Cover Stories: Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

Last year, Susane Colasanti shared the Cover Story for her Dawson's Creek-esque image on Waiting For You, and now she's back with a new release--Something Like Fate (a book I dropped in Madrid for Operation Teen Book Drop!).

Also, I have an extra ARC of this book so one lucky commenter will win that, too. Just comment on the full post at melissacwalker.com and leave your cover thoughts before May 5th.

Take it away, Susane!

"Before Something Like Fate, my book covers shared a similar theme. They all featured a boy on the left and a girl on the right with their faces hidden in some way. Plus, they all had a sweet natural lighting effect. Right before Waiting for You came out in paperback, shiny new editions of my other paperbacks were released. The goal was for all of my books to share a uniform look by branding them with new stripy watercolor patterns on the spines. I was so exited about this change! The new spines really pop on the shelves.

"My publisher wanted the cover of Something Like Fate to look a bit different. Instead of the usual boy/girl image, she felt strongly that one boy and two girls should be featured on the cover to emphasize the lovers' triangle. I think a stock photo was originally found, but didn't seem quite right. So they had a photo shoot for the cover. It was held at a studio in Chelsea with models from Ford Models. The girls were in high school (their moms were there) and the boy was a few years older. My editor was there, which is how I know some of the behind-the-scenes details.

"The setting is supposed to be an old-school ice cream parlor from the book. At first, they were going to use real ice cream in the photo. They went out and got all of this ice cream, but it ended up melting because it wasn't used. They tried some poses at a counter with the models sitting on stools. Between the models' legs and the chair legs, the image looked too busy. The couch was already there in the studio (although I think my cover designer changed its color to

purple), and it was clear that by using the couch as a backdrop for the finger touch, readers would get an immediate sense of what the story's about.

"When I first saw the cover...well, I was less than thrilled. It seemed a bit Gossip Girl to me. Not to dis Gossip Girl - love that show! - I just didn't think it quite matched t

he tone of my book. It was a shock to see two girls when I was used to just one. I didn't get what a plush couch was doing in an ice cream parlor. Isn't that a recipe for disaster? And the couch seemed huge to me. It was taking up almost half the cover!"

"I loved the fonts and colors, though..."

Read the rest of the story at melissacwalker.com and leave a comment there for a chance to win the book! (Weigh in here too if you'd like!)