Cover Talk with Jasmine Warga

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 is Jasmine Warga, whose debut MY HEART & OTHER BLACK HOLES will be coming from Balzer & Bray on February 10, 2015.

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

I had no set idea of what I wanted it to look like exactly. I actually felt stressed out for the cover designer because I thought it might be a challenge to graphically capture and represent the story since its dark, but hopefully not unrelentingly so since it has bursts of humor and romance. I was interested (and admittedly nervous!) to see how they’d capture that tension between intense subject matter and irreverent narrative voice.

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

I saw the first possible comp cover design back in February. That design ended up getting pulled though. 

Did you have any input on your cover?

Yes, but I actually loved everything they showed me so my feedback mostly consisted of lots of exclamation points and squeals. Truly, I couldn’t be more impressed and thankful to the design team at B+B/Harper.

How was your cover revealed to you?

My lovely editor Alessandra Balzer emailed it to me.

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

Yes! My friend Kristan Hoffman and the WE HEART YA blog hosted the cover reveal on June 19th. The art director shared a bit of the process behind designing the cover and we shared the jacket flap summary, an excerpt, Nova Ren Suma’s blurb, and gave away an ARC.

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

Only about a week or so because my cover had gone through many changes and we were working to have a version ready for the catalog.

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

Not really since I didn’t have to wait more than two weeks, which didn’t seem too bad. But the more I think about it, I guess the truthful answer is yes since I was so excited to share it with everyone!

What surprised you most about the process?

How much time and care goes into designing every cover and how many people are involved in the process. I think the publisher really wants you to be happy and to give you the best possible cover they can for your book. It was totally evident that the people working on my cover had read the book and I think they did an amazing job graphically representing the tone and feel of the story. It was also interesting to me how much they zeroed in on finding a way to showcase the title and based a large part of the design around that.

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

This is related to what I said above—trust that your publisher and design team want you to be happy with your cover. I was lucky enough that I really liked everything they showed me, but I trust that if I hadn’t, we would’ve worked together to come up with something everyone felt good about. It’s definitely a team effort. If I could do it over again, I would spend less time worrying and stressing about it, and more time enjoying how exciting it is to be seeing a cover.

Authors Move In Groups For Our Mental Well Being

The best part about being a writer is meeting other writers.

People ask me all the time what my favorite published experience has been, and this is always my answer. Yes, seeing my name on a book for the first time was awesome, but much like Christmas, the best part about publishing is when it has nothing to do with what you're getting.

This past weekend I had the awesome experience of meeting some really amazing ladies. Joseph-Beth hosted the first of a two-part YA Beach Bash featuring myself, Mindee Arnett (THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR, AVALON), Melissa Landers (ALIENATED), Kristen Simmons (ARTICLE 5), Saundra Mitchell (MISTWALKER), and Julie Kagawa (THE IRON FEY, THE BLOOD OF EDEN).

Authors are a different sort of people. If you are one, or if you've ever met one, this probably isn't news to you. The week before last I had the chance to sign with both Rae Carson (THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS) and Ann Aguirre (RAZORLAND, MORTAL DANGER). During the course of normal conversation I mentioned vomitoriums (as one does) and I didn't have to explain what those are. It's worth nothing that neither one of them blinked, either. I knew I was among my people.

So, meeting other authors is always welcome. It's an expansion of the realization that I'm-Not-So-F'ed-Up-After-All hangover from high school. Or at least, if I am F'ed up, I'm not the only one. Meeting people and maintaining friendships has become more of a driving factor to me when I agree to do events than selling books. Most authors will tell you that when we do a convention, festival, or signing, we do so not because we think we'll be moving copies, but because our friends are going to be there.

I like friends. Friends are good.

Courtney Alameda Talks Cover Anxiety

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 is Courtney Alameda, who holds a B.A. in English Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University, spent seven years working for Barnes & Noble, and currently works as an Adult & Teen Services librarian at the Provo City Library. Her forthcoming novel, SHUTTER (winter 2015, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan), is a tale spawned in part by Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, in part by her experiences both paranormal and not-so-paranormal, and features a cast of monsters inspired by everything from Japanese folklore to survival horror video games.

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

Surprisingly, no! When I heard Rich Deas would be designing the cover, I banished any thoughts of what “could be,” because I knew what “would be” was going to be so much more badass than any of my own ideas. Rich’s work is incredible, and he’s designed some of the most iconic covers in the YA world.

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

I started hearing tidbits about comps going to marketing in January. Since I knew Rich would be doing the design, and both he and my editor, Liz Szabla, are super savvy and über-creative, I didn’t worry. My cover was in the best hands!

Did you have any input on your cover?

I moonlight as a teen librarian, so I was working the reference desk when I got the email from Liz with “cover comp” in the subject line. I gasped, and when the librarian seated next to me asked me what was wrong, I managed to squeak out, “Cover!” to which she replied, “OPEN IT NOW!”

So I did . . . but upon seeing the ghost on the cover, I head-desked. Literally. (Horror projects of any ilk rarely feature the monster on their posters/covers/promotional materials.)

After some flailing, I emailed my agent. Macmillan was incredibly gracious while I threw my prima donna fit over the monster, and even tried designing several new concepts. In the end, no comp quite compared to the screaming, sonic-blue specter, so we compromised: They kept the artwork, and I got a sans-serif font for the title with cool, POLTERGEIST-y details; better placement for my name, and a nod to the novel’s photography elements. When Liz sent me the final, I sat back and thought, “Wow! Okay, I can work with that!”

Months later, I’m very grateful for the ghost on the cover, which I’ve come to think of as the book’s triple dog dare and warning label. It’s unique, beautifully executed, and very fierce, which I hope reflects the book’s contents, too.

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

Yes, and we had a fantastic reveal with Hypable in June, organized by my lovely publicist, Ksenia Winnicki. The reception bowled me over—I couldn’t believe how many people were sharing and retweeting the cover! I spent somewhere between eight and ten hours on social media that day, just watching the cover love unfold and thanking people for their kindness.

So you win, Macmillan—the monster on the cover is AWESOME!

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

Almost a full year; SHUTTER will be released in February 2015, and I saw comps in March of 2014.

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

No! Isn’t it obvious that I have the patience and composure of a Jedi master? (Kidding!) But I didn’t wait long—there was maybe two weeks between my seeing the final cover and the reveal.

What surprised you most about the process?

Definitely the reception on the cover reveal day! I thought a few friends would share the cover around a bit, but the hundreds of tweets and Facebook shares made my head spin. I still want to hug the internet for it all!

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

Just this: Your publisher wants to see your book succeed just as much as you do. You invested your time; they are investing their time and their money. Your publisher’s going to design a cover that they believe in, and hopefully you’ll love it, too!