Cover Stories: Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall

Did anyone notice that the last page of the New York Times Book Review this week was about... wait for it... Cover Stories! Me and the Times, you know, we think alike. I haven't yet had a chance to read Megan Kelley Hall's Sisters of Misery, but I am pretty sure I'll like it. It's set near Salem, Massachusetts and it's about a girl investigating her cousin's mysterious disappearance when she starts to get hassled by a powerful clique, The Sisters of Mystery, in a modern-day witch hunt. I like witch hunt stories--I'm not gonna lie. Also, I have been totally struck by her gorgeous cover (top photo)! So, I wanted the inside scoop. And here it is: "I knew that I wanted something a little different for my cover--something that would appeal to adults as well as teens. The reason is that my debut suspense novel, SISTERS OF MISERY, is the cornerstone of Kensington's new Young Adult division and I wrote it with the intentions of having crossover appeal. It seems to be working because I've been getting great feedback from both teens and adults! "My editor, Danielle Chiotti, at Kensington is the most amazing editor ever. In my opinion, she went above and beyond what other editors do (this is just from my experience as an independent literary publicist at Kelley & Hall Book Publicity, and hearing second-hand from authors about their working relationships with their editors). She made sure that my input and suggestions were heard in the art department (MW note: See mock-ups that Megan made, at left, to explain what she wanted for the cover). "Then one day, my editor called to tell me she was sending over the jpeg of the cover. She told me that when she saw it she screamed in pure happiness and that the cover gave her chills and she'd already hung it up over her desk. I couldn't wait to see it. When I finally did, I absolutely fell in love. It was very different from any other cover I'd seen before and it WAS Cordelia. I don't know how they did it, but they captured the essence of Cordelia. I loved the colors, I loved the photo, I loved the font. Everything was picture perfect. I have to give a great big shout out to the amazing Kristine Mills-Noble for her incredible cover design. "There wasn't one thing that I would have changed. The only funny thing is that everyone wants to know who the girl on the cover is. For some reason, everyone thinks that it really is 'Cordelia'--despite the fact that Cordelia is a fictional character. Whoever the model is, she's beautiful and perfectly captures the essence of Cordelia LeClaire. "I'm hoping that I won't need to make any suggestions for my next book in the series, THE LOST SISTER. I am eagerly anticipating what the cover will look like. I've sent some stock photos over to them (many can be seen in the slideshow I made on my MySpace page, you can check it out at sistersofmisery.com), so I hope that they will keep my suggestions in mind for the next book. But, if they come close to this cover, I'll be happy. "As for the Sisters of Misery cover, I love the color (the green really stands out), the image of the red-headed girl with the striking yellow flowers tangled in her hair is haunting and beautiful; even the cover model's expression (looking down and very solemn) is in keeping with the themes of the story. We just sold some foreign rights, so I'm curious to see what other countries will do with it. In any case, I'm framing the cover. That pretty much says it all." Great cover story, Megan. I'm excited to read the book! PS-Later today I'll chose a winner for last Monday's contest and announce the BIG contest. Stay tuned...