Books and More!

One of the fun things about running a Kickstarter campaign for new editions is when all the goodies come in. Let’s have a look at most of the goodies and books for the Blood Brothers special editions campaign.

Last week, the first lot of books arrived. These were the trade paperbacks, and I’m so pleased with them. The matte finish is so velvety!

Blood Brothers special edition trade paperbacks with duplexed covers

These editions have the new illustrations by Dar Albert. For the trade paperback, the covers are duplexed, which means the illustration is printed on the inside of the cover, like this:

Blood Brothers special edition trade paperbacks with duplexed covers

The part of the illustration with the sword is on the inside back cover but I didn’t take pix ot it.

These special edition interiors include some different typographic elements, but also include the Blood Brothers map and family trees. The family tree for Jean Le Beau is in all four books, then each book has a family tree for the hero and for the heroine. Those elements are included in all of the special editions – ebook, trade paperback and hardcover.

The spiral notebooks featuring the new illustrations have also arrived.

Blood Brothers spiral notebooks

And there are postcards. There’s a set of four of the new illustrations, and a set of four of the original cover art (with the guys alone). They all have the same reverse side which is shown at the bottom right.

Blood Brothers postcards

Plus those big bookmarks have arrived. There’s a set of four of these: they all have the same reverse side with the original covers.

Blood Brothers bookmarks

I’ve been packing boxes for the fulfillment of the Kickstarter. The hardcover editions have shipped to me, so I’ll show them to you once they arrive. I’ll pack the rest of the Kickstarter pledges then and the campaign will be done. I’ve also been making book charms with these new covers and will show you those with the hardcovers.

You can pre-order signed copies of the print books in my online store – that will be for the first fulfillment after the Kickstarter campaign, and I’ll place that order in June.

The spiral notebooks that are left are available in the store now. They won’t be restocked, so once they’re gone, that’s that. You’ll find them in New Arrivals there, as well as the discounted sample copies of The Hunter & the Heiress that I ordered in advance of the campaign. Those books have the illustration on the cover, but don’t have the map or family trees inside.

The Hunter & the Heiress Sample Special Editions – and Spiral Notebooks

I’m slowly getting organized after the completion of the Blood Brothers Kickstarter campaign for the new special editions. Yesterday, I realized I had two sample copies of The Hunter & the Heiress in need of homes.

These are the copies I ordered for the video. They have the new cover illustrations – on the case laminate of the hardcover, and duplexed on the inside of the cover for the trade paperback – but don’t have the other content added to the book interiors during the campaign. There is no map and there are no family trees. Still, they’re very pretty books and should be on someone’s shelf. 🙂

You can find them in the store under New Arrivals. There’s only one of each, so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Also, I added spiral notebooks to the campaign. There’s a set of four, each one featuring one illustration. I ordered some of The Hunter & the Heiress and am really pleased with how well they came out.

They’re 5.5″ x 8.5″ with 80 lined pages inside. The cover has a nice velvety finish.

Spiral bound notebook with the cover illustration for The Hunter & the Heiress
Spiral bound notebook with the cover illustration for The Hunter & the Heiress
Spiral bound notebook with the cover illustration for The Hunter & the Heiress

As is so often the way with printing, it made sense to round up my order quantities, a little above the actual quantity needed for the KS fulfillment. So, I’ll be adding these to the online store, too. The notebooks for The Hunter & the Heiress have already been added to the New Arrivals there.

Blood Brothers Special Editions – and Kindle Unlimited

The Wolf & the Witch, book one of the Blood Brothers series of medieval Scottish romances by Claire Delacroix, special hardcover edition
The Wolf & the Witch special hardcover edition dust jacket

The Kickstarter campaign for the new special editions of my Blood Brothers series ended on Saturday night. It not only funded but we reached stretch goals to add the Blood Brothers map and nine family trees into the new editions, as well as two sets of postcards and one set of bookmarks, printed for backers of signed books and as digital downloads for all backers. I also added some pretty spiral bound notebooks this time and will be doing that in future campaigns, too.

What happens next is the fulfillment, which will be all behind the scenes (pretty much in my dining room.)

Two other things are happening now that the campaign is completed. First, there’s a pre-order available in my online store for these new print editions. The Kickstarter fulfillment will be completed first, then the books ordered through this pre-order. If you pre-order before June 1, your books will be ordered in June and ship to you in July. These editions are signed, so they will ship from Canada.

See the Blood Brothers pre-order at Deborah Cooke’s Books.

