Being the Friday Deb means that I get to blog about a topic that you’ve all read about four times already. Every Deb’s post is different, of course, and they’re all interesting, but it has been challenging as a writer to still be interesting by Friday! Not that I’m complaining, I kinda love the challenge.
That said, when I saw this week’s topic, a bunch of spins and twists on Covers started rolling around in my brain. My husband’s a singer/songwriter and when he sings a song someone else wrote, that’s called a cover (or covering a song). I thought I could write something clever about that. Or perhaps I could tell you how on certain days, I just feel like pulling the covers over my head instead of writing (TMI, right?). But then I really thought about what the topic is supposed to mean, and I feel such deep love for my book cover that I knew this was not a time to be funny or different, but a time to just celebrate my sheer luck of the draw. And my publisher’s…you know…genius when it comes to choosing.
To say I loved, adored, was thrilled, and jumped up and down with joy when I saw my cover would pretty much be an understatement. I did all those things for DAYS! In addition to liking it so much, it was also a HUGE relief. The general public tends to think authors have a lot to do with their covers. But as most of you reading this probably know, the author really doesn’t have much input at all, if any. However, even the realists among us still have expectations, and hopes, and dreams for our covers and that can be a recipe for heartache if you don’t get what you think you want.
I am pretty sure that one of the reasons I loved my cover so much is because it looked a lot like I had imagined it. Only WAY BETTER! The main thing the artist did (Hugh Syme) that I never would’ve thought of, was make it look a bit futuristic. It seems obvious when you think about it because the book is set thirty years in the future, but even if it had occurred to me, I wouldn’t have known how to add that element to my imaginary cover in my head. I was so happy when I saw it I contacted Hugh via email to tell him thank you. He said I was the first author who had ever tracked him down. If you love your cover, tell your artist!
The response by bloggers to the cover has been very positive too, so I am pretty sure it’s not a case of a mother thinking her hideous child is gorgeous because she’s too blinded by love!
You’ve all seen it because I actually got it quite early, about ten months before my release, but here it is again, anyway!
I adore your cover. It’s absolutely beautiful and stunning! You and Ally Carter definitely have the best covers of the year so far 🙂
I can’t wait to read it. The cover is sooo inviting. Congratulations.
I like the cover even more now that I’ve read the book. You can tell the artist really “got” it.
It’s a very striking cover!
That is a wonderful cover! On a quick look, it’s striking and interesting, but there’s more to see when you keep looking – the detail on the boards and the girl and the ocean are wonderful!
It is STUNNING. Eye-catching, evocative. Love the violin case (I’m partial to that detail, being a violinist…)
And PS, you do a great job of being interesting on Fridays!
I love the way the pier and the boxes around the title both move off to meet near the horizon, it promises interesting things to come from your book!
The cover tells a story — or at least promises one — and you most certainly deliver!
P.S. TRUTH: Saying thank you takes so little yet means so much.
Joelle, your experience of thanking the artist was a detail worth sharing. I am in awe of this painting, so beautiful and mysterious, and such a perfect illustration for your wonderful book. Thanks for sharing it in the large size so that we could drool over all the luscious details!
It is a gorgeous cover!
It’s a perfect cover for your book! So glad you are thrilled with it.
Your cover is STUNNING! I love the colors. If I were to judge this book by its cover (and I’m one of the lucky ones who also got to read an ARC!), then I’d say this book is about hope in hard times. The colors and the lighting makes this cover just sing!