Ehsaneh Sadr On Having A Cover That Reflects The Content

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 Ehsaneh Sadr, an Iranian-American novelist and activist with a PhD in International Relations. She has worked, in various capacities, on campaigns related to biking advocacy, Palestinian human rights, Iranian sanctions, access to credit for rural villagers, and safe spaces for children in crisis. Her debut novel A Door Between Us, released in September of 2020.

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

Yes! It was extremely important to me that the cover reflect the setting of Tehran, Iran and something about the brave men and women of the Green Wave without playing into stereotypes that people might have about the country.

One of the central storylines in A Door Between Us is about a young couple whose families oppose their union due to political differences. My initial thought was for the cover to have pro-regime forces on one side and pro-democracy protestors on the other, with the couple in between, somehow bridging (or creating a door between) the two.

The concept wasn’t bad but within the confines of a small cover, it just didn’t work. We tried using flags to distinguish one side from the other but it ended up looking too militant and a bit alienating. Thank goodness the graphic artist, the incredible Zena Kanes had better instincts than I!

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

My book launched on September 1, 2020 and I started talking with the designer in December 2019.

One of the first things I did was send over a bunch of images intended to convey a feel for the novel. I included pictures of the Green Wave protests, the government crackdowns,  and the clashes taking place in the streets of Tehran. I included every day scenes of men and women in indoor and outdoor settings to show how Iranians dress, what their homes look like, and what their typical meals are. And I also sent over examples of book covers I love like The Kite Runner, Lost Children Archive, and Finding Nouf.

Did you have any input on your cover?

Yes! The whole process and experience was quite lovely. After sending over images and discussing them, Zena came back with three different concepts. The first was based on my initial idea and immediately felt wrong. The second was a beautiful calligraphy-like rendering of the title across a series of Iranian arches. And the third, that I was immediately drawn to, was a precursor of the final cover. I especially loved the gorgeous rendering of the green fabric symbol of the brave men and women that comprised the Green Movement.

I shared the three options with a bunch of friends and got a lot of great feedback that helped confirm my choice. And from there I worked with Zena to tweak the colors and finalize some of the elements like the skyline of Tehran and whether we’d include a woman in a chador on the front.

At every step of the way I felt like my input was valued and respected. And I was lucky to be working with someone who was incredibly talented and committed to getting it right.

How was your cover revealed to you?

Sadr.png

Well, since it was a pretty collaborative process, there weren’t any big surprises when we got to the final rendering.

The bigger ‘reveal’ was when I finally got to hold the hardcopy in my hands. I’d seen graphics of the cover and had also previously received the galley copies but the beauty and vibrancy of the final version was something else.

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

I’m with a small (but mighty!) press so we didn’t do an official ‘cover reveal.’ I was also fairly new to the publishing process so wasn’t even aware that was a thing. And I was brand new to social media so hadn’t really cultivated a ‘following’ that would have been excited about a cover reveal. 

But I might enjoy doing a cover reveal for the second book. Especially if I end up loving the cover as much as I loved this one!

What surprised you most about the process?

I guess the biggest surprise is how swiftly and easily we were able to land on something that is such a perfect reflection of the book’s essential themes. The cover was important to me and I was worried about all the ways things could go wrong so the fact that it turned out so perfectly felt like a real gift.

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

Spend time looking at other books covers so you know what you like and what you don’t. Pull together a library of images that reflect themes of your book, not because any of them will necessarily go on the cover, but to give the designer a feel for what your story is about. And when it comes to giving feedback, be as specific as possible about what you like and what you’d like to change. 

Moving From YA Fiction Into Adult: Elle Cosimano

Today’s guest for a special interview is Elle Cosimano, whose debut thriller NEARLY GONE was a 2015 Edgar Award Finalist, and winner of the ITW 2015 International Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel. Her novel HOLDING SMOKE was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award and the International Thriller Award. Her novels have appeared on several statewide school and library reading lists.

