There's a photo essay in Publishers Weekly by David Levithan that covers some highlights of the festival (which will happen again next year in March, so you should come!). Here's a shot I love from the panel about how putting your characters in a new setting can reveal things about them.
(L to R: Jennifer E. Smith, me, Bennett Madison, Gayle Forman and Kristen-Paige Madonia -- really fun company.)
Happy Friday!
Katie Quirk is here to share the story behind the cover of her Kirkus-starred novel, A Girl Called Problem. The notoriously tough Kirkus called the book "A mesmerizing read that expands young readers’ worldview even as the pages turn." (Also? The cover is lovely.) Yes! Here's Katie:
"I should start by saying I love the cover for A Girl Called Problem. It's better than anything I imagined, and yet I did suffer from a few moments of panic along the way.
"You see, A Girl Called Problem is lucky to be housed at a small press--Eerdmans Book for Young Readers. They actually had two mentions in the most recent ALA awards, so they do their job well, but they're certainly not wading in money. As a result, I tried to set my expectations low in terms of cover art.
"Last fall, I got an email from my editor saying they had a sketch for the cover. I knew enough to realize that authors have very little say in cover art, so I was grateful that she was including me in the conversation at all, but when I scrolled down to the image, I must admit I was disappointed.
"The figure looked awkward and older than the book's main character, Shida, whom she was supposed to depict; and the whole thing looked low budget. I gave my editor some general feedback--zebras weren't authentic to this setting and perhaps we could make Shida look younger--but I decided to keep my mouth shut and to avoid saying what I really felt, which was discouraged.
"What I didn't realize was that this was truly just a sketch. The very talented artist, Richard Tuschman, who had also designed the beautiful cover for Moon Over Manifest, would hire a model, take some photos, and do some of his magical digital photo artistry, blending in a flamboyant tree and a vivid sky.
"A few weeks later, this is what they sent me (right). I was blown away. I loved it. The dirt road and vegetation and flamboyant tree looked like they were right out of East Africa. The colors were rich and vivid, just like I remembered Tanzania. The model was perfect--everything from her face, to her hair, to her dress, which looked worn, but stylish enough to appeal to modern readers. I was so pleased that it took me a couple of weeks to realize that something critical was missing: Shida wasn't wearing her medicine pouch! My heart sunk--Shida always wore her medicine pouch, but how could I point this out now? I hadn't thought to correct Richard or my editor when I should have--at the sketch stage. And though Richard is clearly a master of image manipulation, he would never be able to paint the pouch in over all those folds and wrinkles around Shida's waist. Nevertheless, a week later this was the image they sent me (below left):
"Unbelievable. There was her pouch and it looked perfect.
"I really could not be happier with the cover. I've spoken with other authors who were only peripherally consulted about their book covers. In one case, the author was given the choice between two covers she wasn't thrilled about, but she strongly recommended they choose the one with the girl with dark (rather than blond) hair, because she described that character's dark hair in great detail. Not too much later, she learned that the publisher had decided on the model with blond hair! I've found that one benefit of working with a small press is that they have generously involved me in every step of the process--right up to the book's stunning cover."
Thanks, Katie! I love a happy ending like this and the cover is just beautiful. Read the story behind this book on Sara Crowe's blog, and I dare you not to rush out and get it. So inspiring!
Yesterday, Holly Black, Gayle Forman, Rainbow Rowell and I road-tripped it to Staten Island for a reading/talk at IS2. The audience was awesome and had great questions. Obviously my co-readers were THE BEST.
The NYC Teen Author Festival is STILL GOING ON through the weekend. You should go. Here's what's coming up:
Friday March 22, Symposium (42nd Street NYPL, Berger Forum, 2nd floor, 2-6)
2:10-3:00: He Said, She Said
Description: Not to be too mysterious, but I will email these authors separately about what I’m thinking for this.
He: Ted Goeglein Gordon Korman Lucas Klauss Michael Northrop
She: Susane Colasanti E. Lockhart Carolyn Mackler Sarah Mlynowski Leila Sales
moderator: David Levithan
3:00-4:00: Taking a Turn: YA Characters Dealing with Bad and Unexpected Choices
Description: In each of these authors’ novels, the main character’s life takes an unexpected twist. Sometimes this is because of a bad choice. Sometimes this is because of a secret revealed. And sometimes it doesn’t feel like a choice at all, but rather a reaction. We’ll talk about following these characters as they make these choices – both good and bad. Will include brief readings illuminating these choices.
