The Cover Reveal
We officially announced THE REAPER on Monday 24th February. It happened a bit later than I had expected, but the wait was worth it. Rosie Grant from the campaign team put the promo trailer together and it went live at 5PM. By the next day, it had racked up 10, 000 views. I shared the cover and the trailer on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky, and got shouted out by Kalynn Bayron, NE Davenport, and Kiersten White, among others. Thanks to everyone’s support, the trailer caught the eye of a certain indie bookshop that I had queried once before – watch this space for a potential collab!
I was blown away by the trailer and the response to the cover. I’m so happy everyone loves it. And with that, I can finally respond to myself, and the article I wrote about my book cover anxieties.
Initially, I was so desperate for success, that I thought the only way to make it as a Black person in the fantasy space was to assume racial ambiguity. I will never seek validation from bigots, but I do believe THE REAPER would appeal to classic urban fantasy fans – people who love Rivers of London, Anita Blake, Southern Vampires, and others, and they might disqualify themselves as potential readers if they see Black people on the cover. All fears immediately vanished when I saw the draft cover.
The plain, black and white sketch, created by Raymond Sebastien, made my eyes sting with tears. I ran into the living room to show my husband, and his mouth dropped open. Del Rey’s vision for THE REAPER was spot on – if I, who had reservations, was totally won over by a black and white sketch, then the final product had to be a hit. And it was! I’ve had so many comments about it, and one person even said they’d preordered just based on the cover alone. Covers really make a difference, I just didn’t realise to what extent.
Black author: please, please affirm yourself. Don’t let the inequalities of publishing, and the general culture of racism towards writers of colour deter you from being your true, authentic self. I felt so validated when I saw everyone’s excitement, and I was touched by some of the comments, comments from readers who were so excited to see a woman with their skin colour, and their hairstyle, on the cover of an adult fantasy.
Hopefully, the trajectory climbs upwards from here. I still have a lot of reservations about my success and it's impossible not to fall into comparisons with the other major books being published by Del Rey this year. I would like to think I could return to this exact blog post a year from now and tell my past self that there was nothing to worry about. I'm just glad the cover reveal finally introduced The Reaper to the world - and hopefully, its true, supportive audience.