Miriam Spitzer Franklin: Make A Mood Board For Your Cover

I love talking to debut authors. Our experiences are so similar, yet so very different, that every one of us has a new story to share. Everyone says that the moment you get your cover it really hits you - you're an author. The cover is your story - and you - packaged for the world. So the process of the cover reveal can be slightly panic inducing. Does it fit your story? Is it what you hoped? Will it sell? With this in mind I put together the CRAP (Cover Reveal Anxiety Phase) Interview.

Today's guest for the CRAP is Miriam Spitzer Franklin, author of the MG debut EXTRAORDINARY, which releases May 5th from SkyPony Press. Besides reading children’s literature and writing, Miriam loves to teach. She's taught kindergarteners up to eighth graders in public and private schools. Her favorite subject to teach? You guessed it– reading and writing!

Did you have any pre-conceived notions about what you wanted your cover to look like?

I knew that I wanted my cover to portray the story in an optimistic way. Because my book deals with some heavy subject matter (Pansy's best friend suffers a traumatic brain injury), I needed to make sure the cover didn't appear sad or depressing.

How far in advance from your pub date did you start talking covers with your house?

My editor asked me to start thinking about ideas for the cover in May 2014, a year before the book came out.

Did you have any input on your cover?

My editor suggested that I put together a mood board -- examples of MG covers that I liked and the overall feeling I wanted to convey.

How was your cover revealed to you?

Actually, my editor asked me for an author photo for the catalog because she said they weren't satisfied with the designs and they had asked the illustrator to rework the design. I was glad that they weren't accepting a cover they weren't satisfied with but disappointed that the catalog was going out without my cover! A few days later, my husband was searching the internet and found my cover! I e-mailed my editor to tell her I loved it and hoped it was the final design! Apparently they reworked the illustration in time for it to go out in the official catalog, so it all worked out the way it was supposed to.

Was there an official "cover reveal" date for your art?

I did not have an official cover reveal date, but I found out about it in late October, around 5 months before the book's release.

Was it hard to keep it to yourself before the official release?

I didn't have to keep it to myself since it was already out on the internet! Though I did check with my editor to see if it was okay if I shared.

What surprised you most about the process?

I was most surprised at the way the illustrator came up with the perfect cover for my book. I'm assuming he didn't actually read the book, but the Best Friend necklaces worked perfectly to capture the theme of Extraordinary.

Any advice to other debut authors about how to handle cover art anxiety?

If your editor doesn't ask for input, you should let him/her know what you would like to see in a cover. Because authors may not have a final say in the cover design (mine was finalized before anyone showed it to me), you'll feel a lot better if you have the discussion upfront. Offering up a mood board to your editor is a good way to show what types of covers you'd like to see. In the end, you have to trust your publishing house and hope they will put out the type of cover that best represents your book, as mine did!

Reversing My Position

I used to be a strong advocate of not reading while writing. I was adamant about a little term I coined - something I called "voice bleeding." I fiercely believed that if I indulged myself in reading the same genre I was writing that I opened myself up to the voice of the other author leaking into whatever ms I was working on.

And, to be fair, I still think that's a possibility.

But you'll notice that the blog post I link to above is from 2011. Now, I've got four more years of experience under my belt, four years where I've been writing professionally, and four years of balancing simultaneous projects while still working full time as a librarian. And to be a good librarian you have to be aware of the market, aware of content, and aware of your collection in order to make good recommendations to your patrons.

And to do that, you have to be reading.

I want to be good at both of my jobs, so I decided I was going to be reading while writing. There was no way around it. At first I stuck to my old decree that reading nonfiction was non-damaging to my creative voice, and while I still think that's true, it also severely limits my reading choices.

So I went a different route and decided to read the opposite genre of whatever I was writing. That definitely worked, until I came up against a book I really wanted to read right now that happened to also be a dark contemporary. It was GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn and yes, I'm glad I just went ahead and read it.

Ironically, I found that reading the same genre I was writing didn't stymie me so much as inspire me. I'd read a few chapters and find myself burning to write, instead of having to put down the book I was reading and force my brain to jump tracks over to the genre I was writing. There was less of a lag, and instead of invading my creativity I felt like reading was bolstering it, challenging me to answer with my own voice and words.

