*Update! Travis reminded me that I forgot to pick last week's Copper Sun/Incarceron winner (and did you hear that Fox picked up the film rights to Incarceron?!). Anyway, the winner is JenP! Send me your address, J. Now back to Anna J.*
The lovely Anna Jarzab is here to talk about her novel's cover. All Unquiet Things, which The Compulsive Reader called "[A] complex, smart, and disquieting debut."
Plus, Anna's giving a copy of her book to one lucky commenter, whom I'll choose at random next week (announced on Weds as usual). Take it away, Anna!
"It surprises me now, considering how obsessively I thought of this book, how little I thought about what the cover might look like. I had dinner with my editor and my agent a few months after we sold All Unquiet Things and my editor asked, 'So do you have any ideas about what you might like to see on the cover?' I was totally stumped, so I blurted out the only thing that came to mind: matryoshka dolls. One is crucial to the plot and they've always seemed sort of an apt metaphor for people and mysteries. I don't know whether or not the art department at Delacorte found that suggestion helpful, but they didn't go with it, which was fine because then I used it as a theme for my website, which has worked out pretty nicely.
"I got my cover in January 2009 and was totally stunned by it. I mean, absolutely, positively, 100% in awe of how elegant and captivating it is. I had absolutely no input except '!!!!!'. I didn't even try to play it cool. The cover never changed from the comp I saw, which was just fine with me.
"The cover photo was shot specifically for the book by the brilliant Eva Kolenko (who according to her blog just did some shots for a Rubio's commercial, which is pretty much the coolest thing ever; as all Californians know, Rubio's is delicious). The model's name is Lauren, and a couple of months ago I heard from her lovely mother, who dropped me a line to tell me that was her daughter on the cover. I was excited and asked her to see if Lauren could write a little something about her experience being a cover model for the book. You can read the full thing here on my website, but here's a snippet:
Lauren: "It all started with an email from a casting agency asking me if I was interested in a photo shoot for the cover of a book...I pictured myself - hair blowing from the oversized fan behind the photographer, fake eyelashes, colorful wardrobe - I would be like a celebrity...However, when my mom received an email from the photographer that said, 'Lauren will be playing dead, and will probably be getting a little muddy. Just wanted to give you a heads up on that,' my celebrity hopes vanished...
"First they had me lay down on a hill of prickly grass. I was a tough girl, I could handle it. It was wet and scratchy, but I tried to focus on appearing dead. The next spot was on top of some thick roots near a tree. This time it was muddy, and the designer dirtied my shirt with grass and dirt beforehand for effect. The roots dug into my back, but I had to appear relaxed, you know, being dead and all. It was still freezing cold, but, of course--perfect timing--the glare from the sun was in my eyes while I had to stare directly into the camera. Eva was great, always encouraging me and trying to get the best shot possible...
"When we were done shooting, Eva showed me some of the pictures on her laptop. When I saw them, I was so excited. It was worth being uncomfortable for an hour... This experience was amazing! I would not trade it for anything. It was so cool to go to Borders and see my face (actually half of it) on the shelf. I felt so honored. I couldn't help but tell the good news to an employee there. He surprisingly was quite impressed."
Back to Anna: "What a trooper! I'm the whiniest person ever, so I probably would've been like, "Why is it so COLD?" in about five seconds. But the photo is amazing, and I think Lauren is a perfect Carly--also, perfectly dead-looking. By the way, you may only be able to see half of Lauren's face on the hardcover, but the audio book has a fuller photo, right (they had to use it because of sizing).
"There are so many things I love about the cover. I love how incredibly green the grass is, and how transfixingly blue Carly's eyes are. I love how she's staring at you, like she's daring you to find out what happened to her, or she's trying to draw you in--also helped by the half-beckoning way her arm is positioned. I love the horizontal lines of the cover, with the way the photo is trimmed and Carly's arm. I also like that Carly's hand is what's in focus, and everything else is slightly out of focus, like she's offering to take your hand and guide you into this world. Am I thinking too much about this? Maybe. But I've stared at it a long time.
"Anyway, I absolutely love the cover and am so grateful to the design department at Delacorte and Eva and Lauren and my editor who surely had a lot to do with this. It's such a beautiful package, and perfectly captures the essence of the book I wrote. I couldn't be happier."
I found the cover to be really mesmerizing, which is why I had to ask Anna to join us for Cover Stories! And that full-face audio book cover? SO MUCH CREEPIER!! I love that Lauren the model got to share her story too! (I loved doing that with Molly, the Violet books' cover model.)
So what do you guys think of this cover? Drawn in?
Comment below and you're entered to win a copy of the book!
Oh, and here's the trailer: