A recent release that caught my eye the first time I saw the cover was Kate Pearce‘s Tudor Vampire book, Kiss of the Rose. Not just because of the interesting time period, but because … well, look at the cover.

For one thing, it’s gorgeous. And that was part of the eye-catching part. But the smart part? It was that I immediately associated it with the Tudor period. Why? Well, because I’d seen these images in so many places:

I don’t even watch the show, and I made the Tudor association. Was it intentional? I don’t know how it was not (and if it wasn’t — whoa, synchronicity). But that’s awesomely smart marketing, to create a cover that resembles a popular image, and yet still manages to say very clearly: Tudor vampires and romance, everyone!

And, it’s gorgeous.

I’ve replaced all of the Iron Duke covers with the updated version — it’s a small change, barely visible on the images I have around the site, so I blew it up (and included a nipple. Don’t say I never did anything for you.)

Airship + Nip! = Steampunk Romance

Hee.

Also — there’s an excerpt for the Iron Duke in the back of Demon Blood. Yet another reason to buy it, right?

I’ve heard that an airship HAS been added to the Iron Duke cover. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll probably have the new version sometime next week or so.

So, on Twitter, Maili said: The crucial question is where about on the cover will the little airship be placed?

I’m guessing it will be in the background. As long as it’s not here –

As long as it's not here, it's all good.

– it’s all good.

…the airships in the Iron Seas world don’t look like that, anyway. (Of course, neither do the smokestacks and the jacket, but as long as there are gears and mantitty to say STEAMPUNK ROMANCE, I’m A-OK.)

So, this is the almost-final cover to THE IRON DUKE. If you saw the prelim version in the Berkley fall catalog, you’ll notice the changes are basically that he’s bigger and dirtier…just the way I like him.

The background will be changed a little (they are adding an airship) but since it’s a small alteration and may be a while before we see the final version, I’ve been given the go-ahead to post this.

(click to embiggen)

And just the front cover, w/o the back:

(click to embiggen)

…talking about all of the changes the Demon Blood cover went through before it was finalized.

Carolyn Crane, blogger extraordinaire at the Thrillionth Page, has her debut releasing today, the first of an urban fantasy trilogy called MIND GAMES. I got a chance to read it months and months ago, and this is what I said then,

“With a twisty, edgy storyline, a unique premise and a fascinating heroine, MIND GAMES jumpstarts a smart and original urban fantasy series. A fabulous debut!”

It has a twisted, comic-book feel to it, which pretty much guaranteed that I’d love it, but the smart writing just knocked it out of the park for me.

Over at Lurv a la Mode, KMont has posted the cover for THE IRON DUKE … at least the cover that Berkley used for the catalog. The cover is still undergoing changes (to the dude in the porthole) but you can get a general idea of the look it will have. I love it (and am glad they are tweaking porthole dude )

#1 The Full-Length Embrace Never Goes Out of Style:

#2 The Woman In A Dress is Still Going Strong:

#3 But the Brightly Colored Closeup of Our Couple from the Waist Up is Gaining Strength
(this trend is what inspired this post, btw — I just realized how many of these I’ve seen lately):

#4 And if a Reprint, You Are a Blurry Woman’s Head:

I think the Karen Ranney is particularly interesting, because she went from Woman in a Dress covers, to a Blurry Man Head cover, then a Couple’s Embrace, and now this ‘newer’ closeup trend. Anyway. I like trends #2 & #3 better than #1 & #4, although #3 will definitely be on a case-by-case basis. There’s the real opportunity for some fugly slipping in there.

…the Demon Blood cover? I didn’t think I’d ever love any cover as much as Demon Forged, but Oh My God…holy WOW. The cover artist, Cliff Nielsen, is the same — and once again, I’m blown away. There are a few changes to the font that will be made, but otherwise, I think it’s perfect for Rosalia and the book.

Also, today is Friday! Come give a shout-out to your favorite cover artists at Odd Shots.

This is for the BURNING UP anthology. My Iron Seas novella, “Here There Be Monsters,” will kick off the new series in August 2010. And look at that lineup!

And I didn’t post this cover, but I probably could have. Come see my shame.