This Cover Story was requested by the lovely Holly Cupala, and author Pearl North kindly obliged to answer my questions about the cover of her book Libyrinth. It's set in the future, where technology masquerades as magic and wars are fought over books! Here's Pearl:"The art departments at most publishers have their own ideas about how to package a book to make it appealing to potential customers. That's not my area of expertise so I don't even try to anticipate what the book will look like.
"I am very fortunate in that my editor James Frenkel always keeps me in the loop when the cover art is being designed. He asked me for descriptions of characters and settings from the book, and even sent me samples of work from the artist under consideration. I also had the opportunity to give feedback on an early draft of the cover art. So, while the overall design and subject for the cover were decided by my editor and Tor's art department, I did have a voice in the process.
"I had seen a first draft of the cover, so I knew what to expect in general terms. The first thing that hit me was how much more polished and refined it looked compared to what I had seen before, which stands to reason. And then I thought how serene and confident Haly, my main character, looked. She looked like someone with the inner strength to do what she does in the novel, and I was satisfied. It wasn't until all that sank in that I even noticed Nod the imp perched upon her shoulder. I love that about the picture, how it gives you more the longer you look at it. Finally, the last thing to emerge for me was how the picture makes visual something that is completely non-visual. Haly hears the voices of books. They speak their contents to her. On the cover of LIBYRINTH, she has her eyes closed, and her face is lifted up as pages from books flutter down around her. She's listening to them, and you can see it.
"I knew from past experience with Tor's art department that they really listen to author feedback. On a previous book, they had asked for some descriptions of some of my characters. One of them was a snake and they did the pattern of his scales exactly the way I had described them, so I knew they were listening. In LIBYRINTH, the feedback I offered after the first draft was more the sort of thing anyone might point out, so I can't say if the changes were because of my input, or that of my editor or the artist's own judgment at play.
"In initial conversations with my editor, he had a very different concept for the cover. It was intially going to be Haly out on the Plain of Ayor, on a horse, with the Libyrinth in the background. I suggested putting her in among the shelves of the Libyrinth, or even just 
having some books in her saddlebag, because books are such an important part of the story. I don't know who decided what or what the reasons were behind it, but when the first draft of the cover art came, there she was, in among the books in the Libyrinth.
"In the first draft of the cover, Haly's eyes are open and her expression was a bit different. And Nod was not in that picture. He came as a surprise in that final version, especially since even then, I didn't spot him right away. He's subtle.
"The artist who did the cover for LIBYRINTH is Melanie Delon. I do not know if she worked off of a model for Haly, my main protagonist. However, I can say with some degree of certainty that she did not have a live model for Nod, who is an imp. :)
"I think the cover is a wonderful ambassador for my story. I'm thrilled with it."
I didn't notice the imp either, at first! And I do love the covers you keep finding new things in as you look at them. I also like the soft green glow of this cover. What do you guys think?
Cover Stories
Cover Stories: Two Books by Frank Anthony Polito
The winner of last week's contest for Stephanie Kuehnert's latest, Ballads of Suburbia, is... Summer! Send me your address, S.Frank Anthony Polito is an author and actor and playwright--he's a multi-talented guy. And he's got some pretty colorful books under his belt. Here, he shares their cover stories:
"For my first novel, I originally saw the idea as being a drawing, with the words Band Fags! over top of a music staff, and the letters forming the 'notes.' The 'd' would be a quarter note, the 'F,' a bass clef, the 'g' and treble clef etc. For my second book, Drama Queers! I didn't have a real clear image in my head. Unlike band, there is no "uniform" for drama, other than the costume an actor wears in a play. I thought, maybe something with a stage and curtains?
"For both books, my publisher gave me the opportunity to provide input. For Band Fags! I decided, after looking at some other Kensington titles, to use a photo (courtesy of Getty stock). I found some of various kids in a marching band uniforms. I found one where a guy was looking at another guy, almost sneaking a glimpse, and thought 'that seems gay!' A second featured a guy holding a bass drum on which I thought the title could be superimposed, and another (the one I ended up choosing) showed a kid in a band uniform with a pink sash across his chest. How much gayer could you get?!
