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readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Cover Stories: She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott

ShesSoDead_fnl.jpg
The fantastic Kieran Scott is here to talk about title changes, taglines and Tiffany blue on the cover of her latest novel, She's So Dead to Us (I've heard her read from it, and in case you're not familiar with her books, Kieran -- who also writes as Kate Brian -- pens a great novel).

Here she is:

"The story of my cover is all tied up with the story of my title. When I first pitched the idea that eventually became SHE'S SO DEAD TO US, it was titled RETURN TO ORCHARD HILL. In my mind it was a coming-home story wrapped up in a romance. I had all these thoughts of Dawson's Creek-style, sepia-toned images of autumn trees and quaint neighborhoods. It was all very romantic and dreamy.

"Unfortunately, my publisher didn't love the title. It sounded too old-fashioned and literary. They wanted something more immediate. Something that would grab the reader, rather than lull them into a state of nostalgia. So I went back to the drawing board. I came up with lists and lists of potential titles. I brainstormed with my agent and I brainstormed with my editor. I even brainstormed with my sister and my best friend. But somehow, we couldn't all get on the same page. There was one title we all liked, but we already knew there were going to be three books, and we couldn't come up with accompanying titles that made sense. We went back and forth about this for weeks, until it was basically do-or-die time. Catalog copy had to be set. Covers had to be made. We were playing with fire..."

Read the rest of Kieran's Cover Story at melissacwalker.com.

1 comment:

Micol Ostow said...

I agree - the Tiffany blue is elegant, and also a nice change from more aggressively "girlie" covers. I also heard Kieran read from this and LOVED how accurate the male POV sounded.