Update
The Makings of a Cover
I’m so excited to announce that DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING has a cover. Here it is!
Artist Credit: Jen Wang; Design Credit: Liz Dresner
I thought it would be fun to talk about how the cover came to be, and I received permission from the good folks over at Feiwel and Friends to share some earlier versions.
I had no idea how long and complicated the process of creating and choosing a cover was until it was happening to my book. So many people have a say on the cover, such as the sales and marketing teams, design team, the publisher, etc. Surprisingly, the author is actually not one of the people who has a say on the cover. We may be asked for an initial idea of what styles we like or on our opinion between two different options. But the general direction the cover goes in? Not something we’re a part of, which makes sense if you think about it. Writers write. We’re not usually illustrators or design specialists, and we’re not as aware of the cover market as the professionals.
I’m so thankful for how hard the Feiwel and Friends team worked on this cover. It was an especially long process for my cover in particular, I’m told.
At first, they tried a cover more realistic with a photograph of a girl dressed as a pirate on a ship. Think of something reminiscent of Robin LaFevers’ GRAVE MERCY, but with pirates instead of assassins.
I believe it was decided that cover didn’t quite stand apart from other books on the shelves, (which isn’t to say LaFevers’ books don’t stand apart, just that they came first) which I’m sure is usually the reason why original covers are discarded. After this, they decided to try a title heavy cover. Something decorative. Like EVER THE HUNTED. I’m told all the attempts at this kind of cover (and I believe there were around twelve different mock ups) also weren’t working. (By the way, I love Erin’s cover. Isn’t it gorgeous?)
After that, the team wanted to try an illustrated cover. There’s an illustrated trend happening with adult covers, and the team wanted to try fitting DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING in with those. (Such as the covers of UPROOTED or A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC.)
While these are decidedly dark, the team really wanted a light cover, something that would hopefully stand out among all the dark, grittier covers in YA (don’t get me wrong, though, I love dark and gritty covers). Now this whole process happened without me seeing a single cover option. There’s little point in showing the author anything when it could be shot down by the people in sales or marketing or design. So the very first time I saw a cover for my book was when these two images showed up in my inbox (there was a little confusion on whether or not “the” was in the title, but we got that fixed right away):
I was entirely surprised. I hadn’t pictured anything like this at all, and when I learned just how much work F&F had already put into the covers, I was blown away. It’s amazing to know that other people have worked so hard on your book. I expressed my preference for the blue color scheme rather than the purple and yellow. I also preferred the corset to the pirate coat.
F&F also wanted to try a more muted look so the illustration wouldn’t look too cutesy or lean toward middle grade. DotPK is an upper YA, and it’s an action adventure/fantasy/romance with pirates. Not exactly a cutesy book. So they altered it to this:
I loved the new color scheme, and the picture above is what got put on the ARCs (advance reader copies). The colors looked even better when they were printed, and it was incredible getting to hold an actual book in my hand.
Even so, the cover wasn’t final. They wanted to make some more changes. Yesterday, I was shown two new covers, the one below and another that looked exactly the same except without the blood. (If you look closely, you can see more texture was added. Particularly to the sword and Alosa’s pants.)
I like the addition of blood on the map in the background. This is, after all, a pirate book, and swashbuckling is a must. So this is the cover we went with!
I’m sure the journey is different for every author, but there’s a slight look into the makings of a cover. I’d love to hear thoughts and questions below!
Speak up:
18 comments| TAGS:
Book Covers, DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING, Design, Female pirates, Illustration, pirates, WritingLife Update
I’ve been busy this month.
Unsurprisingly, most of it has been writing/reading related. I’ve been revising DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING’s sequel like crazy. It’s so close to being done! The goal was to get it sent off to my agent by the end of this month.
Yes, I said was the goal.
But then first pass pages came for DotPK. Since this is my first time selling a novel, I didn’t realize how much suddenly having a book published interrupts the writing process. I’m the type of writer who likes to work on one project at a time. I start a book, finish a book, edit the book, edit the book some more—until it’s just the way I want it and I send it on its way to the higher powers. Then I work on the next book. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
But once you sell a book, there’s suddenly more you have to do. You edit the book some more based on your editor’s notes. Sometimes you can do up to three or more rounds of big edits. After you send in those edits, you can go back to writing another book. But then you’re interrupted again later to do copy edits. Pause your work in progress (WIP) because now that your first book is coming out, you have deadlines you have to meet for it, and you can no longer do whatever you want. When you finish copy edits and turn them in, you can get back to your WIP. Then first pass pages come! You have to read through that first manuscript yet again, even though you’d rather pull out your hair instead of read it. (First pass pages are basically the first time you see your novel in printed form. The fonts for the interior of the book have been chosen, the text has been formatted, the cutesy page break characters have been chosen, etc. In this read through, you’re mostly looking for typos and other small fixes.)
I’m happy to say first pass pages are done, and I am back to revising the sequel once more. Don’t get me wrong, I love the editing process, but it was hard to pause on the sequel and switch over to a different mindset to work on that first book some more. Because the characters are in different places. Their goals are different. Even if they have the same personalities, it’s hard to revert back to the way they were before. I dread to think of how difficult it will be when I have to work on two completely different series at the same time.
On top of all the writing and revising, I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading. I’ve had the pleasure to read several books before they’ll be published, and I’m so excited to talk about them.
First was Charlie N. Holmberg’s MAGIC BITTER, MAGIC SWEET. This book was not at all what I was expecting, but not in a bad way. It’s a mixture of a fascinating magic system, fractured fairy tales, and phenomenal cosmic powers (imagine Robin Williams’ voice there)! This book releases June 28th.
Next was Ilima Todd’s RESIST. For those of you who like your dystopia with a strong romantic element, I recommend checking out the first book in the series, REMAKE. RESIST releases July 5th.
And the last book I read was Erin Summerill’s EVER THE HUNTED. Erin is a fellow YA historical fantasy author. Erin has a lovely writing style, and the book is a travelogue with a sweet romance spread throughout. This title releases December 27th.
Now I’m currently reading Kiersten White’s AND I DARKEN, which is fabulously dark, as its title would suggest. It’s a retelling of Vlad the Impaler, if Vlad had been a girl. This one releases June 28th.
You must be logged in to post a comment.