"In Drama Queers! the kids put on a production of Grease, so I looked online and found a really hot guy in jeans and a white t-shirt standing in front of a curtain in a spotlight. My editor didn't like it. I also found one of a guy peeking his head through a curtain, which I thought looked 'mysterious.' My editor said it was better, but not that great.
"The first time I saw the cover for Band Fags! I wasn't too excited--even though I chose the image and advised the art department on how to design it down to putting the title across the sash. 
(I loved the font they used for the title.) The color of the sash had been changed to orange-red, which kind of bummed me out. But I guess the publisher didn't want to pigeon-hole the book as just being a 'gay' story, so they avoided the pink. Eventually I grew to love it, and I've gotten nothing but compliments.
"For Drama Queers! I was less impressed. I wasn't expecting what I saw at all! I had no idea where the idea of the dog's head (or is it a bear?) came from. At first, I didn't think it fit the story, and I even went back in and added a paragraph where the protagonist mentions working at an amusement park and having to dress up in costume. Then I realized, this is drama-related! 
And, as a friend put it, 'it's like he's trying to hide his homosexuality,' so it does fit. Again, I've got nothing but compliments, and it's really grown on me. I also like the spine on this one, which is just a blue strip with the title. On the first one, the picture bends around to the spine, and the title gets lost a little, in my opinion.
"There was one thing that changed from the original cover that I was shown to the actual Band Fags! book. On the proof, he title was embossed (raised), which I thought was super cool. I guess due to costs, the production dept. decided to scrap it for the final. Drama Queers! stayed exactly the same.
"I like 'em both. My only regret is that the two covers aren't more similar, since the stories in both books are so connected and I think of them as a 'box-set.' (Drama Queers! is a 'companion piece' to Band Fags! and covers some of the same ground time-wise, but is told from a different protagonist POV.)"
These books sound like a lot of fun to me. Listen to this rave review:
"Band Fags! is like the gay teen flick John Hughes never got around to making."
-- Dennis Hensley, author of Misadventures in the (213) and Screening Party
Now that sounds awesome.
What do you guys think of the covers? The bear one startled me at first, like, What? But it's grown on me and I find it endearlingly funny now--I think it's my favorite!
The LIAR Cover Controversy
I've spoken with Justine Larbalestier a few times, and we've talked about her doing a Cover Story. It'll happen one day! But right now, while she's in the middle of a cover crisis, I just wanted to point anyone who hasn't read about the drama with her new LIAR cover, to her blog post about it.Basically, Justine's US publisher chose a very white-girl image for the cover, although the main character in LIAR is black. (The Australian version is a more abstract cover--see behind the controversial US cover).
The party line is that it has to do with sales and marketing, but whatever the case, it's a whitewash, and I'm so glad Justine is talking about it. That takes a brave author.
The discussion is fast and furious--page through the comments for lots of insight, and add your own thoughts. If we keep talking about this, and blogging, and spreading the word, there may be hope for a more honest paperback cover.
PS-While you're on Justine's blog, check out guest blogging Ari Miss Attitude, of Reading in Color. She rules.
Cover Stories + Contest: Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
Author Stephanie Kuehnert has been having an amazing launch party over at her blog, which you probably know about already. Today, I'm vlogging, so go check it out and comment for a chance to win Lovestruck Summer!And, lucky us, Stephanie's here to share the Cover Story behind her new release, Ballads of Suburbia (see below for how you can win a copy). Here she is:
"Unlike with my first book, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, I never had any real cover ideas while I was writing Ballads of Suburbia. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone was just a book I could sum up more easily, both in words and in images. It has a certain punk spirit that I could pin down; there were pictures of rock stars that inspired me and I passed those along as cover inspiration, though none of them stuck. Ballads is moody and dark and unsettling. When people ask me to tell them about it I always end up stalling. I was able to come up with visuals for the book trailer much more easily than a cover image because the trailer gave me a lot more room to capture the tone of the book. I guess that's sort of the visual equivalent of stalling and stuttering out long-winded explanations.