Caela Carter Eireann Corrigan Alissa Grosso Terra Elan McVoy Jacquelyn Mitchard Elizabeth Scott K. M. Walton
moderator: Aaron Hartzler
4:00-4:10: Break
4:10-4:40: That’s So Nineteenth Century
Description: A Conversation About Playing with 19th Century Archetypes in the 21st Century
Sharon Cameron Leanna Renee Hieber Stephanie Strohm Suzanne Weyn
Moderator: Sarah Beth Durst
4:40-5:30: Alternate World vs. Imaginary World
Description: Of these authors, some have written stories involving alternate or parallel versions of our world, some have made up imaginary worlds for their characters, and still others have written books that do each. We’ll discuss the decision to either connect the world of a book to our world, or to take it out of the historical context of our world. How do each strategies help in telling story and developing character? Is one easier than the other? Is the stepping off point always reality, or can it sometimes be another fictional world?
Sarah Beth Durst Jeff Hirsch Emmy Laybourne Lauren Miller E. C. Myers Diana Peterfreund Mary Thompson
Moderator: Chris Shoemaker
Friday March 22, Barnes & Noble Reader’s Theater/Signing (Union Square B&N, 33 E 17th St, 7-8:30) Eireann Corrigan Elizabeth Eulberg Jeff Hirsch David Levithan Rainbow Rowell Nova Ren Suma
Saturday March 23, Symposium (42nd Street NYPL, Bergen Forum, 2nd Floor, 1-5) 1:00 – Introduction
1:10-2:10 – Defying Description: Tackling the Many Facets of Identity in YA
Description: As YA literature evolves, there is more of an acknowledgment of the many facets that go into a teenager’s identity, and even categories that once seemed absolute now have more nuance. Focusing particularly, but not exclusively, on LGBTQ characters and their depiction, we’ll discuss the complexities about writing about such a complex experience.
Marissa Calin Emily Danforth Aaron Hartzler A.S. King Jacqueline Woodson
moderator: David Levithan
2:10-2:40 -- New Voices Spotlight
Description: Each debut author will share a five-minute reading from her or his work
J. J. Howard Kimberly Sabatini Tiffany Schmidt Greg Takoudes
2:40-3:30 – Under Many Influences: Shaping Identity When You’re a Teen Girl
Description: Being a teen girl is to be under many influences – friends, parents, siblings, teachers, favorite bands, favorite boys, favorite web sites. These authors will talk about the influences that each of their main characters tap into – and then talk about what influences them as writers when they shape these characters.
Jen Calonita Deborah Heiligman Hilary Weisman Graham Kody Keplinger Amy Spalding Katie Sise Kathryn Williams
moderator: Terra Elan McVoy
3:30-3:40 – Break
3:40-4:20 – Born This Way: Nature, Nurture, and Paranormalcy
Description: Paranormal and supernatural fiction for teens constantly wrestles with issues of identity and the origin of identity. Whether their characters are born “different” or come into their powers over time, each of these authors uses the supernatural as a way to explore the nature of self.
Jessica Brody Gina Damico Maya Gold Alexandra Monir Lindsay Ribar Jeri Smith-Ready Jessica Spotswood
moderator: Adrienne Maria Vrettos
4:20-5:00 – The Next Big Thing
Description: Again, not to be too mysterious, but I will email these authors separately about what I’m thinking for this.
