The special editions of The Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances are now available in my online store. This includes the ebooks, as well as the trade paperbacks and hardcover editions – and the Reader Companion in both ebook and trade paperback.
The Champions of St. Euphemia Reader Companion is available exclusively from me – in my online store, at reader events or in Kickstarter campaigns.
The special editions of the individual books include a series map and family trees – in ebook, trade paperback and hardcover.
You can shop them all on this page at Hazel & Honeysuckle Press.
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.
A bit belatedly, I realized that I hadn’t shown you the hard cover special editions of the Blood Brothers books. We’ll fix that today. 🙂
These editions have the new illustrations by Dar Albert. I showed off the trade paperbacks with their duplex covers (which have the illustrations on the inside of the cover) in this post. For the hard cover, there’s a dust jacket with the type and the illustration appears on the case laminate, like this digital mock-up to the right. Both have a matte finish that feels really luxe to me.
Let’s look at the actual books now that I have a few on my shelf. Here are the four books with their dust jackets:
Here are the fronts of the case laminates:
And the backs of the case laminates:
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 Blood Brothers map is included in these editions, too, and we split it so details wouldn’t vanish into the gutter.
Finally, there’s a list of acknowledgements in these editions to thank all the Kickstarter backers who helped bring these editions to life. There are more on the other side of the page.
The spiral notebooks that are left are also 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 two sample books have the illustration on the cover, but don’t have the map or family trees inside.
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!
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 new family tree for Inverfyre is done and ready for you to download. This is updated through The Runaway Bride (1434) but you can see there’s a little bit of foreshadowing about the Hawk, too.
It’s been added to the Family Tree page with the other Ravensmuir family trees, too.
Claire Delacroix 