"Anyway, the only thing I really wanted for the cover was ransom-note-style lettering because the notebook that the characters write in in the book has that kind of lettering on the cover. I passed this idea along to my editor and also directly to the woman designing the cover. I was lucky enough to have the same designer as I had for IWBYJR. I knew this pretty early on, which is probably the other reason I didn't think about cover design as much. I trusted Anna. IWBYJR had the perfect cover. She is a genius. I hope she designs every book cover I do.
"My editor never showed me any of the designs until they had one they were basically set on. This is what happened with IWBYJR too. I didn't see rejected covers until I found them on Anna's Flickr (oh, Google alerts), which is how I came to correspond with Anna in the first place because I had to thank her for her brilliant design. [See Stephanie's Cover story for IWBYJR here.]
"When my editor sent me the IWBYJR cover, it was love at first sight. This time, it wasn't. You see Ballads of Suburbia is set in a real place, in a park I spent much of high school hanging out in, Scoville Park -- which doesn't look like the park on the cover at all. When I imagined the setting of Ballads, I saw cigarette butts in dead grass. I saw kids sitting in a circle on a hill. I didn't see a playground, especially not that playground on the cover because the tiny playground in the corner of Scoville Park didn't have a creepy, acid-trippy looking duck in it.
"I took a deep breath and reminded myself that they would never put the real Scoville Park on the cover. It wasn't eye-catching. The duck was eye-catching. My editor and everyone at MTV Books loved the duck. I studied the cover image and focused on what I did love. The font -- that had been done exactly as I'd hoped. The eerie color of the street lamps in the sky -- that suited the mood of the book to a tee. I showed the cover to my best friend even though I wasn't really supposed to show anyone yet. She'd been at the real Scoville Park with me, if she could approve of this not-really-our-park park, I could too. She adored the duck. It made her feel unsettled, like Things Were Not Quite Right, like Danger and Bad Things would happen. And that was the sense I wanted people to get from the book after all, that the suburbs are not perfect. So eventually the duck won me over. It became as perfect a symbol of the book as the boots on the cover of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.
"There was just one thing left that bothered me about the cover: the playground seemed to lack a teenage element. So I asked my editor if something could be added in -- beer cans or bottles, cigarette butts, graffiti. She said they could try it, but warned me it might look too photoshopped. The comp with the beer cans definitely did look photoshopped, but the graffiti was perfect. It's a very small touch, if you compare them side by side (above), but it is exactly the touch I felt it needed. With that and the idea that I would put pictures of the real Scoville Park on my website, I was completely pleased with the cover.
"Once again, I saw the rejected covers after the fact. I saw the first when blogger described it and since her description didn't match the duck cover I'd seen *at all*, I asked to be pointed to where she'd seen it. It turned out to be a Simon & Schuster catalog that they had to throw together before they had a final cover. That cover was another picture of feet, a girl wearing Converse style shoes and pants sitting on a bench this time. I kinda liked it, but also felt it looked like IWBYJR's ugly kid sister. My fiance said if I had another book with feet on the cover people might think I had a fetish and my editor told me that she'd never shown it to me because she'd absolutely hated that cover.
"A couple more rejected covers eventually appeared on the designer's Flickr page. One was the same as the final cover but with different font for the title (left). Not nearly as cool since I do love my font. Another was this image of a girl and guy. 
I like the suburban street they are on, that is pretty perfect for the book, but the girl only kind of looks like my image of Kara and the guy doesn't look like any of the guys in the book at all. That's why people on covers can be so challenging IMHO.
"So ultimately the duck wins out. I've gotta say, I can't imagine any other cover at this point!"
I am really into the creepy duck. What do you guys think? Leave a comment below, and you'll be entered to win a copy of Ballads of Suburbia from Stephanie herself. Good luck!
