Okay, so I posted on my blog last night to give a sneak peek of the cover for The Accidental Vampire, and to give the pub dates of the next three Argeneau books, AND to announce that contract negotiations are apparently over (I have nothing to do with them but to okay the end results) and apparently Avon has contracted for FOUR rather than three books. So after Marguerite's story there will be FOUR more stories in the series at least. COOOL!

If you want to go take a look at the cover and pub dates, go to http://lynsaysands.spaces.live.com/

Lynsay, back to writing to (hopefully) meet this latest deadline LOL

Can I be the first to say I soooooo love that cover!!! W-O-W!!! Talk about H-O-T!!!

*hugs*
Tigger

Just curious, did they give you a reason for why the next books won't be published until next year? Is this to give you time to make corrections or have you already done your part? If you are completely done, then why the long wait? Is this an internal reason at the publishing company, like they are only allowed so many romance novels in a given year and they have met their quota for 2007? Really, besides being disappointed that I will have to wait that long, I wonder at the reasons behind it. I like to know how things work behind the scenes.

Oh, the cover, it confuses me a bit because I thought the main character was the female vampire and most of what we see is a man's chest. It is a great-looking chest mind you. Then again, you usually give us the perspective from both the male love interest and the female so I guess it fits even though we can barely see the woman over his shoulder. How much imput does an author have in choosing the cover? If you really hated it, would they change it? Again, just curious.

Well, I have to get back to reading "The Brat". (Which is really good so far. I love the concern she expresses over his "injury" on their wedding night *snicker*)I just picked it up today at Barnes and Noble. I had to ask a clerk to find it for me. Apparently their computer said it was in stock but I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. The clerk re-searched where I had already looked (very annoying that they don't trust you when you say you already looked there) and finally checked the stockroom (which I had already suggested at the beginning) and found it there. She also put a few copies out on the shelf so I did my small part to help increase sales for you.

Kimberly

I forgot. I love the title for Thomas's book, Vampires are Forever, very clever!

Kimberly

Glad you like it Tigger.

Kimberly, you've asked a complicated question. The books are usually scheduled well ahead. They probably have a year planned in advance. These books would normally have been published August 2007, February 2008 and then August 2008. I'm guessing they had to rearrange alot when they decided to print them one month after another and January, February, March was the earliest three month block they could open up for it. So whiile you're having to wait longer than you normally would have for The Accidental Vampire, the good side is that you're getting the last book early, March is a lot sooner than August. And it should only be six months after that for the next so you're actually getting an extra book out of it time wise.

The first two books are corrected and revised. Marguerite's story is the only one still to be corrected and revised and my editor is working on it right now, so I should have it anytime soon. I can correct them in a day or two and send it right back.

In The Accidental Vampire, the male character is actually the Argeneau, Victor Argeneau (Vincent's father). Elvi is a non-Argeneau.

As for cover input, as far as I know, the author generally has none to little. They ask for hair color, eye color, and scene ideas each time, but I've never known them to use it. For Bite Me If You Can, I told them Lucian was blond, Leigh brunet and suggested the scene from the beginning of the book; Three men in long leather coats, one possibly carrying a female, silhouetted against a wall of flames. They would have just been dark images against the flames, moving toward the viewer, no features.

I don't mind that they didn't use the image idea, but I got a blonde gal and dark haired guy, the opposite of the characters. Shrug. Other than that I liked the cover.

Glad you're enjoying The Brat, I really have to get back to work. Later guys!

Lynsay

Thanks for the quick reply Lynsay. Glad to know that there is a logical reason for the delay in the first Argeneau book and I guess it is worth it in order to have the other two come out so quickly afterwards. Strange to think that the author hardly has any control over the cover. Maybe you should ask around and see if they are taking advantage of you!

Kimberly

I'm not a big fan of the cover. But, it's only because I think it lacks imagination. A lot of covers out there that do the bare chested guy thing. And the tattoo there on a guy is a tad weird.
It's just me, and I don't think I'm a total prude, but I don't like hauling around books with some half naked hunk larger than life on the cover. It's just like, If I'm sitting on the bus I'd rather have another cover.
Even if it was a half naked hunk in an embrace with a woman-that would be better than just the up-close half-naked hunk for me. Does that make sense?
Ah well, it's the content that counts, and that, Lynsay, is ALWAYS gold.
Maybe it's good you don't have much input into the covers tho, from a work perspective, because it would be a lot of work to come up with cover ideas too!
-Jen in T.O. (Hope I didn't offend!!)

Ooooh, yes, I forgot to mention that I love the name of Thomas' book, too!!! Can't wait to read it!!!

*hugs*
Tigger

I learned a long time ago, before I had discovered Lynsay, that authors have little say in the titles or art associated with their books. I guess that is why publishers have art departments & illustrators, and I wouldn't mind if they would pay more attention to the author's comments about the story and characters. Maybe the artists can't read every book, but reading the author's comments or a short summary about the story/characters would help the artists appear to know what they are doing! For example, I do happen to notice when the cover models don't match the description of the characters when I read the book, regardless of the genre. Also, it is the cover that helps catch the eye of a new reader browsing through a bookstore or library and a catchy title goes a long way to having that reader pick the book up and look it over. That is how I discovered Lynsay's books in our local Barnes and Noble, and some kind lady nearby showed me which one to begin with of the available titles on display. So, I read Single White Vampire and the quest was on for all books Argeneau, er, I meant Sands. LOL Trust me, even if historicals are not your thing, give Lynsay's a try because they are just as hysterically funny as her other books!

I really wish the publishers would allow authors more say in the titles of their books. I know they have plenty of information to tell them if it is a title already being used or too close to another author's idea. Avon publishes many of my favorite authors, but I preferred the titles of Love Bites, Single White Vampire, and Tall, Dark, & Hungry. For that matter, I preferred the cover art because it was more humorous. The new books dark covers with shadowy people and the word "Bite" in every title were a little too cliche, as if the covers had to be like all the other vampire romances out in published book-land. And Lynsay's vamps are not at all like the "others" that aren't meant to be funny and lighthearted, but have an entirely different style. I'm not bashing other paranormal romances, because there are several authors that I read and enjoy, but very few that are truly funny. Possibly, your new publisher had to make the books look different from the previous publisher for legal reasons and other such nonsense. I just know that it was the covers of SWV and TD&H that caught my eye in the bookstore, because I had read Christine Feehan's "Dark" series and Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Dark-Hunters" and I was just looking for something different and the cute covers of the earlier published Argeneau books kind of jumped out at me. I will have to go look at Accidental's cover, but at least they kept Lynsay's title. I did think A Bite To Remember was a good title that actually fit the story, but Lynsay's Once Bitten was a much better title for Lucian's story.

However, as long as they contract for more and publish Lynsay's books, I'll just overlook the publishers lack of good judgement when they put their own title and cover art on it without her input. If you can deal with it Lynsay, then I'll just deal with it also. I've had to do the same for a couple of other favorite authors. I'm just thankful that you were able to take your Argeneau characters with you when you moved to a different publishing house. I really think that authors should be able to retain rights to their characters above all, regardless of publishing houses. Twice, I've been reading an author's work, and when she changed publishers, she was unable to continue to write about characters from her previously published work. Yeah, Lynsay, it's me, Renee, whining because Lord Robert Mullin has to stay in historical oblivian until who knows when...but I do thank you for emailing me so quickly in spite of your schedule and explaining how the system works. But it's just a teeny whine, because I am very grateful that you were able to get your rights to continue with our beloved Argeneaus, and it would be big sobs if they had not worked that out to all of our immense satisfaction.

Well, I'm off to look at the new book cover. I'll do a newbie intro, but for now y'all, I'm Wren (aka Renee) wife to EG and homeschooling mom to Duncan & Donovan.

You know, Lynsay, you have a picture of the original humorous cover from Love Is Blind which I thought was much better suited for the story than the "pretty cover" they chose. I don't know why the distributors didn't go for it, but as my dh and dss would say "there you go, thinking again..."

When I grow up, maybe I'll design covers and catchy titles for books My 13yo son currently wants to be a book publisher...maybe he will give his dear old mom a job. I'll just dodder on down to the office with my walker and bifocals, and be an angel reading all the great romances to design just the right cover and title with the author's ideas firmly in mind...and when my son disagrees, I'll just tug him by the ear to a mirror and we'll both look while I remind him all his dear mother did for him for all those years. If he doesn't give me a job, I'll just tell him what your readers expect!

The always angelic Wren

Just looked at the cover of Accidental Vampire and it seems to follow along with the other Avon Argeneau books. Overall, I think that is a good idea, as it provides continuety for new readers to the series, and for those who purchase them to keep. Who knows, Avon may eventually aquire rights where they can republish LV, SWV, and TD&H, to make the series have one look. I know that some of the other historical authors that I read have older books coming out with new covers, although nothing has been changed otherwise.

So they put a guy with a hunky chest on front. Well...that is much better than the old bodice-ripper romance covers of, ahem, a few years ago that those of us of a certain age can remember, imo. Those were really embarrassing, now that I think about it. Personally, I'm glad both the stories and the covers have grown in the romance industry since those days.

I guess we are continuing a pattern with the bat tattoo. Seems like a bat has to go on each cover somewhere. A Bite To Remember has a bat charm bracelet, Bite Me If You Can has either a bat shadow or tattoo on the female cover model, and I don't know about A Quick Bite cause all I see is lipstick and bite marks on the guy's neck. Someone needs to point out that these particular immortals do not turn into bats, but I doubt it would have any effect on the cover art.

