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Re: Jackets
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From: Rosanne Parry <rosanneparry_at_comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:55:28 -0800
I organize the Book Fan Friday here at Powells and our topic for January was book cover design. My editor, Jim Thomas, Skyped with us for the event. He took us through the dozen book jackets they designed and then rejected for their upcoming book Sarafina. It was fascinating to see what they rejected and why. For example they tried a girl in a gown and decided not to go that direction. It was interesting to hear what elements of the story they decided to emphasize. The musical element of the story was on some early covers but not obvious in the final cover where the dragons got more emphasis. In the end they went with something that I think will work for MG and YA, for boys and for girls. I've been very happy with the covers I get at Random House, but I had no idea how much time or how many people were involved in making those decisions.
In the second half of Book Fan Friday it was the kids turn to share their cover ideas with Jim. They went on a scavenger hunt through Powells for a book cover that appealed to them enough to read the book. It had to be a book they hadn't read before. About 20 kids participated. They showed their book covers to my editor and explained what they found appealing. That was pretty eye-opening as well. My Book Fan Friday kids are 8-18 years old, all avid readers, many are writing their own books and some illustrate. A number of them hope to work in the book world when they grow up.
The covers they chose were almost all setting and mood based. Not a single girl in a gown. In fact most of them don't have characters on the cover at all. I you are interested I've attached a list of the books kids were drawn to and what they said about the covers and the cover image.
filename="Book cover choices 2012.pdf"
Received on Thu 09 Feb 2012 09:55:28 AM CST
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:55:28 -0800
I organize the Book Fan Friday here at Powells and our topic for January was book cover design. My editor, Jim Thomas, Skyped with us for the event. He took us through the dozen book jackets they designed and then rejected for their upcoming book Sarafina. It was fascinating to see what they rejected and why. For example they tried a girl in a gown and decided not to go that direction. It was interesting to hear what elements of the story they decided to emphasize. The musical element of the story was on some early covers but not obvious in the final cover where the dragons got more emphasis. In the end they went with something that I think will work for MG and YA, for boys and for girls. I've been very happy with the covers I get at Random House, but I had no idea how much time or how many people were involved in making those decisions.
In the second half of Book Fan Friday it was the kids turn to share their cover ideas with Jim. They went on a scavenger hunt through Powells for a book cover that appealed to them enough to read the book. It had to be a book they hadn't read before. About 20 kids participated. They showed their book covers to my editor and explained what they found appealing. That was pretty eye-opening as well. My Book Fan Friday kids are 8-18 years old, all avid readers, many are writing their own books and some illustrate. A number of them hope to work in the book world when they grow up.
The covers they chose were almost all setting and mood based. Not a single girl in a gown. In fact most of them don't have characters on the cover at all. I you are interested I've attached a list of the books kids were drawn to and what they said about the covers and the cover image.
filename="Book cover choices 2012.pdf"
Received on Thu 09 Feb 2012 09:55:28 AM CST
