cover design

My Next Book Has a Cover!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on March 24th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Did you catch the cover reveal this week for my next book, The Thirteenth Circle? Just in case you missed it, take a moment to bask in this image of utter amazing-ness: 

Seriously, how great is that?! It's fun but also a little spooky. Those glowing green orbs give off major "X-Files" vibes. And did you spot the shadowy figures in the background, lurking in the cornfields? Plus all the little details, like the green alien heads on Cat's black shirt and the Erlenmeyer flask Dani is clutching tightly as she runs. (There was even an "X-Files" episode called "The Erlenmeyer Flask" in season one...) I don't know if there's anything I'd do differently on here, to be honest. It's just perfect. 

Once a book has a cover, it definitely starts feeling more real. But that's not all that's happening in the world of The Thirteenth Circle right now. MarcyKate and I also got to see sample interior design pages, and we will receive a full set of designed pages for proofreading (this is called "first-pass pages" in publishing) within the next few weeks. 

The book will also soon be available as an eARC, or Advance Reader Copy. This is for reviewers and booksellers and librarians to get an early sneak peek—and to start spreading the word! Once those digital galleys start going out, and people are actually reading it...whew. The thing is happening! 

Some books have beta-readers, a.k.a. people the author trusts to read early drafts and offer feedback. With this book, having a coauthor kind of meant MarcyKate and I were each other's beta-readers. We didn't send it to anyone else to critique, because we were constantly going back and forth between the two of us. And then, once our agents got involved—and especially after we sold it to a publisher—we had professional feedback coming in. All of which to say, at this point, no one but the two of us, our agents (and their assistants), and our publishing team has read this book. 

So having it start to feed out to READERS feels scary and exciting, all at once! 

This is an interesting time in a book's life. We, the authors, have done just about all of the work we'll ever do on the manuscript. It's very nearly out of our hands. But the actual publication date is still over nine months away! In between comes a lot of waiting and crossing fingers and dropping little teasers and details and waiting some more. With every month that passes between now and release day, it becomes less and less ours. On January 30th, 2024, it's yours. 

And we hope you love it as much as we do. 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I read Nona the Ninth, the third book in the Locked Tomb series, when the library hold appeared on my phone. It was amazing, just as mind-bendy (maybe even a little more so) than the previous two. But my eye wasn't quite ready for that much text, so I'm back to audiobooks! I am now listening to In the Woods by Tana French. This is technically the first book in the series of Irish murder mysteries I mentioned last newsletter, but it's from the point of view of a different detective, so I don't feel too spoiled by already having listened to book two. 

Watching: This is totally random, but...have you seen "Snack vs. Chef" on Netflix? It involves professional chefs attempting to recreate common snack foods, like Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Kit-Kats, without a recipe. The results are...mixed. Making snacks (especially without the help of, you know, an automated factory) is hard! 

Listening to: Somehow, I missed listening to Maggie Rogers when she released her first album in 2019. I suspect it's because I was neck-deep in Baby Shark and other toddler requests at the time. Suffice it to say, I really like her! Great singer-songwriter vibes. 

Loving: I know I share a lot of my daughter's art in this newsletter, but it really does bring me so much joy. Here is a quick sketch she did of me earlier this week, when she was home sick with a nasty cold and I was attempting to work while also entertaining her. I think it fully captures my working-mom-with-a-healing-eyeball essence...

How Much Say Do Authors Have in Cover Design?

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on November 4th, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Earlier this week, MarcyKate's and my editor for The Thirteenth Circle sent us an email with cover art updates. This was a surprise to us—but also to our editor. Apparently, she hadn't expected to discuss the design for our book yet, but someone brought it up, and so the discussion happened right then and there. Two artists were selected (a first choice and a backup). Our editor sent us links to their portfolios, explaining all the rationales behind why they were the team's top picks.

Why is this noteworthy?

Well, maybe to some authors, it isn't! But for me, it is absolutely the most communication I've ever had about cover design—and it's been both fun and enlightening.

