket and a different image (without type) on the case laminate.
I wanted the case laminate to look like an old book. Each one has a gem on the spine, too.
The trade paperbacks have the same exterior cover with the type. They also have a duplexed cover, which means it’s printed on the inside, as well. These trade paperbacks have the illustrations from the current editions – the images of the couples – on the inside of the cover.
Those illustrations are also included as full page images in the special edition ebooks.
The interior has been updated in the print editions, with beautiful backgrounds and chapter headers, again from Dar. Here’s the double-page spread header background for the special editions of The Crusader’s Bride:
The other books each have their own background, featuring swords and flowers.
All of the books use this sword background on individual pages, like the date pages.
These are digital mock-ups. I’ll take a video of the sample book when it arrives, so you can see exactly what it will look like. 🙂
I’ve also commissioned a map for the series, which will be a double-page spread in the print books. It will also be included in the ebooks. The map is being designed this month by Sarah Waites of The Illustrated Page. She draws the most amazing maps – you can take a peek at some of her completed projects on her website right here. There will be real locations on it as well as the fictional ones named in the stories. I’ll show you the map when it’s done. I’m prettty excited about this, as I love maps and Sarah makes brilliant ones.
The hardcovers and trade paperbacks will be printed and drop-shipped directly to backers, which saves a round of postage (and postage from Canada at that) which would be an added cost if I signed each book. Instead, I’ll mail signed bookplates separately to backers.
Each book has a dedication page in the front, and the bookplate has been designed to match. The bookplates will be full-colour vinyl stickers. Here’s the one for The Crusader’s Bride, along with the dedication page.
Isn’t that pretty? Each book has its own dedication page and a bookplate that coordinates with the new cover.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the other rewards offered through the campaign.
The duke and Esmeralda’s story brings many ongoing story threads to a close but as mentioned yesterday, I have a Big Finish in mind for this series.
Actually, it’s Esmeralda’s idea – she has insisted that Ophelia Pearl, the actress, deserves her own HEA. Ophelia’s romance will be a Christmas story called The Daughter’s Disguise, a holiday romp filled with the mistaken identities, disguises and secrets that have come to characterize this series.
At this point, I don’t have a publication date for the book, though it has a cover and a landing page here on the site: my schedule is quite booked this year (although Esmeralda is dismissive of that) so I’ll write the book before listing it for pre-order.
I also am thinking of running a Kickstarter campaign with special print editions of this series, with new covers. The Daughter’s Disguise would then be available first at Kickstarter and later at the retail portals. I think this series would lend itself well to character illustrations and pretty books.
You can watch the page and blog her for updates, and/or subscribe to my historical romance newsletter, Knights & Rogues, for updates.
Esmeralda has more ideas for the future (she believes sleep is over-rated) but we’ll save them for the moment, at least until I make more progress on her list so far.
Claire Delacroix 