Guess What's Getting A Cover Re-Vamp?!

I feel like this blog post would best be described in a combination of Minion and RDJ gifs.

When I first published Illumine in 2012, there wasn't enough feel-related pictures or quotes to show how excited I was to dive head-first into the tricky waters of indie publishing. I had waited so long to share this story to the world, that I ended up growing pretty impatient and, well, shooting myself in the foot with the first things readers see when they check out a book.

The cover.

How was Illumine's original cover? Good, right?

To be perfectly honest, the original cover really, truly, stank. It was cute... for an 8-year-old learning an above-average program similar to MS Paint. But I still wasn't quite ready to go cover artist hunting, so I kept the cover, only to later run into the problem of the second cover not matching the first. As an indie author, branding early means ALL THE THINGS. It's like if Apple didn't brand with an apple, but a pear, and still called themselves Apple. Can you say 'hello confusion'?

I went back to the drawing board, only this time with a few more tricks under my belt, errr, up my sleeve. Hours of screaming matches at the computer, music that never fit my mood, and I-lost-count how many microwave burritos and coffee later, the second and current cover to Illumine was finished. It matched the second book, the third cover that I had been silently prepping between writing the first two books, and the novella I had drafted.

This cover was better, right?

Well, sort of. It was good, definitely a step up, but nothing a crowd of wild minions would go ape-nuts over. That's probably when the epiphany struck me right over the head. Illumine would forever be one of those books, one of those series, that I simply could not un-attach myself from. As a result, I couldn't create a cover worthy of describing the tale inside its flap. 

So I went cover artist hunting, and contacted one woman who's name was whispered in alleyways, traded like gold in a tight market, a woman who's work reached so far and wide you can see her work on shelves in B&N. (Ahhh, the dream spot.) 

Who? Regina Wamba, aka miracle worker of Mae I Design. 

We talked, and within seconds of Facebook messages, I knew she was the one. Deposit down, time booked, and some emails later, and I got the cover of my dreams in my inbox. 

Want to know how a minion would react upon seeing the new cover? 

And inside I'm like- 

That's not even the best part. Best part? The entire series is getting a re-vamp of super shiny, smoldering, oh-my-goddess covers. 

When will you get to see them? Uber soon. How soon? Well, how about as soon as we get some sign-ups on this awesome series cover reveal sheet right here? Then you'll see them everywhere! 

Illumine's massive, explode-all-over-the-place cover reveal is set for December 6th, 2013!

Want to take part in the cover reveal and see it before everyone else?

Here's how:

You must be signed up by 9:00PM EST on December 3rd, 2013 in order to join the cover reveal!

And now, we wait for December 6th!