Cover design is one of those areas where, in general, authors get little input. (Unless you're a Very Big Name, i.e. a celebrity or a New York Times Bestseller.)

For my two YA novels, I saw and heard nothing until there was a close-to-finished cover layout. The emails landed in my inbox with language like, "Here's what we've decided on. Hope you like it as much as we do!" I was able to offer tiny suggestions. For instance, I had a few comments about the model in the photograph chosen for the How It Feels to Fly cover: I asked that her nail polish be removed and her makeup be toned down, because she looked much older than the character's 16 years. But overall, I was given the impression that this was what was happening, and I'd best get on board.

(One story I do like to tell about the HIFTF cover is that I was completely caught off guard by those balloons! The image had been chosen because the floating balloons made the designer think of flight. But...there were no balloons *anywhere* in the book. So, rather than argue about the cover not really tying into the story, I added a scene with balloons into the manuscript.)

For Class Critters, I was brought into the process a bit earlier. I learned that they'd be using two different artists: one for the books' covers and one for the interior illustrations. I was told that the sales and marketing team wanted a more photorealistic animal on the cover, with a few quirky illustrated details. I was sent links to portfolios as well as sketches by the artists who had been chosen, and I was able to offer comments on the proposed artwork. (For instance, both the interior and cover artists for Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle initially drew tortoises, so I had to send back descriptions and sample images showing the differences between turtles and tortoises!)

But even though I was looped in earlier, I didn't have much say in the actual direction the cover designers chose. I love my Class Critters covers! I'm super lucky! But this was definitely still a situation where things were happening outside of my purview as the author.

Which is why the process with The Thirteenth Circle has been so interesting! Back in September, our editor emailed with some requests. MarcyKate and I were asked for scenes from the book that we thought might be good to feature on the cover, as well as for major symbols and elements that could be included. We were asked to describe the main characters' appearances and general styles. (This is the step that would have saved the Tally Tuttle artists from first drawing tortoises!) We were also asked to share some covers from recent books that we were drawn to, to give the design team some jumping-off points in their brainstorming discussions.

Obviously, I don't know if the finished cover will end up showing the book scene we suggested, but the characters should look the way they are described in the text. Plus, the artists that were chosen for consideration are absolutely fantastic; either one will do an amazing job. And sure, maybe those artists would have been selected even without the authors' suggestions. Maybe they were already on the designers' radars. But it felt amazing to be included in the conversation!

There is so much in this business that is outside of the author's control. Really, the only thing that is ours is the words on the page (and even then, we have an editor and a copyeditor and a proofreader making suggestions). Everyone involved in publishing books wants the best—and most marketable—finished product. There are definitely times when I, as the author, have to let go of something that isn't being done the way I would do it. I have to hope and trust that the people who made the decision did it for good reason. Cover design falls under that umbrella, because cover trends ebb and flow. My job is the words.

But wow, I can't wait to see this Thirteenth Circle cover. I am so excited by the possibilities we've discussed and by the portfolios we've been shown. And of course, I'll share it with you as soon as I'm able!

Fingers crossed we love, love, love it. :)

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: I am currently reading a YA manuscript for blurb consideration! It's been a long time since I was asked to blurb—a.k.a. write up a nice promo statement for marketing and/or the book cover—but this author reached out to me after being moved by How It Feels to Fly. I'll let you know if I decide to blurb her book, so you can check it out when it releases!

Cleaning: I've been on a bit of a home improvement streak lately, working on updates to my office area and my kiddo's room. Do you go in and out of phases where you absolutely must do something to freshen up your living space?

Watching: The kiddo has been home sick for a couple days, so our TV has been set to her current faves: "Doc McStuffins," "Mickey Mouse Club House," and "How It's Made."

Loving: Luckily, she wasn't sick on Halloween! (The germs really hit her on Tuesday...) As promised, here's the two of us: a spooky princess and her skeleton sidekick.