Cover Talk with Megan Shepherd

I love talking to authors. Our experiences are so similar, yet so very different, that every one of us has a new story to share. Everyone says that the moment you get your cover it really hits you - you're an author. The cover is your story - and you - packaged for the world. So the process of the cover reveal can be slightly panic inducing. Does it fit your story? Is it what you hoped? Will it sell? With this in mind I put together the CRAP (Cover Reveal Anxiety Phase) Interview.

Today's guest is my fellow Lucky13s and Friday the Thirteeners member Megan Shepherd, to talk about her awesome cover for THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER, available from Balzer & Bray, January 29, 2013. Megan's got a few e-hangouts, find her on her site, Facebook and Twitter.

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

You would think a writer might also have a good eye for visual arts, but I don’t. A few cover ideas came to my head for The Madman’s Daughter but they were all pretty terrible, so I was delighted to leave it to the professionals! I actually designed a fake cover for The Madman’s Daughter as part of a blog dare, and this is the train wreck that I produced:

Though I do think it has a certain, I don’t know, sophistication. Ahem. As far as the real cover, I put all my trust in the HarperCollins designers. I just knew I wanted it to capture the creepy, beautiful, Gothic feel of the book. I also hoped it would appeal to a wide range of readers: boys, girls, adults, librarians. And I think they did a fantastic job with that.

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

I first heard whispers about the cover design a year before the pub date. My editor kept me up-to-date with the process, which was pretty exciting for a debut author. My publishing house, Balzer + Bray, hired a photographer to do the photo shoot complete with model and outdoor setting. I got to see the model’s headshots, which was an incredible moment—looking at your fictional main character as a real person!

Did you have any input on your cover?

The design team at HarperCollins handled everything, thankfully—I’d have just given them some awful advice like “put a shirtless man on the cover” (ie, see my terrible design above). My editor did a great job keeping me informed; she showed me their original design plan, which included color schemes, inspiring images, and sample fonts. Everything was absolutely 100% spot-on; I really felt like they understood the mood of the book. Then she showed me the tentative mock-up and the ARC cover and asked my opinion on each along the way. I just loved everything, right from the start.

How was your cover revealed to you?

Thinking of seeing my cover for the first time makes me smile! It was in late April, and I was on a week-long writing retreat in Bat Cave, North Carolina (what better place for a top-secret writers retreat than Bat Cave?) with eight other MG and YA writers: Alan Gratz, Megan Miranda, Tiffany Trent, Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan, Laurel Snyder, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, and Gwenda Bond. I’m dropping their names because they are all so cool, and also inspirations of mine, and now I can tell you what they eat for breakfast ☺ Anyway, as we were winding down for the day, I got an email from my editor with the cover art! Immediately all the other writers crowded around, and there was lots of shrieking and happiness, followed by lots of wine.

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

Being a part of the Friday the Thirteeners blog, I’ve met some wonderful people. Ellen Oh (whose book Prophecy comes out in January 2013) and I are both with HarperCollins and both had a cover reveal date of June 18. So we thought it would be great to collaborate and have a joint reveal! Mandy at YA Book Central hosted an exclusive cover reveal, where we gave away ARCs and swag, and it was tons of fun.

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

My cover reveal was June 18, and I saw the tentative cover about six weeks before that. Then there were a few weeks of tweaking fonts and colors, but the basic feel of the cover remained the same.

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

It wasn’t just hard—it was impossible. Literally. I probably showed it to more people than I was supposed to, but I was just too excited! The “pre-cover-reveal” circle of trust mostly included my husband, the other writers at the Bat Cave retreat, my mom, and this waiter who accidentally saw it over dinner. 

I wanted to show it to everyone! To stick it on my website and make postcards of it and generally proclaim to the world that my book has a beautiful cover.

BBC: What surprised you most about the process?

MH: I had very few expectations about how the cover design process would go. The process itself wasn’t too surprising, but the feeling I got when looking at the finished cover was. It’s so strange and wonderful to put a real person’s face to the character in your head. I love the model they used, and the way she is peeking over her bare shoulder. There’s a hint of madness there, but also strength, and desire, and power. And I love that you only get a glimpse of the face, so readers can still use their imagination to picture Juliet Moreau.

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

MH: Long before I saw it, I was irrationally worried I would hate my cover art. But once I looked at other Balzer + Bray titles, I realized that there was no reason to be anxious. All their covers are great and do a wonderful job of capturing the spirit and feel of each individual book. Designers are designers for a reason—they are really talented at what they do! I’m so glad that my editor and the design team were able to capture how I felt about the book and convert it into such a perfect, intriguing cover.

Thanks for having me on the blog, Mindy!

Cover Talk with Erin Bowman

I love talking to authors. Our experiences are so similar, yet so very different, that every one of us has a new story to share. Everyone says that the moment you get your cover it really hits you - you're an author. The cover is your story - and you - packaged for the world. So the process of the cover reveal can be slightly panic inducing. Does it fit your story? Is it what you hoped? Will it sell? With this in mind I put together the CRAP (Cover Reveal Anxiety Phase) Interview.

