Last year, Susane Colasanti shared the Cover Story for her Dawson's Creek-esque image on Waiting For You, and now she's back with a new release--Something Like Fate (a book I dropped in Madrid for Operation Teen Book Drop!).
Also, I have an extra ARC of this book so one lucky commenter will win that, too. Just comment below and leave your cover thoughts before May 5th.
Take it away, Susane!
"Before Something Like Fate, my book covers shared a similar theme. They all featured a boy on the left and a girl on the right with their faces hidden in some way. Plus, they all had a sweet natural lighting effect. Right before Waiting for You came out in paperback, shiny new editions of my other paperbacks were released. The goal was for all of my books to share a uniform look by branding them with new stripy watercolor patterns on the spines. I was so exited about this change! The new spines really pop on the shelves.
"My publisher wanted the cover of Something Like Fate to look a bit different. Instead of the usual boy/girl image, she felt strongly that one boy and two girls should be featured on the cover to emphasize the lovers' triangle. I think a stock photo was originally found, but didn't seem quite right. So they had a photo shoot for the cover. It was held at a studio in Chelsea with models from Ford Models. The girls were in high school (their moms were there) and the boy was a few years older. My editor was there, which is how I know some of the behind-the-scenes details.
"The setting is supposed to be an old-school ice cream parlor from the book. At first, they were going to use real ice cream in the photo. They went out and got all of this ice cream, but it ended up melting because it wasn't used. They tried some poses at a counter with the models sitting on stools. Between the models' legs and the chair legs, the image looked too busy. The couch was already there in the studio (although I think my cover designer changed its color to purple), and it was clear that by using the couch as a backdrop for the finger touch, readers would get an immediate sense of what the story's about.
"When I first saw the cover...well, I was less than thrilled. It seemed a bit Gossip Girl to me. Not to dis Gossip Girl - love that show! - I just didn't think it quite matched the tone of my book. It was a shock to see two girls when I was used to just one. I didn't get what a plush couch was doing in an ice cream parlor. Isn't that a recipe for disaster? And the couch seemed huge to me. It was taking up almost half the cover!
"I loved the fonts and colors, though. I'd requested a pink/purple color scheme, which came out really well. I liked everyone's clothes and the boy's bracelets - those are his actual bracelets he came in wearing. I also liked the big window because it offered an opportunity for natural light. But the initial cover had a much harsher lighting effect that looked fake to me. I asked for the lighting to be softened, which it was. I also asked for the ice cream poster that's hanging in the window to be changed. The original poster was really cheesy - I wanted something with a more vintage look. My contract says that I get a cover consultation, so my feedback was accepted and those changes were made.
"The only change my designer couldn't make was that I wanted to see more of the models and less of the couch. But now I realize that the back of the couch needs to be that high to draw your eye towards that perfect finger touch, which was really hard for the photographer to capture. The models tried all sorts of different poses before nailing that one. They tried holding hands at first. That didn't look right. And if the girl on the left were any closer to the others, it would have changed the tone. I appreciate how difficult it was to create that one awesome shot.
"The response to the cover has been amazing. I've definitely come to love it. I think I just needed some time to get used to the different look. And seeing the cover before the final manuscript changes were made helped because I was able to write that purple couch into the ice cream parlor scene. Now everyone will know that the couch is legit!"
Thanks, Susane! I really do think the cover perfectly conveys the love triangle in the book, and that finger touch is just so lovely. Plus, I hadn't thought about the "natural light" theme in all these covers, but seeing them together definitely highlights that. Pretty!
What do you guys think?
PS-Visit Susane on her website, blog, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.