PS-Almost back from the Honeymoon! I promise many posts and pics when I return!
Cover Stories: Bug Boy by Eric Luper
Eric Luper's just-released Bug Boy is about a young athlete who races thoroughbreds during the Great Depression. I've been into historical fiction ever since I read teen novels set during the Salem witch trials (drama! intrigue! burning at stakes!) and I'm psyched to read some more.Here's Eric's Cover Story:
"When I was writing BUG BOY, I was still in denial that I was writing historical fiction. So, the concept of a cover felt very distant, as did actually completing the manuscript. As I got closer to finishing my first draft, I started thinking about cover design. I knew it had to have horses and convey action or movement, but my specific opinion on the matter ended there.
"My publisher was stymied. They had no idea where to get either a) a horse racing photo from the 1930s that didn't look static and boring or b) a contemporary photo with no anachronisms in it. Eric Luper to the rescue! I spent several days pawing through the photo archives at the National Museum of Racing and the Saratoga Historical Society. No luck. I didn't want a black and white cover and colorized covers always look sort of creepy.
"So, I called a few amateur photographers I know who lurk around the track. As soon as I described what I needed, my friend Seth Holbrook's face lit up. 'I know exactly what you need!' he said. He forwarded an image to me and as soon as I saw it, I knew he was right. I pitched the image to my editor and we decided on a wraparound cover with very little text.
"The original photo has all the movement you see on the cover. It was taken by moving the camera at the speed of the horses and leaving the background and all other motion to blur. The original picture is quite striking. The art department then did their magic and antiqued it, while leaving all the vividness of the original image. It captures exactly what I was trying to capture in writing the book. It's a great pairing.
"I wished there was a way to get the whole image on the front of the book, but that would have required printing the book sideways, which would not go over well with anyone trying to shelve the sucker!
"There were some font changes and some subtle coloring and antiquing changes, but the cover did not evolve much throughout the process. As my editor would tell you, I like to offer my opinion on many things. I'm a visual person and I have a strong opinion about jacket design. I also think 'spine appeal' is extremely important. However, my expertise is in writing prose; I defer the final decisions on cover and whatnot to my editor and the art and marketing departments. It's their area of expertise.
"My litmus test for cover design is closing my eyes and envisioning myself at a book signing. I ask myself whether I'd be proud to be sitting next to a pile of the books or if I'd try to hide behind them. BUG BOY is a book I will be proud to sit next to."
I'm into the movement of the cover--Fast! Horses! Color! What do you guys think?
PS-Still on Honeymoon... back soon with pics!
Bonus Cover Stories: Alibi Junior High by Greg Logstead
Greg Logstead has been here once before, sharing the awesome Cover Story behind Something Happened. His new book is out now, and Greg is back to tell the tale of Alibi Junior High!"Melissa, thanks for featuring Alibi Junior High on your cover stories! This blog is so much fun. Let's see, I didn't really have an idea for the cover. All I really wanted was for it to be really cool. I was thinking maybe some kind of snake tattoo or something like that. (One of the characters, Andy has a snake tattoo.)
"My publisher asked for ideas and unfortunately all I could come up with was my very vague 'it should be really cool' suggestion. Which in retrospect isn't much help at all. It's like if a painter asked me what color I wanted my house painted and I just told him, 'I Just want it to look cool.'
"Okay, the first time I saw the first cover, I have to admit I...HATED it: the drawing, the 
green colors, even the letters - it looked completely wrong to me. I was disappointed. This is only my second book so I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be 'difficult' so I spent a whole lot of time trying to convince myself that it wasn't that bad.
"Luckily...I wasn't the only person who hated the first cover and they came up with the final cover which I LOVED the instant I saw it. I emailed it to friends and even printed it to show to people at work. Now...I can't even imagine Alibi Junior High without that final cover. I think they nailed it perfectly."
I'm with Greg! That first cover... eh, not so much. I love the final. What do you guys think?
