Skila Brown & Her Cover Designer Weigh In On CAMINAR

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 Skila Brown. Skila holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee, lived for a bit in Guatemala, and now resides with her family in Indiana. CAMINAR, her first novel, was published March 25th by Candlewick. 

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

Nope. I tried really hard not to picture anything at all. Mostly this is because when I did try to picture something, I always thought What in the world could you put on a cover? And that kind of freaked me out. (Will they decide at the last minute they can’t publish the book after all because no one can think of what the cover should look like?) Clearly I am not a visual person.

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

10 months before my release date.

How was your cover revealed to you?

My editor sent a copy of two different cover drafts that they were considering, both very different. She asked for my input. She kept me abreast of the conversations that were going on in-house. First they were leaning towards one cover, then it looked like they were going to go with the other, then at the end it was back to the first cover.

Did you have any input on your cover?

Yes! I think anyone who is lucky enough to publish a book with Candlewick knows that means having a voice in all aspects of the process.

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

Not that I know of. My editor mentioned trying to keep it off grid until about three months before release, but I saw it out there in internet-land before then. Though, I don’t think there was a “big reveal.”

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

Well, I cheated and sent it to people who matter a lot to me but not a lot to the internet book community (i.e. my dad, my sister, and my brother.) Also I might have cheated even more and sent it to my critique group. But they can keep a secret so I’ve decided they don’t count either.

What surprised you most about the process?

The design itself was a huge surprise. Not only because I had no idea what it would look like, but also because it is so incredibly, deliciously, gorgeous that my eyes still can’t get enough of it. My friend (also a writer) said it best: “I want to wallpaper my house with that!” I had always hoped I would like my cover. I never expected to love it as much as I do. It has probably ruined all future book covers for me, because there’s no way my next book cover could ever be this stunning.

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

I think it’s important to remember that we are writers. Most of us aren’t visual artists, and we’re not in the business of attracting readers to a book. Which translates to: the people who do this know what they’re doing. I think it’s great to weigh in with an opinion, and absolutely we should speak up if something about the cover is inaccurate, but otherwise I think the best advice I can give is to try not to think about it. Try not to have something you’re picturing in your head. Wait for the surprise. If you hate it for good reason, speak up. But otherwise, go with it. (Easy for me to say, right? I loved my cover!)

As a special treat the cover designer, Matt Roeser, weighed in for the interview. What were the challenges of designing the cover for Caminar?

Since the book is in verse, I wanted to capture some of the beauty of Skila's poetry, but at the same time, hint at the horrific event that takes place. As I began thinking about designs, I kept coming back to a visual that stuck with me as I read the book; that of Carlos watching from the jungle as his village is burned. I tend not to like covers that have photographs of the protagonist on them, but instead try to create designs that are more graphic and abstract in nature. The pattern of the leaf shape seemed perfect for achieving this. Playing with bold pops of color such as orange and red mixed in with the greens of the jungle worked as symbolizing both flowers and embers of fire. Then, I slightly altered the leaf shape for his eyes so it still feels like part of the pattern. Probably the hardest part of designing the cover were those eyes, as I went through several iterations to get the right expression that hit between shock and sadness. Altogether, I think it achieves a good balance of being visually interesting and hinting at the darker elements of the story.

Thursday Thoughts

Thoughts lately...

1) One of my kittens has two opposable thumbs. Another kitten only has an opposable them on one paw. I hope for her sake it's her dominant paw.

2) Sometimes my upper lip is warmer than my bottom lip. This is probably not normal.

3) I had a friend once who ate just pumpkin b/c it was the only thing that settled her stomach. Her skin started to turn orange (no shit) because of it. It is conceivable that if you followed this rigorously you could become the best My Little Pony cosplayer ever.

Introducing WHAT? with RC Lewis

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT? (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always included in the WHAT? is one random question to really dig down into the interviewee’s mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Helping me introduce the WHAT? is fellow YA author and critique partner RC Lewis. She teaches math to teenagers—sometimes in sign language, sometimes not—so whether she’s a science geek or a bookworm depends on when you look. That may explain why her characters don’t like to be pigeonholed. Coincidentally, R.C. enjoys reading about quantum physics and the identity issues of photons. Her debut, STITCHING SNOW releases from Hyperion Oct. 14 - be sure to enter the Rafflecopter below!

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Do you have a specific origin point for STITCHING SNOW?

For just about any other manuscript I’ve written, the answer would be no. But for STITCHING SNOW, the moment of inspiration was very distinct. I heard a line in the song “Blinding” by Florence + The Machine about Snow White stitching up a circuit board. That sparked an image of a techy Snow White immediately.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

The initial image in my head was of Snow White on a cold planet, so a first step was to figure out what that place was going to be. And because it’s a retelling, the main thing I had to do early on was identify the major players and elements from the fairy tale, and how (or if!) I was going to incorporate them. That gave the story a skeleton to build on.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

All the time, sort of...? I tend to word-vomit brainstormy notes before I start writing, so once I start the actual draft, the Big Plot rarely changes. The details and subplots, however, are much more malleable. Usually. (Just because I said that, my next novel attempt will go completely off the rails.)

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Hard to come by, definitely. I usually have just one “I want to write this” idea sitting in my head at a time, and not constantly. They usually come when I’m working on one project, near the end, so I guess that’s when my subconscious unclenches enough to brave the question of “What’s next?”

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I WISH I HAD THIS PROBLEM!! (See above.)

If the universe really is expanding at an exponential rate, does it have an edge?

Well, technically something can be increasing by a tiny fraction of one percent per huge-amount-of-time, and that would still be growing exponentially, so ... yes? (But if I really wanted to be picky, I’d say I’m not sure the hypothesis and the conclusion in your question have any correlation at all.)