Today’s guest for the CRAP is Amanda Sellet, author of By The Book. She has a B.A. in Literature from New College of Florida and an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU. After a series of odd jobs (au pair, horse-sitter, barista), I worked as a reporter for 10 years, writing about theater, music, and movies.

Did you have any pre-conceived notions about what you wanted your cover to look like?

I was hoping for an illustrated cover as opposed to a photographic one, partly as a personal preference but also because I felt that would better capture the spirit of the book, which is more about oddball characters and whimsical situations than strict realism. In my secret heart I also hoped it would be “cool” and “artsy” (pretentious, party of one!). Since I knew it would fall within the conventions of YA rom-com covers, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t wind up with the ubiquitous black snake or something in the style of “woman in skin-tight pants looking over her shoulder.”

Mostly I didn’t want the cover to give people false expectations, so no one would shake their fist at the sky and feel duped when they started reading.

How far in advance from your pub date did you start talking covers with your house?

About 18 months pre-publication, which was only a few weeks post-deal. The design team was already working on covers for Spring 2020 at that point (fall of 2018), so my editor wanted to get them a jacket direction form as soon as possible.  

Did you have any input on your cover?

My wonderful editor asked about my general preferences, and whether there were any current covers that were “singing to my soul.” I immediately sent her approximately twenty zillion different examples that had nothing in common except that I liked them all, because I’m helpful like that. 

How was your cover revealed to you?

It was the last day of the school year, and I had been running kids around town and having adventures in drive-through meals for what felt like hours. When I finally got home, I saw the email from my editor with the cover attached, which drove all thoughts of onion rings from my mind! It was extra fun having an audience of tween girls to share it with.

Was there an official "cover reveal" date for your art?

My editor let me know when they would be releasing the cover in-house and asked if I wanted to do a “reveal” that day. I wasn’t sure whether it made sense given my less-than-robust online presence, but my agent and some wise author friends told me to go for it. And I’m very glad they did!

How far in advance of the reveal date were you aware of what your cover would look like?

I saw the cover on May 23 (school gets out early in the Midwest) and did the reveal June 12, so not too long at all.

Was it hard to keep it to yourself before the official release?

Like most introverts, I’m all about my small circle of family and friends … and I may have covertly shared it with certain interested parties before the official reveal. Although my grown-up brothers are probably not the target audience for pastel rom-com covers, they’re still excited for me about every step of the publishing journey.

What surprised you most about the process?

The first thing that surprised me was how much I loved it. I’m a critical person by nature, and prone to second-guessing everything, but somehow seeing my cover short-circuited all those impulses. I was immediately smitten with the art, the lettering, the palette, and the design. Beyond that, it just felt right. And although I can’t draw to save my life, I did spend quite a few years haunting museums and galleries as an art critic, so on a purely aesthetic level I was incredibly pleased by the quality of Monique Aimee’s charming illustration.

The second surprise was how much other people liked it. As someone with a tiny social media following, I didn’t expect anything like the reaction it got on Twitter and Instagram and then Goodreads. It was incredibly fun to get all of those notifications, and feel like people besides my mother, my agent, and my editor were excited about my book!

Any advice to other debut authors about how to handle cover art anxiety?

If you pay attention to cover reveals the way I have over the past year, you’ll notice that pretty much everyone is over-the-moon about their cover. Maybe we’re in the middle of a golden era, or maybe that’s just how it goes: You fall in love with your cover the way a parent does with their child. As an added bonus, you can brag about it without feeling vain, and stare at it without obsessing over the zillion little tweaks you’d like to make, because you didn’t create it … unlike, say, your manuscript.

It doesn’t matter if your publisher is hosting a big fancy reveal or you’re doing it on your own. Embrace the joy of seeing the book that has lived inside you so long translated into visual form for all the world to see.