Kay Cassidy has been having a huge launch party (including prizes galore!) for her debut novel, The Cinderella Society, so of course I had to invite her over for cover talk... here she is:
"I envisioned the cover of The Cinderella Society in the vein of the Princess Diaries boxed set (volumes 1-3) with the cute pillow and tiara. Although with slightly stronger colors so the glass slipper would really pop. I liked the feminine feel, though I figured mine would probably be in the purple spectrum since lavender is the color of The Cinderella Society.
"My cover was kind of funny because I actually saw it on the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) when it was just a filler! I thought my ARCs were going to have plain covers because they couldn't find a cover comp they really liked, so I was thrilled when the ARCs arrived with the pink boxes and glass slipper mockup. The edges of the boxes were rough and unrefined, but I thought the design was very striking, especially with all the dark covers dominating bookstore shelves.
"In the meantime, my editor kept having the designer go back to the drawing board on the cover. But after several weeks of them having the ARCs in their office and having people see it and immediately pick it up with an 'Ooo,' my publisher decided that maybe they'd already found the winner. My editor asked if I would be comfortable using a version of that as my final cover, and I was delighted.
"I think it's a mix of stock photo and a shoot. The glass slipper was a stock photo (which was great because I was able to buy it so my marketing materials were an exact match) but I think the boxes part was created by the designer herself.
"But actually... now that I think about it, I had looked for a glass slipper graphic a few months earlier on one of the big stock photo sites and couldn't find one. But after my cover came, I went there again and found one that was an exact match. So maybe it was the designer who created it and made it available as a stock photo. I wonder!
"I'm still very happy with it. I haven't noticed anything that I wish had been changed, so it's been wonderful. I think every new author freaks out about their cover (I had nightmares mine was a cartoon), so it's a HUGE relief to have a cover I love."
Ooh, as someone with a cartoon cover that has been hotly debated, I hear you! Thanks so much, Kay! I think this cover is fairy tale perfection. You guys?