Jocelyn Davies Leanna Renee Hieber Barry Lyga Maryrose Wood
Saturday March 23: Mutual Admiration Society reading at McNally Jackson (McNally Jackson, Prince Street, 7-8:30):
Sharon Cameron A.S. King Michael Northrop Diana Peterfreund Victoria Schwab Nova Ren Suma
hosted by David Levithan
Sunday March 24: Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing at Books of Wonder (Books of Wonder, 1-4): 1-1:45: Jessica Brody (Unremembered, Macmillan) Marisa Calin (Between You and Me, Bloomsbury) Jen Calonita (The Grass is Always Greener, LB) Sharon Cameron (The Dark Unwinding, Scholastic) Caela Carter (Me, Him, Them, and It, Bloomsbury) Crissa Chappell (Narc, Flux) Susane Colasanti (Keep Holding On, Penguin) Zoraida Cordova (The Vicious Deep, Sourcebooks) Gina Damico (Scorch, HMH) Jocelyn Davies (A Fractured Light, HC) Sarah Beth Durst (Vessel, S&S) Gayle Forman (Just One Day, Penguin) Elizabeth Scott (Miracle, S&S)
1:45-2:30 T. M. Goeglein (Cold Fury, Penguin) Hilary Weisman Graham (Reunited, S&S) Alissa Grosso (Ferocity Summer, Flux) Aaron Hartzler (Rapture Practice, LB) Deborah Heiligman (Intentions, RH) Leanna Renee Hieber (The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart, Sourcebooks) Jeff Hirsch (Magisterium, Scholastic) J. J. Howard (That Time I Joined the Circus, Scholastic) Alaya Johnson (The Summer Prince, Scholastic) Beth Kephart (Small Damages, Penguin) Kody Keplinger (A Midsummer’s Nightmare, LB)
2:30-3:15 A.S. King (Ask the Passengers, LB) Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14, Macmillan) David Levithan (Every Day, RH) Barry Lyga (Yesterday Again, Scholastic) Brian Meehl (Suck it Up and Die, RH) Alexandra Monir (Timekeeper, RH) Michael Northrop (Rotten, Scholastic) Diana Peterfreund (For Darkness Shows the Stars, HC) Lindsay Ribar (The Art of Wishing, Penguin) Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park, St. Martin’s) Kimberly Sabatini (Touching the Surface, S&S) Tiffany Schmidt (Send Me a Sign, Bloomsbury)
3:15-4:00 Victoria Schwab (The Archived, Hyperion) Jeri Smith-Ready (Shine, S&S) Amy Spalding (The Reece Malcolm List, Entangled) Stephanie Strohm (Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink, HMH) Nova Ren Suma (17 & Gone, Penguin) Greg Takoudes (When We Wuz Famous, Macmillan) Mary Thompson (Wuftoom, HMH) Jess Verdi (My Life After Now, Sourcebooks) K.M. Walton (Empty, S&S) Suzanne Weyn (Dr. Frankenstein’s Daughters, Scholastic) Kathryn Williams (Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous, Macmillan)
Jennifer E. Smith's covers have a distinctive look that I love! (Remember her Cover Story for The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight?). She's here to talk about her new cover for This is What Happy Looks Like -- the book's out April 1st!
"I loved the cover for my last book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, so I was hoping they might do something along the same lines, but I wasn’t sure exactly what that might be. My cover designer is a complete genius, though, and I’m so pleased she came up with something so brilliant!
"I loved this cover right from the start. It’s sweet and summery and romantic, and the fact that it goes well with the cover for Statistical Probability is a nice bonus.
"We went back and forth on the colors a bit, wondering if we should try pink instead of yellow, and there were a few minor tweaks to the general positioning of the boat and the shading of the water, but that was about it. They pretty much nailed it right away. I absolutely love everything about it – from the hand-lettered title to the rowboat to the bright yellow sun – and I think it perfectly captures the feel of the book. It seems to radiate happiness, and I couldn’t ask for anything more."
Yay! So there's a positive story for your Monday. I love shadow and light and water-based covers, so you know how I feel about this one. (Also yay for yellow v. pink -- I like that choice.)
PS-You can hear Jennifer read from this book tonight at 6pm, when she and I and Gayle Forman, Bennett Madison and Kristen-Page Madonia will be chatting with David Levithan to kick off the 2013 NYC Teen Author Festival (full schedule here)! Come!
Guys, you know that Soho Press has a YA line now, right? Soho Teen has six titles out this spring (enter to win them all here!). Exciting!
One title is Who Done It? an anthology that includes dozens of awesome authors giving alibis in a murder case. So. Much. Fun. There was a party last night to benefit 826 NYC, and I was there (as were a ton of your favorite authors--check out the mugshot wall!).
I had partners in crime, though, including David Ostow, Michael Northrop and Micol Ostow, below. (Note that the "hide your beer" move that I learned for photos is not quite working here--but almost.)
It was a really fun night and you have a bunch of great books to check out, so go!
Happy Friday!
Jessica Brody has been here before to talk about the covers for her previous novels (The Karma Club, My Life Undecided and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father -- click to read). This time, she made a video to discuss her latest book, Unremembered. Take a gander (you get to see the UK cover and some font adjustments!) and then download the first five chapters of the book for free!
