Book Cover Reveal and Design Tips for a Series

I’m thrilled to reveal the cover for my newest book To Condemn a Witch!

Release Date: August 11, 2025

Behind-the-Scenes

I hired Stuart Bache to do the cover design again. (He designed the cover for To Rescue a Witch as well). He’s out of the UK and spoke at The History Quill conference previously, which is where I found him.

If you are interested in what makes a good book cover, whether to outsource with a firm, freelancer (like Fiverr) or do it yourself on Canva or ChatGPT, you might be interested in this post: Designing a Book Cover – 4 Tips to Consider.

The woman on the cover is Fiona MacLeod, a wise woman with clairvoyant powers. The original concept design for To Condemn a Witch was this:

While beautiful, I requested a few specific changes:

Fiona has orange eyes with light highlights around her face and the cover needed to more closely match the character description and she needed to face forward
The background was a bit too bright and misty
We added a bonfire in the bottom left corner

Here’s why I requested those changes:

Part of a Series

Since this book is part of Tales of the Witchborn series, I wanted to make sure it had the same look, feel and tone as the original book, To Rescue a Witch. That book has the little girl, Annaliese on the cover, facing forward. For your reference, here is the first book in the series:

Both final covers have the female protagonist facing forward, which honestly was a little risky. If you go to a bookstore or the library you might notice a lot of historical fiction have the main character looking back. Heck, you might not even see their face. This is a specific choice because it gives a hint to the reader that the story takes place in the past. But when I saw the concept design with the little redhaired girl I knew immediately that was Annaliese. And to let the readers know the new book is part of a larger series, I kept the same face-forward choice consistent.

Background Tone

In the initial concept design of the new book, while beautiful, thought it seemed too much like a romance cover. Changing it to a darker background gives the audience a hint: the story is gritty.

Setting Detail

In To Rescue a Witch, Annaliese must be rescued from her tormentors in Virginia colony and taken back to her aristocratic father in London. The stormy waves beneath the title hint the story will have both adventure…. and trouble.

In To Condemn a Witch, the opening scene is Fiona’s aunt, Matilda, getting burned at the stake in front of a crumbling castle. In the original concept it just showed a castle. I wanted to add drama and a sense of movement, which is why I asked him to add the bonfire.

As a side note, this also ties in with my witchy theme over all because each story focuses on a different natural element (fire, water, air, earth). You can guess what might be shown in future covers.

And there you have it! I hope you like the cover and the story inside. I’ll be posting sneak peeks of the first chapter in my June newsletter. The ebook is available for pre-order now and the paperback will be available on August 11, 2025. I’m looking forward to sharing the story with you!

Here’s the back of book blurb for To Condemn a Witch:

A stolen scroll. A cursed bloodline. A prophecy that binds three witches across life and death…

Scotland, 1729. When clairvoyant healer Fiona MacLeod discovers an enchanted scroll, she uncovers a prophecy linking her fate to two other women: Eleanor, a servant-turned-mistress of a scandalous lord, and Matilda, a bitter ghost burned for witchcraft and bent on revenge. Together, they are destined to form a coven—maiden, mother, and crone—bound by ancient magic on Samhain night.

But fate has teeth. Eleanor is betrayed and transported to Virginia as an indentured convict where she must survive a violent new world—and must protect a mysterious child. Can the coven stay united against a sadistic witch hunter bent on destroying the girl and everyone in his path?

Spanning the infamous Hellfire Caves of England to haunted Scottish glens and the untamed wilds of the New World, To Condemn a Witch is a haunting prequel to the award-nominated To Rescue a Witch—a dark tale of feminine power, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bond between witches who rise, no matter how often they are condemned.

Lisa 😉

What do you think of the cover? I’d love to hear your comments!