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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Cover Stories: The Lost Sister by Megan Kelley Hall

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I did a Cover Story with Megan Kelley Hall over a year ago when SISTERS OF MISERY (left) came out where she talked about her hopes for the second book. And now that book is also on shelves. So she's back to talk about the cover of THE LOST SISTER! Here's Megan:

"I was so lucky with my first cover. It was amazing, beautiful, intriguing. I actually think I made a lot of sales just on the cover alone. So the bar was set pretty high. I really wanted something similar to my first cover, but when I first saw the design for THE LOST SISTER, I was upset. Nothing could ever live up to that first one.

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"I had sent along some mockups of covers (left and right) that I liked. I even found a French website that had these amazing pictures and contacted the girl to see if we could use her pics. She agreed, but my publisher had already purchased the stock photo and didn't want to budge.

the lost sister.jpg
"I didn't like the cover (right) when I saw it. I thought it was way too orange and washed out and I didn't like looking up the girl's nose, and I thought it was strange that they picked a girl who looked nothing like the girl on SISTERS OF MISERY.

"I made a LOT of suggestions. Unfortunately, my editor's hands were tied. She was definitely on my side and was pulling for me, but it was a bit of an uphill battle.

"The art department darkened it to make it spookier. I asked them to crop it down a bit, just so you couldn't see up the girl's nose, but they didn't do it. In the end, the darker cover stands out a lot more than the original washed out version:

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"I like it. Not in love with it. It's kind of a sore subject for me still."

You know, sometimes authors are unhappy with their covers. It's hard to talk about publicly, so thanks, Megan, for being honest. Still, though I prefer the Sisters of Misery cover, I like this new one. It's soft and her lightness contrasts the gray background (I'm glad they darkened it).

What do you guys think?

6 comments:

Hull.Margaret said...

Actually I think it complements the first book. As for looking up her nose, I would not have even noticed, maybe because I am short and must look up a lot of noses' :)since I am not aware of it any more.
Things will work out.
Penny

Veronica Roth said...

I know what she means about the first cover-- it's awesome! And definitely difficult to live up to. But I also agree that I didn't notice anything awry about the girl's nose, but I'm glad they darkened it. I would gravitate toward it if I saw it on a shelf, though, which I think is the important thing!

Beth Kephart said...

Feeling for the author here, but thinking that this really is an interesting cover. Her first cover was one of my favorite evers. I remember sending it to my editor and saying, Oh, I'd love something like this.

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