AHHH! Why did it take me so long to read this book? I have no idea. But that was so silly of me. Because this book is GREAT. You want to read it. So enter below in various ways and I'll pick a winner next week. On Weds, or Thurs (if I'm running behind like this week). xxM
PS-Last W-I-W MJ books winner was Jen P! And I'll totally mail them very, very soon!
Nova Ren Suma was here last week talking about her cover and title changes for Dani Noir/Fade Out. This week she's back to discuss the cover that made her cry: Imaginary Girls.
"Discovering what the cover of a book will be is always a magical moment—and one that, every single time, has revealed itself to be something I didn’t expect. Maybe it’s because I don’t let myself think too much in detail about what the cover should be when I’m writing. I don’t like to picture the cover—I leave that for the people at my publishing house. I like to keep an open space in my mind for where the cover will be, once my editor sends it to me. I like to be surprised.
"I thought that the covers for Dani Noir and Fade Out both captured different feelings the story was trying to portray, and I count myself as lucky to have had both editions published. But there’s only one cover in my short history as an author that felt like someone had slipped into my secret fantasies and awarded me the thing I didn’t even know to ask for.
"Here it is, the cover that made me burst into breathless, happy tears (left).
"Imaginary Girls was my second published book, but my debut YA novel. It’s the story of two sisters, their strong bond, and the dead body that threatens to break it—and the story begins at the local reservoir, when the younger sister, Chloe, is dared to swim across the water by her older sister, Ruby, in the middle of the night, and something shocking stops Chloe before she makes it across.
"The image that graced the hardcover edition of the book is a photograph by Elana Kalis, whose underwater photography is the stuff of legend. Truly—the images are so beautiful, I don’t even know how to contain myself. Here is the original image before it became my cover (right). And here is the exhilarated blog post I wrote when I first revealed this cover to the world.
"I really did cry when I first saw the cover. It was more beautiful than I’d ever imagined a cover for anything I wrote could be, and I felt like the image spoke to the voice of the novel, to the feeling I wanted to portray, even if it wasn’t a literal interpretation of Chloe swimming the murky reservoir in the deep night.
"Sometimes an author’s wildest cover dreams come true.
"…And dreams that come true don’t always last forever.
The New Face of Imaginary Girls
"Because when it came time to publish Imaginary Girls in paperback, I was told that this would involve a cover change.
"The paperback version of the Imaginary Girls cover is quite literal. The water is dark, as the reservoir at night would be. The girl’s eyes are green, as they would be. And there’s even the rowboat with the hand reaching out of it, just as Chloe found when she was trying to swim across. I also really like how pointed the back copy is:
“Ruby said I’d never drown. I didn’t. But someone else did.”
[Full jacket below.]
"Privately, behind closed doors, people have asked me how I could let this happen. Why change the perfect cover? But I’m sure many of you reading this post know that most authors don’t make these decisions. I have no idea what makes a book sell and what cover would draw in the right kind of reader. I do know that since the paperback of Imaginary Girls has come out in the summer of 2012, it seems that more readers have found the book, and this is what any author would hope for. Maybe the new cover tells a reader more of what to expect from this story. Either way, I feel like two sides of the book have been revealed by these covers, like it’s a story with two faces.
"And as I tell any passionate fan of the original version of Imaginary Girls, if you love the first cover as much as I do, you can still order the hardcover."
Thanks, Nova! I actually think you have hit the cover jackpot again and again. While the hardcover of Imaginary Girls remains top in my heart (who can get over such beauty?), your other covers are all lovely and evocative.
What do you guys think? Favorites?
It's here. It went through a few designs. And, voila!
(In total honesty I loved the hardcover so much that it's hard for me to let it go. But I do have high hopes that the paperback will get in the hands of readers who want a love story!)
Happy Friday.
The astoundingly talented Nova Ren Suma is here with an epic Cover Story! So without further ado, here she is:
"My first published novel, Dani Noir, is about a thirteen-year-old girl named Dani who is obsessed with old noir movies and femmes fatales like Rita Hayworth. In the story, Dani uncovers a noirish secret in her small mountain town and sets off chasing a mystery girl who’s spotted wearing a pair of polka-dot tights. This book was written for a tween audience, and the cover that Simon & Schuster / Aladdin came up with for the book perfectly captured the voice and the mood of the story—as well as the mystery girl’s polka-dot tights. I felt like the illustrator, Marcos Calo, truly 'got' the character of Dani, down to the way she’s creeping behind the wall on the back cover, tailing the girl you see on the front.
(To see the stages the illustrator went through in coming to this final image, visit his blog to take a look at his sketches.)
"I’d originally envisioned a black-and-white noir-style photograph, but when my editor brought me the final version of this image, which wrapped around to reveal Dani hiding on the back cover, I was excitedly surprised, especially that original art was commissioned. And it’s thanks to the illustrator’s vision, in fact—since the girl on the front cover is holding an umbrella—that I rewrote one of the fantasy sequences to take place in a rainstorm.
"Dani Noir came out in hardcover in 2009, and a paperback edition with the same cover was planned for the following year…
"…But then the paperback edition was canceled at the last minute. I was upset that the book wouldn’t make it to paperback, especially since readers kept asking me when the paperback edition would be out and saying they couldn’t find the hardcover in stores anymore. I was sad, but there wasn’t much I could do. One day I’d have a book that made it to paperback, I told myself.
"In fact, I would. Because the story of Dani Noir wasn’t over...
"Fast-forward about another
year to the day I got a phone call from my agent. Now having moved on and working on books with a new publisher, this was a call I absolutely wasn’t expecting. My agent told me that an editor at a different imprint at Simon & Schuster wanted to publish Dani Noir in paperback. Only… the imprint was Simon Pulse, which publishes only YA books. They thought the book would translate well to a lower YA audience—and it turned out they would even let me make some line edits for the republication. But they wanted to give the book a new cover, and they even had a new title in mind: Fade Out.
"I was thrilled. A book I thought was over now had a second chance at life! And yet… it wasn’t until I hung up the phone that I realized how strange it was to lose what felt like the perfect title for the book. It’s words that mean something to we authors, after all.
"I did want to keep my original title because it was one of my favorite things about the book, but Simon Pulse wanted to distinguish this book from the first version, since the new edition would be on the YA shelves instead of with middle-grade. I came up with a list of other title options, but editorial and sales and marketing and everyone who counted liked Fade Out, so Fade Out it stayed.
"When I announced Fade Out, I was contacted by numerous other authors who were happy for me… but confused. How did this happen? Why was I losing my awesome original cover? Why was I letting them change my title? And wouldn’t readers be confused?
"Well, fellow writers, if you had the sudden chance to have the novel you thought would never make it to paperback come out as you’d hoped… but looking completely different and called something else, might you do it, too?
"I felt like this was a gift I couldn’t pass up, and making it to paperback so the book would hopefully find new readers was the most important thing.
"When the cover for Fade Out was first sent to me, I opened it excitedly on the street, on my phone. And stopped. It was beautiful, arresting even. It was mysterious. And yet it felt like a cover for a completely other book to me. Who was the girl? It couldn’t be Dani… she’s thirteen years old. Was it meant to be Dani’s fantasy image of herself? Could I explain it that way? Did this look like too sophisticated of a cover for this story… and would it be misleading to readers? Would they pick up this cover thinking it was a certain kind of book and be disappointed at what they found inside?
"I was flooded with questions. I remember saying something like I loved the cover image, but this cover made me want to write a whole different story to merit it.
"The photograph wasn’t black-and-white, but, ironically, it was more in keeping with what I thought the original cover of Dani Noir would be. (I think my desire for photographic covers, just in general, is related to how I think I was meant to be writing YA over middle-grade/tween, but that’s a whole other conversation.) I found out later that the image is by a photographer named Ilina Simeonova—and it’s a self-portrait. (She’s created quite a few book covers—check out her portfolio!)
"The new, beautiful cover image stayed, as did the new title, and Fade Out came out in paperback in 2012 and, if the emails I get are any indication, it’s thanks to this second chance at life that the book found readers it may not have found before."
Thank you, Nova! This is an extraordinary story--I'm not sure I've heard of the title/cover/audience change before (anyone else?), but YAY for expanded readerships and paperback dreams come true.
What do you guys think of these covers? I think the original feels more unique to me, but the paperback YA is gorgeous, too, and I honestly like them both.
PS-Next week, Nova will be back to talk about Imaginary Girls, a book I adore.