I finished up the first draft of my dark contemporary, tentatively titled THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, last week. It's out to crit partners right now, and while I'm waiting for it to come back to me I've got to switch projects and focus on GIVEN TO THE SEA, the first in my epic fantasy series due out in 2017.

How to best make that move?

I think I'll ease into it by reading some fantasy.

Interview with Fonda Lee

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT- Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Today's guest for the SAT (Successful Author Talk) is Fonda Lee. Fonda writes science fiction and fantasy for teens and adults. ZEROBOXER (from Flux/Llewellyn) is her debut novel. Fonda is a recovering corporate strategist, an avid martial artist, a fan of smart action movies, and an Eggs Benedict enthusiast.

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

An unrepentant Planner. I tried Pantsing once. It was ugly. 

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

It takes me a couple of months in the beginning just to research, outline, and walk around lost in thought. The first draft takes 3-4 months. Revision takes another 2-3. Then it’s off to beta readers. More revision. Off to my agent. More revision. So 10-12 months from concept planning until submission. 

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

I always have one primary project, but due to the publishing process I often need to multitask. For example, I’ll be in the middle of a first draft and an email arrives and I’ll need to switch to doing edits on another manuscript for a week. 

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

I had a successful career in corporate strategy going before I made it my life goal to be a novelist. Truth be told, writing had always been my life goal, but I didn’t act on it seriously until I was in my thirties. By then I wondered if it was too late for me, and if I was being foolish, dialing back on a normal, respectable, well-paying job to chase my dream. 

My fear these days is whether I can make it in the long run, writing and publishing enough good books on a consistent basis to achieve some measure of career success. 

How many trunked books did you have before you were agented?

One. I spent a year writing a novel that I loved but that didn’t go anywhere. 

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

I did. I had an outline written up and was all ready to go. I got about 10,000 words in and suddenly thought, “I don’t want to do this.” It just wasn’t a book I felt a burning passion to write. I set it aside. Several months later I came back to it, took another look, and thought, “I still don’t want to write the book, but this would make a great short story.” I wrote it as a short story and ended up loving it. 

Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?  

I got my agent through a cold query. However, it certainly helped speed things up when I got three competing offers out of a conference I went to. I’m represented by Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. 

How long did you query before landing your agent? 

I’d been querying my previous manuscript for eight months with no success. When I started querying ZEROBOXER, everything happened very fast thanks to a conference I went to (the Willamette Writers Conference) where I pitched to agents in person. A month later, I was agented. 

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

Don’t be surprised if your first book doesn’t land you an agent. Keep querying, but more importantly, keep writing. When you get a rejection, send out another query, shut down your email, and get back to work on the next book. I wrote ZEROBOXER during those many months of query hell when I was riddled with anxiety about ever getting an agent, much less being published. 

How much input do you have on cover art?

My editor and I brainstormed closely early on. He gave me his initial ideas, and I gave him mine, and we sent photos and other book covers back and forth as we brainstormed. After we’d figured out the general gist of what we wanted, he took it to Flux’s internal launch meeting. A few months later, my editor emailed me the cover the designer had created and the Flux team had chosen. It was so awesome I just about fell out of my chair. 

What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

How hard copyedits are. Really. By the time you reach the copyediting stage, you’ve read your book a dozen times at least and the words have completely lost all meaning. You’re like, “Is this even good? Is it crap? I honestly can’t tell.” 

How much of your own marketing do you?  

I think all authors these days do a lot of their own marketing. I have a website of course and I’m on Twitter. Occasionally I’m on Facebook and Tumblr. I don’t blog. I only have a certain number of words in me each day, and I’m not going to waste them on blogging when there are books to write.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

If you’re doing anything before you get an agent, it should be developing your network of fellow writers. They will be your greatest source of knowledge and support going forward. Incidentally, some of them will also like your work and spread the word when the time comes. But I would spend very little time worrying about your platform when you have no books. Your books are your platform.