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Reichs' 'symbolic' new look

29.02.08 Benedicte Page

Arrow is to give crime giant Kathy Reichs her first major backlist repackage in May, with seven titles reissued alongside her new paperback Bones to Ashes.

The new look is the work of Random House designer­ Glenn O'Neill, and is intended to use symbolic and attractive images in an unsettling way. It was trialled in 2006 on the paperback of Cross Bones, the title that gave the author her first paperback number one. All titles will be £6.99 A-format paperbacks.

Publishing director Kate Elton said: "The challenge with Kathy, sitting in a very commercial and much-imitated area, is how you make the brand leader look like the brand leader when there are so many others. Her jacket style hadn't really changed since Déjà Dead, which is a long time, because her sales grew every year anyway. But we wanted to lift her to a new growth level and we felt we needed to have a new message to bring to the trade."

Elton said the new look communicates that Reichs’ books are pacy thrillers, without the overt use of body parts, knives or bullets, which could be offputting to a female readership. "Instead we’re using images, like the mangled flower on Fatal Voyage, which are symbolic rather than literal, beautiful and unsettling. Kathy has a wide readership and we wanted a look that wouldn’t put off her more sophisticated readers. We're also using strong branding on her name." 

Benedicte Page Books Arrow Kathy Reichs

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