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Librarian Deena Lipomi Talks Covers, Part 3
Here's another taste of my fun interview with Deena Lipomi, a YA Librarian at Brighton Memorial Library in Rochester, NY. I asked her about book covers, in relation to the Cover Stories series, and she gave me all kinds of fun tidbits. Catch Part 1 here (for some reason it won't let you comment on that one--sorry!) and Part 2 here.Here's part 3, where Deena talks about books that don't get picked up (and she blames the covers):
"Unpopular covers that hide great books are such a huge disappointment to me! I LOVED Gary D. Schmidt's THE WEDNESDAY WARS and TROUBLE, but I have to hand sell them in order to get them to go out because the covers are so boring and dreary. Also, books with gray covers never 
go out unless pushed. Some off the top of my head that sat and sat and sat on my New YA Books shelf no matter how many times I put them face out include CREATURE OF THE NIGHT by Kate Thompson (really good ghost story with heart), and EMPERORS OF THE ICE by Richard Farr (fantastic story about Antarctica). Thank goodness word of mouth is so good for THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins because that cover is yawnsville.
"Monochromatic covers don't do too well either. I didn't read it, but I know 
DOWN SAND MOUNTAIN by Steve Watkins won an SCBWI award, but it never goes out. One could argue the sneakers on it are "iconic," but for some reason it doesn't work that way with the entirely beige book. 
Also, the solid green cover of CREEPERS by Joanne Dahme never goes out. There's no focal point, and it's especially hard once the library plastic book covers are put over them to protect them; with the glare it is even harder to see what's on them."
"Another cover type that doesn't go out much are cartoony ones. For paperbacks, they do OK, but for hardcovers, like MARCELLO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork (which is a great story about a boy with an autistic-like condition), it doesn't help the cause. I'm not sure why -- is it too babyish? Or not as provocative as all the glitzy covers with real photos on them?"
I love hearing Deena's thoughts and observations. What do you guys think about what she's said? I know there's been debate about Lovestruck Summer's cartoon cover, and I totally welcome that. I actually really like the Marcello cover... but I kind of agree that the rest are a little bland.
Thanks, Deena, for such interesting answers!
PS-The winner of last week's contest for The Elite series is... Juliana! Send me your address, J.
Cover Stories: North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
Today, readergirlz diva and fantabulous author Justina Chen Headley is here! She's sharing the Cover Story for North of Beautiful, which I adored, especially for its deft handling of difficult family dynamics. Here's Justina!
"My book has a twin: Alyson Noel's Evermore. The funny thing is, North of Beautiful and Evermore don't just share the cover girl. They were also published on virtually the same day. Twins separated at birth!
"A bunch of people have asked me whether it's been a problem sharing the same cover girl. I don't think so. If anything, that anomaly has raised the profile of our books. Publishers Weekly even did a story about it. Plus, the treatment of the cover girl is so different I didn't even realize it was the same girl until a blogger pointed it out to me.
"I've hit the jackpot with all my book covers, thanks to my art director, Gail Doobinin who designed my first two books--Girl Overboard and Nothing but the Truth 
(and a few white lies). And my new book designer, Saho Fujii who created North of Beautiful. I know I'm lucky to love all my covers and to have a publisher who honors my opinion.
"For North of Beautiful, Saho played around with a bunch of different concepts--and obviously had read my book. One of her initial ideas was to collage the cover just the way Terra herself may have created. But then Saho found the perfect photo representation for Terra: hair draped over her cheek, downcast eyes. It was precisely how I imagined Terra holding herself in public.
"Then, the brilliance that is Saho found a fabulous old-fashioned compass rose that she used to separate the three parts of the story. My one and only request was that she somehow integrate that compass image on the front cover. Her treatment of the compass--placing it as a watermark over Terra's cheek--was inspired! It is a truly and exceptionally beautiful cover."
I agree--it looks so different on each cover that I can totally see it as both Terra and Ever--separate girls in two fantastic books. I also love how Justina's three books are blue, pink and yellow in overall color palette--gorgeous! What do you guys think?
