That said, I also vote to continue the current covers, with an ivory one for ECHO. And for the object on the cover, how about the box that contains the letters to Bree and Roger?

(A common motif on the spines wouldn’t be terrible, though.)

Well, see, you mention looking at the pearls on the cover. Presumably because you encountered the pearl necklace in the story.

OK. The necklace on the cover doesn’t look anything like the one described in the story, aside from the fact that it -is- a pearl necklace.

Cover illustrators almost never -read- the books; they take a brief description supplied (usually) by the editor, and half the time, they don’t pay any particular attention to that, either. (I recall one “step-back” cover for a (very good) romance novel set in the 18th century, featuring a marquis with black hair who’d been kidnapped and sold as a servant, and a blonde heroine in charge of her widowed brother-in-law’s children, living in the wilderness in Colonial America. What did the cover illustration show? A brown-haired man wearing–I kid you not–jeans and a plaid shirt, leaning on a shovel while ogling a brown-haired woman in a pink gingham dress with puffed sleeves and a poke bonnet to match.]

For that matter, I’ve seen the Polish book-club edition of THE FIERY CROSS–which (again, for reasons unknown) shows a partial torso-shot of a man in a short-sleeved plaid shirt embracing a young woman with long black hair. Who _are_ these people?!?

But that’s the major reason I don’t want illustrations of elements or people from the book–odds are, they’d be grossly inaccurate, but everyone would _think_ that was exactly what I meant them to look like, because after all, they’re right there on the cover! [rolling eyes]

Like others, I think, “If it’s not broken….”. I personally really like the jewel-toned covers with the simple icons.

What’s just as important to me is the heft, weight and the texture of the cover paper. I really like the texture of the jewel-toned covers. What is curious to me is why the cover of A Breath of Snow and Ashes is in shiny Silver, which neither matches the other jewel-toned copies in either hue or feel. I don’t like the silver as much as it shows more wear. I’ve read the series three times now, (since Sept 1st) and my copies of the first 5 books hardly look read, but the silver is showing some wear. Will there ever be a reprinting of A Breath of Snow and Ashes that will match the rest of the jewel-toned covers?

Additionally, I love the Lord John books and also appreciate the fact that they also match in style. They all look very nice together on my bookcase.

No, I’m afraid that skipping all talk about the cover would merely result in a dull cover. [g] I’m still *writing* the book; they can’t publish it ’til I’m done. That being so, they might as well think about the cover, the marketing, etc., etc. while I’m working.