The Dragon & the Damsel, book three of the Blood Brothers series of medieval Scottish romances by Claire Delacroix, special hardcover edition
The Dragon & the Damsel special hardcover edition dust jacket

You might notice that the special edition e-books aren’t listed there. That’s because Blood Brothers will be enrolled for a 90-day term in Kindle Unlimited. The first two books have been in KU before, but not the last two, so you’ll be able to binge the series there. The plan is for the books to be enrolled by the beginning of April, which will take their 90-day term through the end of June, but that will depend upon how promptly the other portals remove the books from sale. They have to be available exclusively at Amazon for their KU term.

Yesterday, I began to unpublish the four books from portals with long distribution chains, so depending where you shop, they may be vanishing. The last place I’ll unpublish them is my own online store, since it updates immediately.

My next Kickstarter campaign will be for a new hardcover omnibus edition of my fantasy YA Dragon Diaries trilogy. Watch the blog on my Deborah Cooke site for more details about that.

The Hunter & the Heiress Now Available in Italian

The Hunter & the Heiress, book two of my Blood Brothers series of medieval romances, is now available in an Italian edition. Amaury and Elizabeth’s story is called Il cacciatore e l’ereditiera in Italian.

Il cacciatore e l’ereditiera is the Italian edition of The Hunter & the Heiress, book two of the Blood Brothers series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix

Niente di più lontano dalle aspettative di Amaury de Vries che unirsi alla compagnia di mercenari del fratellastro nelle terre selvagge della Scozia. Cavaliere e campione di giostre e tornei, si aspetta di ereditare un castello, finché l’uomo che ha sempre conosciuto come suo padre non rivela una terribile verità e lo rinnega. Rimasto senza nulla, Amaury cavalca verso Kilderrick, dove perde il cuore per una bella nobildonna nella foresta. Da uomo pragmatico, sa di non avere il diritto di corteggiare la dama, ma quando lei viene rapita Amaury la segue, deciso a compiere il suo dovere di cavaliere e aiutare una damigella in pericolo.

Elizabeth d’Acron è stata una pedina e un premio, ambita per il ricco patrimonio del padre, ma vuole essere desiderata solo per quello che è. Di nuovo rapita, giura che non si arrenderà a nessun uomo, nemmeno al bel cavaliere che la soccorre. In effetti, non c’è nessuno di più fastidioso di quell’uomo sicuro di sé ma imperscrutabile, così ligio al dovere da poter essere fatto di pietra, ma Elizabeth impara presto a fidarsi di Amaury, che la difenderà ad ogni costo. Non si aspettava di essere sedotta dal suo tocco e tanto meno che lui conquistasse il suo cuore diffidente, ma si è forse innamorata di un uomo il cui affetto appartiene già a un’altra?

Intrappolato tra dovere e passione, Amaury si ritrova ammaliato dalla donna che sfida ogni sua aspettativa, ma sa di avere poco da offrirle. E quando Elizabeth viene minacciata da un ex pretendente che non accetta un rifiuto, Amaury rischia tutto per difenderla, sperando che sia sufficiente. Ma riuscirà a intervenire in tempo? E basterà l’amore per convincere Elizabeth a mettere la sua mano nella sua per sempre?

Updates for the Final Week of my Blood Brothers Kickstarter Campaign

Tick tock! The Blood Brother’s Kickstarter campaign ends this coming Saturday. Don’t miss out on these special editions – or of being a part of making them happen!

Blood Brothers BookWorm Swag Box

We have enough goodies now for the BookWorm Swag Box, so I’ve added that tier to the rewards. It includes the new special edition trade paperback of The Wolf & the Witch (that’s the one with the duplexed cover), a spiral notebook with the cover of The Hunter & the Heiress, a set of the new postcards, a book charm with one of the new Blood Brothers covers on it, as well as all digital swag in the campaign. If we add more physical goodies, they’ll be included in this box.

One of the things I’m hoping to add is a set of character cards, but we need to reach our stretch goal for the set of nine family trees first – it’s so close!

There’s another new addition to the campaign, too. Everyone who backs a full set of the special edition books in any format (ebook, trade paperback or hardcover), signed or not, will have their name included in the acknowledgements of the new editions. Yes, in all four books, in all three editions.

Come on over to Kickstarter and check out the Blood Brothers campaign! Don’t miss your chance to make pretty books together!

The Scot & the Sorceress special edition available in the Blood Brothers Kickstarter February 2024