Cover Love US-Style . . . With Rosie Hendry

Posted on 19th August, 2021

Welcome to a Cover Love blog with a difference. This week saga author Rosie Hendry is going to share the American covers for her East End Angels series. It's facinating to see the difference between the US and UK covers.

 

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The rights to publish the East End Angels series in the USA and Canada were never sold to my UK traditional publisher, so I’ve now published all four books independently in e-book and print in those territories.

 

Each book has been re-edited and given a new cover more suited for the American and Canadian market. I did lots of research looking at book covers, comparing UK and USA/Canadian covers and there’s a definite difference. Sometimes publishers take account of what readers look for in each country and will publish the same book with separate covers for the UK and USA/Canadian markets.

 

I used Design for Writers who came highly recommended, to design the covers. Andrew did a wonderful job designing the whole series.

 

One of the important things that I wanted to get across on all the covers, was that the books are set in London, so they needed iconic images on the front that shouted out London to a reader at first glance. And of course, they had to say wartime, too.

 

Andrew came up with the brilliant background image that conveys both time and place for East End Angels. It’s a real photograph of the burning docks beyond Tower Bridge, taken at the start of the Blitz. The sight of plumes of smoke rising into the air from the bombing, combined with silhouettes of aircraft flying overhead portrays the place and era perfectly. This is a sight witnessed by the characters in the book. It’s perfect for illustrating the dangers and challenges they must face in their role as ambulance crew, as well as in their personal lives living in a city under attack.

 

With these books, we decided to go for just one person on the cover, compared with the three used on the UK covers. Each book has the same model but different images. The whole series, with the different colour tones on each cover, also fit together well as a set.

 

It took time to get the East End Angels cover right, coming up with an appropriate tag-line and blurb, making small adjustments until we were happy. I’m delighted with the finished result and the cover has had good feedback.

 

It feels different to the UK publisher’s edition of East End Angels, which looks cosier.

 

 

My daughter recently read the book for the first time and was surprised at the story. In her late teens, she’d judged it to be a gentler, Second World War on the Home Front book, going by the publisher cover, when in fact it is a grittier story, portraying the reality of working as ambulance crew rescuing casualties of the Blitz. She felt the new cover of East End Angels was a better fit for the story. I hope that American and Canadian readers of historical fiction will be intrigued enough by the cover to find out more!

 

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In a city under attack, everyone must play their part.

 

London, 1940 - When East-Ender, Frankie, joins the ambulance crew at Station Seventy-Five, she finally has a chance to follow her dreams, while still caring for those she loves at home. Can she find her inner strength when faced with the shocking reality of a city at war?

 

Upper-class Winnie likes to go her own way, working as an ambulance driver despite her parents’ disapproval. Pushing against the rules, she throws herself into her work until a tragedy forces her to wonder if she’s made the right choice.

 

Former housemaid Bella’s ambitions were crushed by family circumstance. Now she’s found a new job and a home she loves. But when the air raids start, will she be forced to begin life all over again?

 

Working together at ambulance Station Seventy-Five, in London during 1940, the three East End Angels form a strong bond and come to depend on each other. Can the ties of friendship, family and love help them survive the Blitz?

 

Readers love East End Angels

“What an absolutely stunning debut. I simply adored this book.” NetGalley reviewer

 

“As soon as I opened up the book I felt myself transported back in time. Rosie Hendry has a beautiful way of writing that completely draws the reader into the story. I could hear the bombs and smell the smoke as I totally and utterly got swept away.” It’s all about the books blog

 

“This book touched my heart!” 5* NetGalley reviewer

 

“One of the best books I’ve read for a while, each time I opened the book and got stuck into the chapters I was just in the world and nothing else mattered! I adored the characters and the friendships that bonded and I was just so invested.” Goodreads reviewer

 

“I absolutely loved this book” Goodreads reviewer

 

“Utterly brilliant nostalgia.” Goodreads reviewer

 

“The author creates an authentic sense of time and place which really captures the uncertain war time mood.” Jaffareadstoo book blog

 

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Rosie's author page on Amazon UK   

 

Rosie's author page on Amazon US 

 

Rosie's author page on Amazon Canada  

 

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