Elle’s next release is an adult mystery, titled Finlay Donovan is Killing It.

You moved from a career as a YA author into the realm of adult fiction. Did you find a new method of writing, or did your process not change along with the audience?

I think there’s a common misconception that books written for teen audiences are vastly different from books written for adults. In my experience, and in my books, I don’t find this to be true. Whether I’m writing about young adults or mothers of young adults, my process of exploring their character is the same; I ask all the same questions of them—who are you now? Who are you becoming? What’s standing in your way? What are you afraid of? What do you yearn for? What’s at stake if you fail? None of these questions feel age-dependent to me. The only difference is the lens of life experience through which these questions are answered. My job is to tell that character’s story as authentically as possible, in a voice that feels true to them. The process of discovering that voice and telling that story, for me, is very much the same.

How about marketing and promotion? Did you have to re-think how you reach readers across platforms? Which ones do you find most useful for connecting with teens, and which ones are a better fit for adult readers? 

This is a great question, and one I’m still wrestling with, because my experience marketing my books for adults is still so new. I am not a big fan of Twitter for promotion; I don’t spend much time there. I find most of my YA readers are engaging with me on Instagram, and I love it! Bookstagrammers are creative, talented, and enthusiastic, and their passion for authors and fandoms is awe-inspiring. The more time I spend on IG, the more I feel at home there, and the more connected I feel with my readers. I’ll be very curious to see if my experience with my adult readers is the same as we get closer to the release date. As for Facebook, this seems to be where most of my friends and family keep up with my bookish news. I don’t find it as effective for outreach, since posts on business pages don’t get much exposure. Mostly, I use Facebook as a time capsule to archive anything related to my books and to post updates for those who keep close tabs on my bookish news. 

Beyond social media, I’m excited to get back to writing essays and op eds. I’ve written for Huff Po and TIME, but I don’t think the subscribers to those outlets necessarily translated to YA readers. Now that I’m writing about an adult heroine—a single mom of two young kids who’s struggling to balance her career and parenting while embroiled in a murder investigation—I feel like those parenting and career essays might find an audience with the same readers who would potentially enjoy my books. It feels like a great way to connect my own voice as a working mom with women who might share some common ground with me and the characters in my stories.

Cosimano.png

Do you think that your YA audience will crossover to your adult titles, or are you looking to reach a whole new age group?

I hope so! It’s hard to believe it’s been almost seven years since Nearly Gone, my first mystery for young adults, was published. The teens who fell in love with Nearly are now graduating from college and becoming established in their adult lives. Occasionally, I’ll hear from one of those teen readers, and it blows my mind that they’re all grown up! Recently, I received an incredibly moving email from a woman who had sent me a fan letter years ago, when Nearly first came out. She had been in her last years of high school back then, and she had been fascinated by the forensic and crime elements of the books. Now, she tells me she’s an intern at a crime lab, embarking on a career in forensic science—a career she pursued after those books kindled a curiosity in her. I think readers who enjoyed my mysteries as mature teens will find a lot of similarities in my mysteries for adults. And I hope they love them just as much.

What about branding? Do you keep your adult brand distinct from your teen appropriate titles? Or is there enough similarity for you to apply the same techniques?

I haven’t really felt compelled to separate my brands, maybe because I’ve never really felt like I actually *have* a brand. All of my books are so different from each other. I’ve written contemporary mysteries, paranormal horrors, romantic fantasies/urban fantasies, and now dark comedies. The one tie that binds them together is that they’re all thrillers of one flavor or another, so maybe you could say that Thrillers are my brand. Right now, I’m promoting them interchangeably. I don’t know that this is the most effective way, or the way my publishers would encourage me to market them. But for now, it feels right. My books for adults, content-wise, aren’t vastly different from my books for teens. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that there are more F-bombs, intense violence, and intimacy in my YA books than in my adult series. For me, these choices don’t take age into consideration so much as voice and authenticity of character. And I like to think that my YA books offer as much, if not more, thematic meat and deep themes to chew on.