The new titles are nifty. I see they are going with "vampire" for the key word in the next three books, but at least the titles are cute. I like the sound of Marguerite's title. Lynsay, did you have some say in these titles, because they seem a lot better than Avon's first grouping? Not sure about Thomas', because Vampires Are Forever is kind of general, so I hope the title is explained by the story. Lucian's title, Bite Me If You Can, didn't make a lot of sense to me when I read the book, but the original title, Once Bitten, was perfect. After all, Leigh was already bitten

Three books, three months in a row, sounds like a way to make winter bearable. I'll be asking Santa to put a big gift certificate to the bookstore in my stocking. I'll have to be extra good this year.

Congratulations, Lynsay, on the order for four more books. Your publisher has made a wise decision.

I don't seem to know how to write a short post, so I'll close now before you all get tired of me.

Jen, I don't like to carry around books graced with the hunky chest cover either, but I really dislike those old bodice-ripper covers.
Both seem to give people the wrong idea about good romance books. I hope I didn't offend!

Wren

LOL!!! The sexier the cover the better for me!!!

*hugs*
Tigger

I am SOOOOOO looking forward to the next 3. I just started reading Lynsay's books (don't know why since I read and LOVED The Perfect Wife when it was released). I read all the Argeneau back2back and was let down when I finished BMIYC because there were no more, yet. Glad to hear four more have been contracted. Love Thomas and really look forward to his story.

completely agree! I find myself on some of the romance books hiding the cover by folding the books cover completely back so no one see it and comments on it. I kept from reading any for so long because of the covers on them. The publishers should really consider how many people don't read them for that reason. Is this the reason for jacket coves maybe? Was my mom reading these when I was kid and all her books had a cover when she was reading them? I am going to have to ask her now.....

Omg omg omg! I am soooo looking forward to reading the next three books! Yay! I'm sure I'm going to love them
BTW: I love the cover for AV

That is awesome!! I just have to say I read The Brat and enjoyed it quite a bit. Quality people in the book as usual!

What I can't understand is that they have 3 completely finished books and they just keep them (probably behind lock and key) all this time just because they want to let them out in following months. Whose bright idea was that by the way? To keep the fans waiting. :( That's just mean. I hate waiting that long. Especially since the books are ready. I would understand if they were'n ready yet, but they are... What if all the fans just begged that the books would be released earlier, would that help???

About the cover; I like that they keep the backround black so the books look nice in the shelf. I hate it when in the series they use all the colors of rainbow in the covers, for example MJ Davidson's Betsy books.

Perhaps the books have to wait for their turn in the line for the printing press? Is there anyone out there who has ever worked in the publishing industry who could help us to understand how the process works?

Kimberly

As an aside to Wren who commented that the title Vampires Are Forever was kind of general, I thought it was a play on the phrase "Diamonds Are Forever". Supposedly diamonds are the best gift to give a woman but don't you think a hunky vampire would be a better gift?

Kimberly

Nope Jen, you didn’t offend. I’m not too comfortable with the Accidental cover either. I opened it and went UGH! Beefcake!! LOL. Not that my guys aren’t cuties, but there’s more to them than that. At least I like to think so.

Hugs Wren!! And thank you. As for my getting to take my Argeneaus with me, that’s all thanks to my agent. She is the one who managed to finagle it. She is awesome! As for the Vampire titles, the only one I named was the Accidental title. However there is a line in Thomas’s Vampires are Forever where he says about love that with Vampires, it’s forever or something like that.

Heli and Kimberly, I think the delay also has something to do with the printer. They have to have the books done editing and proofing and everything at least six months before printing. I presume they ship it to the printer, the printer fits it into their schedule, the books are printed, boxed and shipped to the publisher’s warehouse (no doubt the cheapest method which would also take the longest time) and then the warehouse packs orders for stores and ships them out, again using the cheapest and longest method to keep costs down and then the stores shelve them. They also have to do the covers first as a separate order and possibly even a different printer. And then they have to go through binding. Shrug.

And thank you to Janette Tigger, Terri and Denise. I really have the best readers in the world. . . and I know it.

Lynsay

Hope you had a great birthday!!!
You sure made my day....... 3 in a row with out a year in between!!! Woot. And four more to boot!



