Cover Stories: What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook

Eileen Cook is here to chat about her new release, What Would Emma Do? Yay! I happen to be incredibly interested in this book because Emma's escapades--kissing a friend's boyfriend and getting all confused and heading for major social disaster--mirrors an episode in my own life. I can't wait to dive in. In the meantime, this cover story is a great one. Here's Eileen:

"I believe there are few things more scarier than the first time you open the jpeg of your cover. While the saying might be 'don't judge a book by its cover,' I am well aware that is exactly what we tend to do. I wasn't sure what I wanted the cover to look like, but I was certain that I wanted to grab the reader's interest by raising some questions in their mind. If it could raise a question then hopefully the reader would pick up the book.

"My editor and the cover designer involved me in the discussion for the cover and even sent some candid photos from the day they did the photo shoot. It was a freezing cold day and they used a hair dryer to heat up the model between shots. There were concerns that because the model was so cold it came across in her expression. When I saw the first draft overall (left) I was fairly happy. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. I've known a lot of writers who had covers that they detested so I felt like the situation was a win. A few weeks later they emailed me again saying they had decided the cover wasn't bang on and they were doing a different version. I chewed down a few fingernails until it arrived.

"As soon as I saw the final cover it was love. I love the awkwardness of her sneaking a kiss in the bushes and that she's stepping on his foot. I was thrilled that they went from what was a good cover to one that felt like a great cover."

Thanks, Eileen! I love the final cover because I think it conveys the "being bad" side of the story more. What do you guys think?