kieran scott

Cover Stories: Shadowlands by Kate Brian

Shadowlands_CVR_500px-2 Kate Brian, aka Kieran Scott, is here to share her perspective on the cover for her latest novel, Shadowlands. "I’ve never had the privilege of being asked for input on my covers, so I’m always holding my breath a little bit, waiting to see what the designers come up with. Most of the time, when I see the final result, I breathe a sigh of relief, and that was definitely the case with Shadowlands. I love, love love this cover. Every time I look at it I think I love it a little bit more. I love the moodiness of the colors, the gold shimmer of the title, the way the clouds and the birds wrap around the letters. It seems to be in constant motion. But I especially love the reaction it inspires from readers when they first see it. At an event the other day, a girl picked up the novel and said, 'Oooooh! Spooky!' And then she gave it a little hug. You really can’t ask for more than that.

shadowlands original"All that being said, I think I loved the original cover even more (right). The proposal for Shadowlands was put together by the awesome folks at my packager, Alloy Entertainment, and then pitched to a couple of publishers. When they originally sent out the proposal, they included a mock-up of the cover so the first thing the editors at the publishing houses saw was a piece of art that set the mood. That cover included a stock photo of a girl, who faced away from the camera, and was looking up at a flock of hovering and diving crows. You couldn’t see her face, but you could tell she was running. She had this voluminous skirt she was holding up with both hands, and with her face tilted toward the sky, you got the feeling she was terrified of the crows, or of what they symbolized, and that she was running for her life. Once the trilogy pitch sold, the powers-that-be decided to hire models and have a shoot, which is great, but the girl on the cover of Shadowlands the novel, as opposed to Shadowlands the proposal, just doesn’t convey that fear. She looks almost like she’s daydreaming. She’s beautiful and I love the movement of her hair and that she’s still looking up at the dreary sky, but I do miss that fear I felt with the first cover. There’s definitely a terrifying element to the book (girl on the run from a serial killer), so it was nice to have that emotion conveyed. Still, I’m more than happy with the final product, and happier every time I hear that, 'Oooooh!'

BH_70-nCcAELfal.jpg-large"As for the question that seems to be on every reader’s lips, the girl on the cover is supposed to be Darcy, and the girl on the back cover is Rory. This always confuses people because the book is from Rory’s POV and she’s a blond tomboy, so the cover doesn’t meet with their expectations. I have to admit, this was not the designer’s fault. Originally, the novel was from both sister’s POVs, something that changed during the editing process, but by the time the change was made the cover was already done. It was too late to replace Darcy with Rory. They both appear on the cover of the second novel, Here After (right), which is this awesome dark purple color and possibly even spookier than the first. The great thing about both covers is I think they’re intriguing enough to catch a browser’s eye and make them pick up the books, which is really all I want out of a cover! Reel ‘em in so they’ll read the flap. Keeping them there is my job."

Thanks, Kieran! I got a Hitchcock vibe from this cover from the start, so I was spooked immediately. I like seeing the girl more on the final cover, but I do love the fear in that first cover. Tough call.

What do you guys think?

Cover Stories: She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott

ShesSoDead_fnl.jpgThe fantastic Kieran Scott is here to talk about title changes, taglines and Tiffany blue on the cover of her latest novel, She's So Dead to Us (I've heard her read from it, and in case you're not familiar with her books, Kieran -- who also writes as Kate Brian -- pens a great novel).Here she is: "The story of my cover is all tied up with the story of my title. When I first pitched the idea that eventually became SHE'S SO DEAD TO US, it was titled RETURN TO ORCHARD HILL. In my mind it was a coming-home story wrapped up in a romance. I had all these thoughts of Dawson's Creek-style, sepia-toned images of autumn trees and quaint neighborhoods. It was all very romantic and dreamy. "Unfortunately, my publisher didn't love the title. It sounded too old-fashioned and literary. They wanted something more immediate. Something that would grab the reader, rather than lull them into a state of nostalgia. So I went back to the drawing board. I came up with lists and lists of potential titles. I brainstormed with my agent and I brainstormed with my editor. I even brainstormed with my sister and my best friend. But somehow, we couldn't all get on the same page. There was one title we all liked, but we already knew there were going to be three books, and we couldn't come up with accompanying titles that made sense. We went back and forth about this for weeks, until it was basically do-or-die time. Catalog copy had to be set. Covers had to be made. We were playing with fire. "We wanted something that would evoke the idea of 'you can't go home again,' but we also wanted romance. It seemed impossible to have both. Then, one day, my editor sent me a mock-up that the talented Krista Vossen had put together. It was a light-blue cover with a broken strand of pearls and the title SHE'S SO DEAD TO US. The title had been the brainstorm of someone in marketing, I believe. And a brilliant editorial assistant (ahem, Julia Maguire), had come up with the tagline 'Born with a silver spoon, living with a plastic spork.' I took one look at the package and fell in love with it. The cover, in my opinion, is drop-dead gorgeous. And what female among us is not attracted to that Tiffany blue? The romance angle was, clearly, not present, but at this point I had resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't have it all. I had to hope that when readers opened the book and saw the alternating points of view, they'd see what it was all about. She's So Dead to Us 1.jpg She's So Dead to Us 2.jpg "The first cover I saw had a different font (above, see two earlier versions), but in essence the design remained the same from there on out. When I saw the final version I flipped over the embossed, raised pearls. The whole thing just feels so elegant to me, and you don't find a whole lot of elegant on the YA shelves. Some, but not a lot. "The CODA to all this is that the cover is going to change for the paperback version. It's going to more editorial. I haven't seen the mock-up yet, but once I do, I'll let you know what I think!" Thanks, Kieran! I agree... elegant. And the subtle tweaking of fonts and pearl placements really does make the final cover seem like a more polished version. Can't wait to see the sequel, He's So Not Worth It (another great title)! What do you guys think?