Bonus Cover Story: Screwball by Keri Mikulski

in

**Quick note: Go to Linda Gerber's Love Fest for romance advice from me today (eek!) and also a chance to win pink lip gloss and Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen!**ScrewBall_cover2.jpg You guys must know Keri Mikulski from her fun blog and her sporty series, which starts with SCREWBALL! I invited her over to tell her home plate cover story, and here we go: "Since the beginning, I pictured a simple cover for SCREWBALL and I always adored Lauren Myracle's TTYL series covers. I didn't want the cover to be too sporty or completely non-sporty. Instead, I pictured something in the middle. "I was lucky. My publisher elicited my input about the cover from day one. I was so new to the book world (still am), so I had no idea what to expect. She sent me some early designs and ideas and asked what I thought and I was honest. COVERIDEA.jpg cover%282%29%20copy.jpg models.jpg "At first the covers were shot with models. But, the final cover I believe is a stock photo. In a weird twist of fate, my best friend since elementary school's sister, Jodi Raines, completed the second round of designs. Jodi sent four designs to my publisher and I immediately fell in love with the final pick (far right). Jodi did an amazing job and she's extremely talented. screwball%20with%20red.jpg ScrewBall_cover_whiteletters.jpg screwballredwhite.jpg screwballfinal.jpg "My editor sent me some different colors and ideas (pictured above) and we both agreed on the purple background and light purple letters. Luckily, Jodi is super laid back and open to suggestions. But, honestly, when I saw the second round, I knew the purple cover was the one. I was thrilled and completely trusted Jodi's total vision. "When I received the ARCs in the mail, I was ecstatic. The cover looked awesome and better then I ever imagined. I'm still blown away by designers. It's unbelievable how someone can read a story or a plot summary and develop an image that expresses the 60,000 (+) words in one pic. Wow." And Keri asks: "Do you think we made the right choice?" I do! I like simple covers and don't always need models. This one has a great feel to it with the dirty heart--it shows a tough softness that echoes in the book. (Though I wonder if that cute guy and girl were sad they didn't get to be on the cover of Keri's book! I don't know why I think about stuff like that, but I do.) What do you guys think?