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Cover Stories: Heist Society by Ally Carter
Ally Carter and I shared a cover model once! The model on the cover of Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy also posed as Violet on all three of my Violet covers! (Read that story here.)
This week her latest novel, Heist Society, is out, and it's got a fantastic cover, in my opinion. Here's Ally with the Cover Story:
"I am not an artist -- not even a little bit. Plus, my wonderful publisher, Disney-Hyperion, has always blessed me with such fabulous covers before that I didn't spend a lot of time trying to come up with a specific concept. The only thing I felt certain of was that it should have a lush, rich feel and feature art in some way.
"When researching art and famous art heists I, of course, heard the story of the 1990 robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston which many consider to be the largest single art theft in history. 
Twelve paintings were taken in that heist, but Mrs. Gardner's will indicated that the collection was to never change -- no paintings could be sold or added -- so the museum left the empty frames on the museum's walls, waiting for the missing paintings to be returned. That image (above) was always very vivid in my mind, and I shared the story with my editor.
When I saw my cover, my first thought was 'Wow!' My second was 'That's Kat.' The sunglasses and reflection were fabulous, but, to me, the best part is the little smile. That little smile says it all.
"My editor is Jennifer Besser with Disney-Hyperion and she's absolutely amazing (she's the powerhouse editor behind series like Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan and Bluebloods by Melissa de la Cruz.) She is always open to talk and brainstorm and do whatever we can to make things even better. But I have to say all my suggestions were little things -- trying to make the model's eyes the shade of blue I'd always imagined Kat's to be, tweaking the cover copy -- little things like that.
"This was a difficult cover to do because, in a way, Heist Society is my most complex book. It's (hopefully) a fun, funny book that takes place in a lot of glamorous, exciting locations, but it's also touches on some very serious issues. Those complexities were tough to summarize in one image, so my publisher tried many, many different treatments before finding the image that we all knew was just right. That final image changed very little from the first time I saw it.
"At first, they worked a lot with stock photos, playing with different ideas, trying to capture the perfect concept and, believe me, they went through dozens of them! I knew they were getting close when my editor started saying things like 'I think we may have one.... I think this might be the one....' At that point they sent me a very rough mock-up using stock photos and I immediately agreed.
"Next, they sent me shots of several potential models, and we all agreed on Olga, a Russian model living and working in New York. She simply was Kat. They did a photo shoot with Olga then, and the rest, as they say, is history."
"I absolutely love this cover. It does what I didn't think was possible: capturing the total essence of the story. Every time I look at it I find something else I'm drawn to -- especially that little smile."
Thanks, Ally! I love this cover, and I think the smile captures such mischievousness and the sunglass reflection works so well.
What do you guys think?
Photo Friday: Lisa McMann and Suzanne Young!
Got to see a couple of amazing authors this week. Unfortunately, my flash was acting up, so I got two really dark pictures.
Here's me with Lisa, whose third book in the WAKE trilogy, GONE, comes out next week (enter to win a copy here!):
And me with Suzanne, whose book The Naughty List came out yesterday!:
Suzanne even filmed a shoutout to readergirlz (see that here). And so did Lisa, but it's under wraps until GONE is out!
Again, sorry about the lame-o darkness. I promise next Photo Friday will be brighter!
February on Readergirlz: Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
You guys, seriously, this book will make you cry and ache. And hope. It's amazing. Read it and join in the discussions on readergirlz, or just join in and plan to read it! That works too.
Win-It Wednesday: GONE by Lisa McMann (Signed!)
The winner of last week's Fashion Swag Bag + Fallen by Lauren Kate is... Lasha! Her unsung book was Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors, which is now on my list too! Send me your address, L.
This week's contest is for a copy of Lisa McMann's about-to-be-released GONE. I was lucky enough to grab a drink with Lisa when she was in NYC this week, and let me just say, the girl rules. Also, I missed my subway stop on the ride home, because I was reading the SIGNED copy of GONE she gave me for Win-It Wednesday. It's that riveting!
So, to win your very own copy of GONE, just comment below and tell me which author blogs you read and love (besides this one, naturally, which you always, always read, right? Haha.). I'm curious -- and I'm feeling like traveling around the blogosphere a bit.
Oh, and +1 if you visit the lovely Nadine-Stella's Starry Night blog -- where she asked 21 Questions of me!
Happy Wednesday!
PS-More to win: A Valentine's Day contest over at Simple Life and Reading where you can win Lovestruck Summer and Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott! Sweet.
