- You don't get to pick the name of the book. Your publisher trusts you to write a novel, but not a title. Actually, Midnight Ink let me keep all my original titles and is otherwise fantastic, but I've heard horror stories.
- You don't have much, if any, say in what the cover looks like. For the cover of May Day, I asked for no skinny chicks and no faces. They met me halfway, which I later found out is incredibly generous and rare. And, in retrospect, it's a fabulous cover.
- Most new authors don't have a publicist assigned to them. My publicist told me that, and you can either read it as truth or as "you're lucky to have me so sit down and shut up." He'd probably vote for the latter. I can be a lot of work.
This weekend, I'm reading my first Raymond Chandler book (I know--I write mysteries and I've never read Raymond Chandler)--The Big Sleep. And Jaws. If I get them done by Monday, look for reviews here! I'll let you know how Jaws ends. Duh-duhnt. Duh-duhnt. Da-duhnt da-duhnt da-duhnt. I'm also going through my first Joan Hess mystery (Maggody at something). I'm considering it all research, and if you see some hard-nosed California criminals and muskie attacks in Mira James' Battle Lake in the near future, you'll know what my inspiration was. Oooh--I like that, actually. Muskie attacks in Battle Lake. L'il Jaws.
Cover designer here (hi Jess)-
ReplyDeleteAs more of an explanation and not so much a defense, the skinny chick on your cover came about I think because Japanese women are all just too damn skinny. That's the excuse I'm going with.
We used an illustrator from Japan who works through a New York rep (probably disgustingly skinny too) the weight issue kind of got lost in translation I think. I couldn't talk directly to the illustrator for a number of reasons and as a result I had less control over what I got back. I had to explain what plaid flannel was for krissake!
So yeah, I think she's a bit on the skinny side too but what can ya do. Ah well, at least it looks mostly cool and I think it hits the chick lit reader market pretty well.
Yoi ichinichi o!
Agree with Brian. It always makes him so happy.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog, thanks so much for sharing your insights.