House of Earth and Blood

Despite my plans to finish multiple novels last week, the only book I read over spring break was Sarah J Maas’ new book House of Earth and Blood. I am a huge Sarah J Maas fan and I have been waiting for the first book in her new Crescent City series for almost three years. The release date for House of Earth and Blood kept getting pushed back due to personal events in the author's life and at a certain point, I wondered if it was actually ever going to come out. Now that it is not only in the world but it’s a story I have read I have lots of feelings and thoughts on this 800-page novel. 

One interesting thing about Maas’ books is that they tend to have really big and eventful pre-order campaigns. For the past five years each time she comes out with a book if you prove you ordered the novel from a place that isn’t Amazon they will send you some kind of prize like a poster or pin. Each book distributor also has its own special edition filled with fan art or bonus content so that super fans have to buy more than just one copy to see everything. This time Maas even did a digital book signing for people who pre-ordered at a specific time. All of this is to say I think that Bloomsbury does a great job not only marketing her books but making it so that fans are in some way rewarded for coming back for each of her releases. 

Maas, like most authors, tends to go on widespread book tours after the publication of a new novel but she recently announced that due to coronavirus she would not be able to travel. This, however, led her to do a live google hangout to talk about House of Earth and Blood as well as some of her other upcoming work. As someone who watched the full one and a half hour long video, I think it was a great idea to answer questions she gets on tour for all of her readership to see so even though she isn’t touring she was about to get out information on her current projects. 

One thing that stood out in this video after our week of talking about covers was how she played a role in the design of her book. She explained that Bloomsbury asked her what aesthetic/vibe she was looking for and she sent them back the name of an artist who she appreciated. Bloomsbury then got the artist (Carlos Quevedo) to create a cover for the book. After lots of debate, the publishers decided they wanted to adjust the color of the front to appear more red so it would pop more on shelves while Maas suggested that if they couldn’t use the original art on the cover they could include it on the front and end pages of the book. I thought it was interesting to hear Maas’ experience with her own covers and how she was able to have a role in the decision-making process.