And don't forget to check out Alea's Pop Culture Junkie Lookalikes post on this cover--you'll find even more twins (or triplets?).
Win-It Wednesday + Cover Stories: Evermore and Blue Moon by Alyson Noel!!
First, the winner of last week's contest for Persepolis is... Katie Bug! Send me your address, KB.
Now, Alyson Noel's Immortals series is basically at the top of the heap this summer. Bestsellers, major sequels, a spin-off middle grade series--hooray! And yesterday, Blue Moon, the sequel to Evermore, was released.
Alyson has been kind enough to offer one commenter a signed copy of Blue Moon, and I'll send one commenter a signed (with bookplate) copy of Evermore, so two winners will be chosen next week! And here's Alyson with the Blue Moon Cover Story (remember her Evermore Cover Story?):
"Once again, I had no idea what the might look like, or even what I might want it to look like--sad, I know!
"My publisher asked for input, and even though I didn't have any real concepts in mind, this time, unlike the last time with the Evermore cover, I knew I'd be consulted so I was careful to make note of all the prominent symbols that appear in the story so I could at least appear to contribute in some way!
"The Blue Moon cover was a series of stock photos altered to within an inch of their lives! The girl is made to represent Ever, and the flowers inside the crystal ball she holds depict the blooming fields of Summerland--a mystical dimension she frequents.
"When I saw the first version of the cover (right), I thought, not so much. But we all 
knew we weren't going to use it, we were just finding our way at that point. I have the best editor ever--Rose Hilliard rocks!--and we had quite a few phone calls and e-mail exchanges about the direction we wanted to go in.
"The cover changed greatly and for the better! Since it's a series, they were going for a more cohesive look, you know, the same but different. And I think the final Blue Moon cover ties in nicely with the Evermore cover since they both feature a girl (Ever) and a close up of an object that is hugely symbolic to the story inside.
"When I saw the final Blue Moon cover, I loved it immediately! I feel really lucky to work with such a great team at St. Martin's!"
Thanks, Alyson! I think these covers are iconic and they just glow. I have to admit that first version of Blue Moon seems 80s to me somehow. What do you guys think? Comment below to be entered for the signed copies!
Happy Wednesday!
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Cover Stories: Hancock Park by Isabel Kaplan
Today's Cover Story is from Isabel Kaplan, whose debut novel just came out in June, the same month she finished her freshman year at Harvard!
Hancock Park is about Becky Miller, who lives in the best neighborhood, goes to school with the children of movie stars, and has her psychiatrist on speed dial. By day, she navigates the halls of one of LA's most elite schools, where the mean girls are everywhere. At night, she deals with sparring parents, a grandmother who is man-crazy, and a younger brother, Jack, who answers only to J-zizzy. As Becky's life seems to come crashing down around her, she struggles to put it back together and learn to grow up while trying to stay sane.
"I didn't have a cover in mind as I was writing the book, but I knew that I wanted it to be fun and to have an authentic Los Angeles feel. My fantastic editor at HarperTeen, Farrin Jacobs, sent me the art department's initial jumping off point--a scan of a blonde lying on a beach chair wearing big sunglasses--and asked me what I thought.
"I really liked the idea of having a girl on the cover; the art department hired a model and did a photo shoot. Seeing the cover of my first book for the first time was surreal and so exciting. I love the palm trees that are reflected on the model's sunglasses and the neon sign with the title and my name right below the model's face. Also, once in a while, someone will ask me if the girl on the cover is me, which is very flattering! Although, now that I'm not a blonde anymore, I have a feeling I'll get less of those comments.
"I'm really pleased with how the cover turned out; it's fun, eye-catching, and very LA. I hope my readers will feel the same way!"
I haven't read Isabel's novel yet, but the family dynamic sounds really kooky (which I love) and LA settings always make for great summer reads. Plus, her Teens Read Too review by Amber Gibson mentions that fans of mine will like her "Hollywood with heart" tale. Cool!
For me, this cover DEFINITELY screams LA. What do you guys think?
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