Today's guest is my fellow Lucky13s and Friday the Thirteeners member Erin Bowman, to talk about her awesome cover for TAKEN, available from Harper Teen April 16, 2013.

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

I didn't know what I wanted TAKEN's cover to look like so much as I knew how I wanted it to feel--dark, mysterious, ominous. I think Harper really nailed it.

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

We started talking about cover art before I even had a pub month! Discussions began in November of 2011, and at the moment, TAKEN is slated to release in April of 2013. So that's a whopping 17 months in advance!

Did you have any input on your cover?

I did! My editor, Erica, asked me what I envisioned for the cover and I shared with her the moods I already listed out above. We also talked about how I’m personally not a big fan of faces that are front and center on a cover. I don't mind seeing people, it's just that when they fill 90% of the cover, I feel it takes away from the reader being able to visualize characters for themselves. I mentioned Robison Wells' VARIANT as being a great compromise on the people/faces debate, and also pointed out how well I thought it struck that dark/mysterious/ominous mood I envisioned for TAKEN. Erica took all this back to the design team and they handled things from there.

How was your cover revealed to you?

Good 'ol email. Erica sent me the initial comp just before Christmas of 2011. While some elements were placeholders at this stage, the overall concept remained the same from initial comps to final cover! (And I must add that while the artwork was not what I was expecting, it absolutely struck the moods I had hoped for. The designer did a fantastic job!)

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

Harper's winter catalog went live on June 25th, so I was instructed to "reveal" the cover the week prior (June 18-22). I ended up revealing it on Pub(lishing) Crawl on June 19th.

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

I saw the final version of the cover (with highres photography and updated models) in February, so that's four months before the reveal. (Then again, the cover didn't change drastically between the initial comp and the final, so it felt like I had to wait more like six months. I was so anxious to share the prettiness.)

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

It was near impossible! I was (and still am) so in love with my cover that I wanted to show it to the world the first day I first saw it.

What surprised you most about the process?

How little I was involved. Harper did ask me for my thoughts before they began designing, and I was allowed to weigh in on the initial comp, but they ultimately owned this process. This shouldn't have surprised me because we hear again and again that authors don't get to pick their covers, but it was still somewhat shocking once I was confronted with it. Being a designer in my past life (web design), it was very hard for me to sit back, relax, and let someone else man the creative process. But publishers know what they are doing. They get the audience and what will sell. They know what causes a person to pluck a book off the shelves. In the end, I'm so happy I didn't design my cover; I wouldn't have created the gorgeousness Harper did, and I’m so grateful for the cover they’ve given my story.

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

Remember that you’re the expert at writing the book and you publisher is the expert at getting people to pick it up. A cover is a piece of advertising. Yes you want it to accurately reflect your novel, but you also want as many people to pick it up as possible. If you're not in love with your cover art, try to pick one thing to focus on. What is the biggest thing you dislike or long to have changed? Have an honest conversation with your publisher about that element. They are more likely to tweak one element than a dozen, so pick your battles. And try to enjoy the whole process. It only happens once for each book, and it's quite a ride!

Cover Talk with Ellen Oh

I love talking to authors. Our experiences are so similar, yet so very different, that every one of us has a new story to share. Everyone says that the moment you get your cover it really hits you - you're an author. The cover is your story - and you - packaged for the world. So the process of the cover reveal can be slightly panic inducing. Does it fit your story? Is it what you hoped? Will it sell? With this in mind I put together the CRAP (Cover Reveal Anxiety Phase) Interview.

Today's guest is my fellow Lucky13s and Friday the Thirteeners member Ellen Oh, to talk about her awesome cover for PROPHECY, available from Harper Teen January 2, 2013.

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

Well, my kids did versions of the cover that I loved! But otherwise I didn’t have any real idea of what I wanted it to look like other than wanting an iconic cover. I was so happy with what HarperTeen produced.

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

I’d say as early as the summer of 2012 was when we had the first conversations with my editor where she asked me what I was thinking about. I remember telling her that I really liked the Eon cover for the paperback version. There was the shadow of a girl holding a sword before an amazing dragon. And then I didn’t hear anything until I saw the first version.

Did you have any input on your cover?

Not really, but then that’s probably a good thing as I’m not artistic or creative in the very least! I leave that to the professionals. The only thing I asked for was something iconic, which they totally delivered.

How was your cover revealed to you?

My editor called me first and then it came via email and I was like WOW!

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

Yes, the marketing team at Harper asked me to reveal my cover the week of June 18th. Being very literal, I revealed it, jointly with the wonderful Megan Shepherd, right on June 18th!

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

I’d say I knew what the final cover was at least 2 months before the release.

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

HELL YES! ;o)

What surprised you most about the process?

That it takes a year to create a cover. That shocked me.

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

I think the best thing is not to stress about it because it ultimately isn’t in our hands. Being able to give input on what you hope for is good early on, and I do think they take an author’s input very seriously. But after that, forget about it and know that you are in good hands with your publisher.