Cover Stories: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

Daisy Whitney shared the Cover Story for The Mockingbirds last year, and she's back with a new tale for her latest novel, When You Were Here (out in June!). By the way, Kelly J. at Stacked says this book is "so good it hurts to think about." Here's Daisy:

"When You Were Here has always been a tough book for me to imagine a cover for. That's because most of the book takes place in Tokyo, but the main character is very much an American teenager. It's also because the novel is about love, and loss, and grief, and joy and finding a sort of peace and happiness when you've been the one left behind, but it's also a romance between a boy and a girl. Given all that, I pictured cityscapes and neon lights and maybe a boy walking away from the reader...But that's sort of as far as I could picture a possible cover.

"I did share those thoughts with my editor and I also told her I wasn't fond of gray covers, that I didn't want a Tokyo vibe on the cover, and that I didn't want a sad or depressed looking boy on the cover. To be sure, my main character is sad at the start of the novel, but he's very much questing and yearning for happiness so I wanted the cover to convey some of the hopefulness of his journey.

"The cover here is the second version. The first version I wasn't wild about and I told my editor so. Without getting into the specifics, the first attempt felt too much like an adult novel for my tastes, and it also didn't have a person on the cover. I love photographic covers and faces, so when I offered some feedback on the first pass, I suggested a photographic cover, and sent along several stock photo options of teens that I felt came close to the vibe I wanted. My editor shared all the photos and my ideas with the design team, and they definitely took them to heart. So when I then saw this cover, I was happy! Because this cover says a lot now about the story - the boy is yearning, he's looking, he's not shying away from life or troubles. He seems a boy with a purpose, like my main character! I like the sun on his face, and the thoughtful, contemplative mood of the cover. And purple is my favorite color so I love the font.

"This cover is completely different from the first version, and this is much warmer and teen-centric and I think draws readers in, but also makes it clear that they'll be going on a complicated journey.

"I think it's a stock photo, and I'm really happy with this cover. Given that this isn't the easiest story to wrap up in a jacket, I think the design team did a great job. They are tireless and they tried many different directions, and I'm thrilled to be able to have an editor who values my input and who engages in an open dialogue about what's working and not working about covers. When I look at this cover now, I do feel as if this boy is my boy - as if he wants what my narrator wants, as if he's at that crucial crossroads in his life. This is a boy who's going to be a man of action, to seek answers, and who also is yearning and longing for so many things. And that's what the story is about. It's about a teenage boy and his journey through big love and big loss and his quest to find happiness in the here and now."

Thanks, Daisy! The emotions that this cover invokes are spot on for me. I love, love, love the sunlight behind him. So bittersweet. Can't wait to read.

What do you guys think?

Cover Stories: The Mockingbirds and The Rivals

The amazing Daisy Whitney's here with a new Cover Story! "I only vaguely had a cover idea in mind for The Rivals, and it was similar to what I had originally envisioned for The Mockingbirds (read that Cover Story) -- something akin to the hardback cover of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, i.e. something that just screamed "girl at boarding school." And what I've learned as a reader is that I very much prefer books with strong girls on the cover -- like Frankie, or like the cover of Where She Went (read that Cover Story), or What I Saw and How I Lied.

"The cover change (from the Mockingbirds hardback and The Rivals arc, below) came about through a conversation I had with my editor about a year ago about the type of covers I like and so on. She really wants her authors to love their covers, so when she learned that I had liked the hardcover, but would have preferred a photographic cover, she asked me to send her my favorite covers and that they would consider a redo for the paperback and the hardcover of The Rivals.

 

"Fortunately, my editor shepherded many many versions of changes to get to the current design, and wisely waited til she had these versions to show me. She did tell me they had tried for a photographic look with a girl in front and perhaps some other people behind her to convey the sense of the group aspect of the secret society, but they didn't look right.

"[When I first saw my cover, I felt] total happiness!! I swear! These covers are exactly what I had envisioned all along -- strong (and, let's be honest, good-looking) faces on both books looking straight at the reader. For The Mockingbirds, I love that the girl is looking right at the reader, that she isn't hidden or ashamed, and I have to say I think the red lipstick is a fantastic, subtle, feminist statement about the book's underlying 'message' -- that speaking up is worth it. I also loved the type for the title, and I think the birds -- right-side up on The Mockingbirds, and upside-down on The Rivals -- are great! I love too that the birds are cartoonish, because that's how they're described in the book. I sound like a broken record, but I truly love the redesign so much. I keep telling my editor. I am sure she is tired of hearing it! But these covers make me happy!

 

"I just received my author's copies of the hardcover of The Rivals and I noticed the boy has stubble! (Which doesn't mean anything in the book, it was just an observation). But seriously, what I love most about The Mockingbirds redo is that the girl is strong and bold. What I love most about The Rivals is that the cover is the 'opposite' of The Mockingbirds, because the story in The Rivals is about the other side of the secret society. The reverse symmetry between the covers captures the stories to me and I like that they have a hip, retro feel in the yearbook look of them."

Thanks, Daisy! I actually really like the original designs when I look at them, but I think the new ones are more eyecatching. Love the immediacy of the scribbled titles, red lips, blue eyes--those details really draw me in.

What do you guys think?

Cover Stories: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds is out this week, and she's here to tell the tale behind a cover that reminds me of a classic already!

First, a little about the book:

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way-the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds-a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers. And now here's Daisy:

"As I was writing, I pictured a girl at boarding school ala The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (left)!

"Ah, but there's the myth that authors have any say over their covers! My editor showed me cover comps throughout the process and I was able to give feedback on the elements I liked. I had suggestions on elements of the bird and the trees and some of them were incorporated. The original cover was red and green (right) and the final is blue and yellow. I'm so happy with the blue version!

"My cover was illustrated by an artist. The final cover design features a blue and yellow bird and the blue matches all my blue shoes! Hurrah! In the end, I love it. I think it's unusual and stands out." Thanks, Daisy! I just think something about this cover looks old-school lit in the best possible timeless way. It also has a great spine, right? (And how about that storyline--whoa! Love.)

What do you guys think?