Bonus Cover Stories: Dirty Little Secrets by CJ Omololu
I have great news! Barnes and Noble's UNABASHEDLY BOOKISH blog has asked me to write some Cover Stories for them, and I'll be doing that every Tuesday. Today, I'm featuring CJ Omololu's Dirty Little Secrets (a.k.a. the YA Hoarder book!). Here's a teaser from the story:
"When I thought about the cover for Dirty Little Secrets, I was actually thinking of something more graphic, although I had no idea what. We'd seen so many Twilight-esque covers that are cool -- books like The Dark Divine that are spare and striking -- so I thought it would be more like that. Good thing my publisher didn't ask me, because somehow, the image of a bag of garbage or a stack of National Geographics probably wouldn't be as eye-catching as what Walker came up with...."
Read the rest at Unabashedly Bookish, and I'll love you forever if you comment over there and make me feel popular. Thanks!
Happy Tuesday!
Cover Stories: The Naughty List by Suzanne Young
Suzanne Young is one of the most fun authors around. Proof: She does a dance when she gets a new book contract... publicly!
Her latest title is The Naughty List, and here's what it's about (summary from indiebound):
As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn't enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson's the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad-turned-spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn't be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!
When Tessa's own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa's sneaky ways end in catastrophe?
And now, here's Suzanne with a little bit about the cover:
"I had a cover idea! I wanted a cheerleader peering over a fence. Or a cheer squad holding spy equipment behind their back. Instead, I got a sneak peek inside a window. It looks great for the entire series.
"Okay, truthfully, I laughed when I first saw the cover. It was way more scandalous than I envisioned. But I had a good friend that promised me it would be a popular cover. I hope he was right.
"It is a stock photo and then they really wanted to make something special to tie the series together--that's the window pane (I adore it). It also comes in red and purple!"
That photo is totally risquee -- I think it's the black bra that puts it over the top for me. And, I snooped around and found the cover for So Many Boys, #2 in The Naughty List series (out in June). It's great when a series has such a unifying icon, like the window pane, to ID it. What do you guys think?
PS-Update! Just found Cover #3 on Suzanne's blog:
Photo Friday: Carolyn Mackler Reading!
Last week I got to go to a reading for Carolyn Mackler's newly released TANGLED (see the video of her reading on readergirlz!). The book is really great -- it's from four points of view, and each one intertwines with the others in such a compelling way. At the end, you feel magic and resolution! CM is a master.
Also, she had heart-shaped cookies that mirrored her book's cover:
And she posed with me (no idea why these photos get so fuzzy when I post--sorry!):
You know, Carolyn was the first author I went to when I had a book idea -- we'd known each other a little through magazines and our shared alma mater. And she was definitely the one who made me believe I could succeed. I remember she told me, "You'll get published! Melissa Walker is such a great author name!" Love it.
Happy Friday!
PS-Had to point out this awesome Laurie Halse Anderson post about Book Pirates. Please don't steal books online! (Libraries, people.) Thank you.
Bonus Cover Stories: The Babysitters Club Redesign
New Babysitters Club covers... what do we think?
vs. the old?
(I couldn't find the original Stacey cover for some reason--sorry!).
I'm torn. I like the simplicity of the new, but my heart is with the old painting-style covers. Of course, this is for a whole new generation... thoughts?
Win-It Wednesday: Fashion Week Swag + FALLEN by Lauren Kate
The winner of last week's copy of Bad Blood by Mari Mancusi is... Jill of the O.W.L.! Send me your address, J.
So maybe you remember that I was in Rio for Fashion Week (gah!). Well, I brought home a ton of SWAG and I just can't keep it all -- I'm not trying to be a hoarder. So... I'm going to box it all up and ship it to one randomly chosen commenter, along with a copy of FALLEN by Lauren Kate (we are book people, after all):
There's some crazy stuff in this mix -- bags, jewelry, Nivea products -- I think the best things are the various little notebooks from Brazilian designers. All yours if you win!
To enter, just leave a comment below and tell me your favorite "Unsung YA" book of 2009. You might have seen my list, which you may use for inspiration if you'd like! (Thanks, Kelly at YAnnabe, for starting this great meme.)
+1 if you tweet/blog/facebook/whatever about this contest -- just note that in your comment.
Happy Wednesday!
Links! Links! And Contests
Just a few things to check out today:
1. My interview with Girls' Life magazine: "I Wanna Be... An Author!"
2. Omnivoracious did an amazing post on The YA Decade (that would be the '00s), and Justine Larbalestier wrote a fascinating response to said post, and noted lots of authors who should also have been included. Both way worth reading! Self-involved bonus: I'm mentioned in Omnivoracious post as someone for whom Meg Cabot paved the way (totally thrilling!).
3. Happy Blogiversary to Harmony Book Reviews! Watch my vlog and comment for a chance to win Lovestruck Summer, here.
4. Tell an embarrassing dentist story (real or fictional) and enter to win a copy of the new graphic novel Smile by Raina Telgemeier over at Bildungsroman.
5. Don't forget to enter last Wednesday's Bad Blood contest. You've got one more day.
Happy Tuesday!
