Amy Fellner Dominy's debut novel had me laughing as soon as I heard the title and tagline: OyMG "Jewish Girl. Christian Camp. Holy Moly." Now Amy's here to share her Cover Story:
"I hate to admit it, but I had no clue what would make a good cover for this book. When my editor asked if I had any suggestions, I drew a complete blank. (Literally.) I’m guessing I did what many authors do: I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
"In truth, my cover was all the things I didn’t want: An actual face for my main character; Religious symbols—including a cross; And no cute guy.
"But I took one look and immediately LOVED it. Truly! It just felt 'right.' Thank goodness, because my editor told me that was the 16th version I was seeing. (And no, I didn’t ask to see all the other ones.)
"The only request I made was to have them bump up the romantic elements on the cover. The relationship is such an important part of the book, I didn’t want that to be lost.
"So if you look up near the title you’ll see lips and a heart with 'DY' (for Devon Yeats). In the original cover, they were smaller and green, so they blended more. In the revision, they got bumped up to a larger size and turned pink. It was just enough to give added emphasis without creating too much chaos on the cover.
"I believe it was a stock photo. And we’ve had some discussions about the model in my own family. I think she looks perfect. My husband thinks she’s looks older than fourteen (her age in the book). And my daughter thinks I should have written about a blond girl so she could have posed for the cover.
"I still love the cover for a few reasons. For starters, one of my main worries going in was the title. A lot of times when I tell people the title is OyMG they’re lost for a moment until they think it through. I wanted the understanding to be immediate at first glance of the cover. And I think it is. Also, I think the bubble treatment is so cute, I’m making OyMG t-shirts. That’s a sign of love. Finally, I do think the cover reflects the story and Ellie’s struggle with religious identity. So all in all, I’m feeling pretty lucky."
Thanks, Amy! I am a big fan of illustrated elements on a cover (remember this illustrated cover I found for Lovestruck Summer? Still adore it), so I'm really into the way this one is done (though I would have 100% asked to see those earlier versions, if only for Cover Stories fodder)! The book concept is hilarious and I'm excited to see religion as a part of more YA books this year. Read more about the book, and see the trailer, at The Contemps.
What do you guys think?