When I saw the cover of Gabriel Madison's Dayling (which was released yesterday), I couldn't stop staring at those glowing eyes. I had to find out more about the cover, so here's Gabriel to share:"I was going through a phase of reading YA Urban Fantasy books with the face of characters on the covers. I wanted that for Dayling. So when the publisher sent me a form to describe what I wanted the cover to look like. I sent them this: 'I see a teenage girl, with long curly black hair and emerald green eyes, wearing a Pullover Hoodie, with the hood pulled over her head. The girl is glancing to the left, as light comes from the top right corner. The rest of the cover is in black, except for the title.'
"I was blown away when I saw the cover. I loved it. I remember opening the e-mail and sitting there for a moment with a silly grin on my face. Even though I described what I wanted the cover to look like, I never thought it would look like that. The girl. The eyes. The title. The way the girl is clutching her Hoodie. Even how the light coming from the top corner of the book is barely visible looked amazing to me. After I stared at the cover for a moment in silence, I pumped my fist in the air a few times from excitement. I know that was a geek move, but I was in a geek mood!
"They wanted me to write a tagline for the cover. I wrote one and the publisher wrote one. They basically combined what we both wrote. Actually, the publisher wanted to use a line I wrote in my query letter. So they combined the tag I wrote after seeing the cover, with a line I had in my query to create the tagline: Times were a lot simpler for Haven before she stepped out of the shadows... and into the eternal night.
"The cover designer, Traci Markou, did a great job. The only thing that was changed a few times was the tagline. But the cover itself stayed the same.
"I loved the cover from the first moment I saw it. I have the cover as my computer Background. I haven't found any hidden meanings, and I think I stared at it for so long when I first opened the e-mail I noticed everything in the cover. It represents different aspects of the story. My main character, Haven, seen on the cover looking straight ahead with sunrays raking across her can represent how for most of Haven's life she had secluded herself from the world and how she now wants to be a part of it. She wants to go from being unseen to seen.
"The cover can also represent what she is. In my story there are two types of supernatural beings, Daylings and Nightlings (Daylings turn into Nightlings on their eighteenth birthdays). The light shining on her in the cover represents that she is still a Dayling, because Nightlings can't be out in the sun. So I think the cover represents both parts of Haven's journey... her desire to finally be seen, and her life as a Dayling."
Thanks, Gabriel! This is the most author involvement I've heard of -- a form describing what you see as the cover! -- so congratulations. I think it's a striking one.
What do you guys think?