The setup

I must confess, I would never make it as a book designer. When it comes time to develop my novels’ cover designs, I wrack my addled brain for ideas and almost always come up empty. A few pictures may flash into my head but they’re often too literal, too on the nose. I can think creatively when developing a story, but ask me to conjure up a visual image to represent the book and I’m usually stumped. This has happened for almost every one of my novels. (By the way, I did write an earlier post about book covers that you can read here.)

I marvel at book designers who can read a manuscript and then capture the essence of the story in one stark image. And that’s just what Matthew Flute has done in the covers of my last three novels—including The Marionette—and a couple of second edition covers from my backlist.

Here are the covers Matthew has designed for my novels, so far.

You can see similar design language, particularly in the book titles and author’s name. He is trying to give my novels a certain look and feel so that readers subconsciously—subliminally?—recognize something familiar about a book cover as they scan bookstore shelves, and stop to look again. You’ll see a similar “look” in the cover of The Marionette below. I really like Matthew’s work. Here’s his website showcasing more of his designs.

The final two cover options duking it out

Designing a book cover is an iterative artistic process. Colours, fonts, and images are endlessly tweaked on various concepts before my publishing team at McClelland & Stewart/ Penguin Random House (M&S/PRH) narrow it down to a few, or in this case, two finalists. In short, I know there were many more cover concepts that Matthew Flute explored—that I will never see—but these are the two finalists my editor shared with me as we deliberated on which one to choose for the cover.

I’m quite fond of them both. In the one on the left, I liked Matthew’s shadow work and the green colour and the deep blue font colour. In the one on the right, I quite like what seemed to me to be the innovative stacking of the title and my name compressed in the middle of the cover’s real estate, and the striking red colour. As well, I love the look of the body of the marionette, as if he’s falling, out of control.

The final decision: Ta daaaaa!

In the end, the team and I agreed that the red cover had a little more going for it than the green one, though I really liked them both. So, dear readers, let me lift the veil to reveal the cover of The Marionette:

We have some blurbs coming for the novel and one of them may well be printed in that perfect little space above the puppet master’s hand at the top of the cover, or perhaps running along the bottom. More on the blurbs in a future post.

I love the final cover. I think the yellow really pops, and we’ve never really had such a dominantly red cover. My name in white, in that particular font, is consistent with my previous two novels, and the two backlist covers, Matthew developed. So I guess you could argue there’s a strand of design continuity running through all five of those covers. And that is intended to make the new cover more recognizable and familiar to readers. At least, I think that’s the theory behind it. As soon as I have the full cover image (including the back cover and flaps), I’ll share it with you all.

Bravo Matthew Flute! You’ve done it again. I’m grateful.

Why yes, you now can preorder The Marionette…

Thanks for asking! With the cover revealed, yes, The Marionette is now available for preorder in Canada and in the United States. I know we’re still a little more than four months away from the launch, but preorders are particularly helpful because they are all tallied and added to the first week’s sales, which really helps the novel get out of the gate quickly and (hopefully) onto the bestsellers lists.

Since I do have some subscribers in the U.S., I’ve not only provided below links to The Marionette on the major Canadian online retail sites, but the American ones, too. Just click on the desired logo. Of course, you can also preorder through your favourite independent bookstore.

Christmas is coming… eventually! Thanks so much.

Preorders in Canada:

Preorders in the United States:

A few more updates on The Marionette

Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) have arrived

We have now received the ARCs for The Marionette and they are currently being delivered to book reviewers and booksellers. Another milestone reached in the long road to publication. (ARC’s aren’t the final version of the book, just a basic prepublication edition—without the bells and whistles—intended for specific audiences, to help get the word out.)

Release date now October 7, 2025

For a combination of reasons, we’ve moved up the publication date of The Marionette by one week. So, despite what the yellow badge says on the ARC above, The Marionette will now be available in bookstores on Tuesday, October 7, 2025. Of course if you preorder it now at your favourite independent bookstore or online retailer, you’ll beat the rush and have the book in your hands on launch day. What could be better?

terryfallis.com updated to feature The Marionette

My website (terryfallis.com) has been updated with the addition of The Marionette.

Wrapping up…

Many thanks for checking this out. Here’s hoping you’ll subscribe—it’s free and easy—so you won’t miss any future posts. See you in two weeks.

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