Ohhhhhhhhhh yea it's a good day!!
Linda~

The cover looks fine to me...Seems the publishers all want to do the bare chested look. I almost didn't get the new book by Kristina Cook's new book..because it didn't look like her others which were colored with text. The new one has the bare chested guy..Gotta say though it shows my favorite part of a guys body below the arm pits to below the navel just above the pelvic bone:) For you guys that don't want to carry around a bare chested cover book ...they do make book covers for paperbacks...They're not easy to find but here are a few pages:

http://www.janway.com/bk_cover_d.htm

http://www.addedtouchstore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=4875U&S=GA&gclid=CNnTifXp5IwCFRX2ggodSRx47g


http://stores.ebay.com/DJ-Ts-Bargins_Books_books_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ1331053QQftidZ2QQtZkm

http://www.bookmatestore.com/bookmate-1.htm

I think I will have to look for one of those book covers. It is a little embarassing to carry around some of the books I have been reading lately (some older ones that seem prone to the bare-chested guy and bosom-heaving woman in a torrid embrace). I have a 7-year old girl, and two younger boys. They want to know what Mommy is reading. *blush* How do you explain the picture on the cover? By hiding it and changing the subject of course!

Kimberly

Kimberly, now Vampires Are Forever makes sense to me. Sometimes I have to be hit over the head with the obvious play on words "diamonds are forever"
before I get it. And, yes, getting a hunky Argeneau vampire would be the best diamond of all!


Lynsay, now I am sooooooo waiting for Thomas' story. To hear him speak in such a romantic manner ....

Love, wren

My friend had no idea what to say to the cover of this book. As a guy this cover is a little uncomfortable to carry around with. It was quite a surprising cover to see. For the longest time I avoided books with such covers. Because when people see the cover they give you that 'look' as if to say 'What on earth is he reading?'

And for authors not allowed to take their characters that should never happen as the publisher would have never gotten those characters without the author and plus they'd never be able to use them again. I'd say its just spite on the publishers part, they should never have any ownership over the characters themselves only over the books they published with them.

Welcome, Acal. It's great to have another guy on the forum. I can see where it would be uncomfortable to carry around books with covers like that. Vampire Interrupted should be much easier for you. Do you read other romance, too, or just paranormal? And have you invested in a book cover? I made a couple for myself.

As funny as it sounds romance covers in general never bothered me. I admit freely that I read them .

Usually though when I explained that the book is a romance the person will give me a look like "Oh she is not intelligent enough to understand a difficult book so she goes for the romance", which is completely untrue. That bothers more than toting around a book with bare chested men on it.

PS. Welcome ACAL look forward to hearing your thoughts on the forum.

My own pet dislike in any book genre is when a perfectly good cover is replaced by one featuring the actors, or a scene from the current movie version of the book.

I don't know why but I always feel this is a real insult to the original.

Dave

Yeah I read a lot of paranormal stuff, I just can't read anything else anymore unless its a great action novel, generally anything that caries a lower then M rating bores me. Ever since i started reading Kelley Armstrong's stuff all i've wanted to read is this kind of stuff.

Oh, I so love Kelley Armstrong's books! Clay and Elena are my favorites!

*hugs*
Tigger

My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon has a short story on Clay and Elena at the front of it. Unless your a big fan of Kelley Armstrong or like the other authors in the book its a really boring book.

I'm a huge fan! And I totally bought the book just for that story! I've so been waiting for Clay and Elena to finally get married!

*hugs*
Tigger

Acal, I too am a big paranormal fan but I find that I sometimes need a break from them. I collected all of Kerri Arthur's Riley Jensen Guardian books that were out and read them all one after the other and by the time I was finished I really needed a nice simple romance book to relax with, don't get me wrong I loved the books and I am hoping to get the latest when it comes out but I found reading them one right after another really intense. I haven't read Lynsay's Argeneau Series yet (I know, I know don't worry I am getting them!) but I love her historicals and by the way she writes I am sure that won't be a problem with these books as she always has a lighter side to her stories.

Jodi

Yeah I know what you mean, I didn't read anything for awhile after I read the Riley Jenson series. I do have a few non-paranormal books though.

I agree, Mr. Spice. I like the original covers instead of the covers put out when a book is made into a movie. I feel that way regardless of if I like the author!

I also don't like adaptations or abridged books. Give me the real thing...like a Coca-Cola...no matter what we call soda here in the south.

wren

I have to read a variety or get burned out. But lately I've been reading all paranormal with just a few historical romance thrown. But the paranormals I read range in tone so that gives me the variety I need.

Someone mentioned that they read the Kerrelyn Sparks "Love at Stake" series. I love that one, too. I also highly recommend Susan Sizemore's "Primes" series.

I have the same pet peeve about abridge books. They really shouldn't do that to a book.

I guess the best way to describe what I like in a book is something that catches my interest. It could be historical fiction, non fiction, romance, sci-fi, or paranormal. Doesn't matter the genre. I am willing to read just about anything. And if I don't like it, well then lessoned learned.

Denise, I so love Kerrelyn Sparks' Love at Stake Series! Vamps and the City is my favorite! Her books remind me a lot of Lynsay's!

*hugs*
Tigger