Feature: New covers for Kristie Cook's Soul Savers Series! + A Giveaway!

Kristie recently asked Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic and I to help her out with the cover reveals for the first two books in her Soul Savers Series. Kristie is a great friend and I'm such a fan of the series I was more than excited to help out with such an amazing request. Jessica took the first book - Promise and I took the second book, Purpose. Take a look at the before and afters and let us all know what you think of the different between the two and what you like best. Kristie's eager to hear what you think so be sure to comment and let her know!

Purpose (Soul Savers, #2)

OLD COVER

NEW COVER

WOW! The new cover is amazing! But, before I gush over them further, I have a interview from Kristie to talk about the changes to the covers and the content changes in both books too.

Can you talk a little bit about the old covers vs. the new covers and how the change came about?

The old covers are pretty. The new ones are gorgeous. ‘nuff said. Haha! Okay, I’ll be serious. The old covers are symbolic, but no one gets the symbolism until I explain it, so it’s pretty much lost on everyone. And for some reason, the flowers seem to give the impression that the books are Young Adult, but they’re not. I also didn’t know how to carry the look out through the entire Soul Savers series. I’d hoped to find a professional cover artist by now who could take my vision and turn it into art and I did – author Brenda Pandos. She did an amazing job and we now have a theme to work with for the rest of the series.

What’s your favorite thing about the new covers?

Oh, so not fair. I love everything about them. One thing that’s important to me is not giving the reader a pre-conceived idea of what the main characters look like. I want the reader to take the basics I give them and make them their own. But I still wanted people on the covers, so I’m really happy with how the people are there, but not. The whole scene for each one just really encapsulates the stories. What’s your favorite thing?

It’s amazing that each book has some additional content; can you talk a bit about those changes and how it’ll impact anyone who’s already read the first two books in the series?

Promise – By the time PROMISE went to publication, it had been manipulated a lot, always in the best interest of the story. But in my heart, I always felt a little dissatisfied with it because, for me, it wasn’t “what really happened.” The order of events was changed up and scenes were altered or deleted when they shouldn’t have been. One scene has a change that isn’t huge but comes up in future books, the events have been returned to the order in which they really happened and a scene that had been deleted is now back in, providing some character insight that I think is much needed. There are some other minor changes, too—bringing back a sentence here or there that had been deleted and getting rid of others that shouldn’t have been added.

Purpose – The changes in PURPOSE are much less extensive than those in PROMISE. When I first wrote the books, they were actually one book and the middle section, the bridge between the two, was a series of letters Alexis had written Tristan on each of their anniversaries. Although she couldn’t send them, this was her way of keeping him updated on her and Dorian’s lives – and also bringing the reader up to speed. When I split the books, I took the letters out and tried to weave those things into the story. However, a lot of readers have the wrong impression of what Alexis had been like over the years and why she’s such a mess in the beginning of PURPOSE. The reason is not what everyone seems to think! I haven’t put the letters back in, but I’ve made some tweaks to the first few chapters to give the reader a better understanding of the past and the present. I may post the letters on my website or blog one of these days.

For the last year, I’d had a secret fantasy to go back and make all these changes. With the new covers and a few other additions – such as adding an excerpt of the next book – we had to obtain new ISBNs, which is basically the new bar code that says “this is a different book.” Since we have to go through all that anyway, we figured we may as well make it worth it. So my publisher let me fulfill my fantasy. Isn’t she awesome?

If you’ve already read PROMISE and PURPOSE, you don’t have to read the new releases to understand the future books. The one change in PROMISE that comes up in later books isn’t major enough to throw you into a big state of confusion if you haven’t read it. But if you’re up for reading them again, I think you’ll get a better grasp of Alexis and Tristan and what motivates their behavior in these two books. Also, PURPOSE has an excerpt of DEVOTION, Book 3, at the end.

When will we be able to purchase the books with the new covers and content? And for those of us with eReaders, when will they be available for download?

They’ll go live on Kindle hopefully by early next week and on Nook about the same time. It might take a week or two before they’re up on the other ereaders. They’ll be available in paperback format on my publisher’s store website ( http://www.readourwrites.com/ ) and Amazon in the next week or so and on other retailer sites in a month or two (sorry, but those guys just take longer to update their sites).

And lastly, can you go over some dates with us? For the novella, Genesis and the third book in the Soul Savers series – Devotion? When will we get a chance to see those covers and when will they be available for purchase?

GENESIS comes out October 28, 2011. The cover will be revealed later this month. I can’t wait!

DEVOTION comes out February 10, 2012. I expect the cover to be ready to share in September or October. I know it will be gorgeous, too.

Kristie, Thanks so much for stopping by both - A Life Bound By Books & Confessions of a Bookaholic - and for sharing the new covers with everyone. We can’t wait to re-read the first two books and the new content and to read Genesis & Devotion!

Thank you so much for having me! It’s always a pleasure to visit both of you and all your followers. I can’t wait to hear what you think. And seriously – what is your favorite thing about the new covers? Fill out the form and enter to win a Soul Savers Series swag pack. Two chances to win – one on each blog - here and at Confessions of a bookaholic!

Kristie has another giveaway going on over at her blog. Be sure to visit, check it out and enter to win some amazing prize packs! >>>CLICK HERE<<<

Find Kristie Online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Kristie is giving a lucky winner a Soul Saver Series swag pack! Two chances to win - one here and one on Jessica's blog!! So enter here and over at
Confessions of a Bookaholic!

Rules and how to enter -

You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
Please fill out the form provided, no entries in comments will be counted.
This giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only.
Giveaway ends: August 22nd, 2011
**Leave a comment to let Kristie know what you think of the covers!

Seriously, I love the new covers!! They are so fitting to the stories as well. Brenda did an amazing job that's for sure! The softness and colors are amazing. The images are just enough to give you a hint as to what Kristie has in mind for her characters, but does just as she said she wanted, in making it up to the reader to envision who her characters truly look like. I think the colors and the lightening are my favorite part of this one. The creepy eyes make you question things, and wonder just what they are all about. All I'll say is that you need to have read Promise to understand what I'm talking about. I'm really excited to see what the future books in the series covers will look like. Congrats to Kristie for being able to do the changes to both the covers and the content! Looking forward to a reread of both soon.

Good luck to everyone who enters both giveaways! Winners will be chosen via Random.org. If you have any questions please check my policy page or feel free to email.