Sara Ella On The Author Having Cover Input

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 for the CRAP is Sara Ella, author of UNBLEMISHED. Once upon a time, Sara Ella dreamed she would marry a prince (just call her Mrs. Charming) and live in a castle (aka The Plaza Hotel). Though her fairy tale didn’t quite turn out as planned, she did work for Disney—that was an enchanted moment of its own. Now she spends her days throwing living room dance parties for her two princesses, and conquering realms of her own imaginings.

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

Yes! I knew I wanted purple. And not just because it’s my favorite color, but because purple/blue are symbolic in the story. I also knew I wanted my main character’s face on the cover somewhere because her birthmark/blemish is what the book is all about. Oh! And I hoped to have a little piece of NYC displayed since the book begins in the Big Apple. All three wishes came true!

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

I had to fill out something called an AMSI (Advanced Marketing and Sales Information sheet) back in September of 2015. So it was over a year before the release date that we started talking covers.

Did you have any input on your cover?

Yes. Lots more than I expected, actually. The AMSI had all sorts of questions regarding fonts, colors, people, places, or things I might like on the cover.

How was your cover revealed to you?

My amazing editor Becky Monds emailed it to me. I was like, “SBDLHASERASHBFK!!!!!!” It was so beautiful! I couldn’t have asked for a better design. I cried.

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

Yes! I have a YouTube (BookTube) channel so I did a live show cover reveal with my good friend Trina from the BetweenChapters channel. On March 4, 2016 we spent an hour talking about the novel and involving viewers in fun, bookish challenges leading up to the reveal at the end of the show. We topped it off with a giveaway in which six lucky viewers won a signed poster of the cover. It was tons of fun! Here’s the link to the replay if anyone wants to watch it!

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

It was about a month before the reveal date that I got to see my cover.

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

Um, yes. No, make that YES! I am such a horrible secret keeper, LOL :D I was itching to put that baby up on Twitter or Instagram.

What surprised you most about the process?

How much input I had. They really took my ideas and preferences seriously. I am so blessed to work with such an amazing team.

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

Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion. The first time I saw my cover there were a couple tweaks I suggested, and my editor took them gladly. If you don’t like something or feel as if something is missing, don’t hesitate to kindly talk to your editor or cover artist about possible changes.

MG Hennessy & THE OTHER BOY: The Importance of Author Input On Cover Design

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 for the CRAP is MG Hennessey, author of THE OTHER BOY, a recently released MG novel about a transgender middle grader. M.G. Hennessey loves Star Wars, the San Francisco Giants, strawberry ice cream, and dancing. A supporter of the Transgender Law Center, Gender Spectrum. and the Human Rights Campaign, she lives in Los Angeles with her family. Be sure to enter the giveaway below!

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

Design is definitely not my strong suit. But I knew what I didn’t want it to look like: I didn’t want any photographs of kids; I didn’t want a pair of sneakers or a baseball cap (‘cause there are wayyy too many of those on upper middle grade books); and above and beyond all else, absolutely no pink. The story is about a transgender boy who gets outed after living stealth for years, so that was a particularly important for me. I submitted a bunch of recent book covers that I loved for the art department to use as a guideline.

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

It was about a year before publication, and we had a final cover by the end of January.

Did you have any input on your cover? 

Lots and lots!

Having been around the block a few times, in my contract I requested (and received) “meaningful cover input.” If your agent can negotiate for that, it’s such an important thing to have; otherwise, by the time you see the cover it’s usually a done deal, and very little is liable to change.

My publisher was great: initially they sent me samples from the artist they wanted to hire. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled; her style didn’t match what I’d pictured. But they wanted to give her a shot at it, so we did.

Unfortunately, when the cover samples showed up, not only was pink featured prominently in every last one of them (a pink backpack, a pink baseball hat (!), a pink shadow); I also just really didn’t like them. They all seemed a little grim for this book; despite The Other Boy’s subject matter, it’s overall a positive, hopeful story.

My publisher listened to my concerns, then sent samples from four other artists. I ranked them in order of preference, and was lucky enough to get my top choice! The cover artist we ended up going with, Erwin Madrid, really hit it out of the park. The cover design changed very little from the sketches he’d initially submitted.

It meant a lot to me that the art department let me be so involved, and really responded to my feedback. That’s all too rare in this industry.

How was your cover revealed to you? 

For the first artist, I was shown five different versions of the cover in full color. For the second, I was sent early sketches of the design (black and white) for approval.

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

There wasn’t, actually; I guess with upper middle grade books, that’s not quite as much of a thing.

What surprised you most about the process?

Honestly, the amount of input I had. 

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

Get cover approval or input in the contract if at all possible; that’s really key. And if you get a terrible cover, make sure to detail precisely what about it you don’t like.

Rena Rocford On The Cover Of Acne, Asthma & Other Signs You Might Be Half Dragon

I love talking to debut 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 for the CRAP is Rena Rocford’s who has found that living as a muggle brought some level of success such as completing her master’s degree, but always stories returned, calling her to the keyboard in the dark of night. Now, having built armies from words, Rena has set her sights on world domination, one book at a time.You can find Rena at her blog, follow her on Twitter, GoodReads, or find her on Facebook. Her debut novel, Acne, Asthma, and Other Signs You Might Be Half Dragon comes out November 23rd, 2015.

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

Yes and no. The book was always really amorphous as far as what it would look like, but I think that was because all I could picture was a cover where you have the protagonist looking back over their shoulder, looking somewhat forlorn. I did know that I wanted a person on the cover of my book, and I really wanted it to be pretty. With a title like mine, there’s definitely a lot of room for a cutsy or joke cover, and I really didn’t want that. 

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

With my publisher, they give you an opportunity to put forward your ideas about the cover from the moment you sign the book. So, August of 2014 I sent Curiosity Quills my thoughts on a cover. After that, silence until late August of this year when they sent a request for a description of my MC.

Did you have any input on your cover?

While they gave me all kinds of opportunities to give input, they―rightfully!—took practically none of it. Right at the very end, the artist wanted to add just one more element to busy up the cover a touch, and they asked me about my thoughts for that element. To my great surprise, they took my suggestion.

How was your cover revealed to you?

I knew it would be showing up sooner or later, but, like all other good and bad news, it slipped into my inbox without any fanfare. I knew what it was the second I saw who had sent it, and I went to make myself a cup of tea before opening the email.

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

There was a date, but it wasn’t that official. Because my art came so close to my release, they needed to get the promotion part going, so they quietly sent it as part of the promo work and a couple days later I clogged up Facebook with it.

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

About a week.

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

Yes, very much! I LOVE my cover, and I wanted to splash it up everywhere once I had seen it. I maybe even did like a little happy dance about it. 

What surprised you most about the process?

The biggest surprise for me was how much I was in denial until I saw my art. There were long swaths of silence, and in those periods of quiet I felt like someone was going to pull the plug on my book and make the whole thing go away. I was haunted by this feeling that at any minute someone would show up and say “Whoops, sorry, we didn’t mean to get your hopes up, but we’ve come to our senses and remembered that your work is terrible!” And then one day, there was a cover. What had previously been very cerebral and hypothetical was suddenly very, very real.

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

It’s pretty cliché at this point, but keep writing. There is only one thing that helps, and it is getting lost in a new project.