Hazel Edwards's Blog - Posts Tagged "wasted-hazel-edwards"
The 'Wasted?' Book Cover
Book covers matter! I think in abstract , so evaluating book covers is a challenge for me as an author and a reader.
But a book cover is the first clue for a potential reader of the story inside. So it needs to suggest the setting, drama , tone, character and maybe the genre. And it needs to stand out from others on the bookshelf or even the digital catalogue.
An author is expected to write an art brief for the illustrator , stressing the essential ideas to be turned into visuals. Dot points are best.
'Wasted?' was a very different #Clific YA novel.
Garbage Patches ,mid ocean , are re -purposed by activist asylum seekers as a new state which trades bio fuel .Can teenager Kit make a difference? He draws ideas.
Not all illustrators read the manuscript. Good ones do. Joh Fitzpatrick had designed my earlier adult mystery cover ‘
Wed Then Dead on the Ghan’ And that had attracted an audio contract.
I prefer to choose a sensitive and technically able illustrator who can capture the essence of the tone. Like Joh. The story is also a tribute to the innovative skills of asylum seekers turned science activists and problem solvers. The protagonist is teen, but its a YA/adult cross over novel for the issues involved. The cover needs to appeal to adults too.
Joh did 6 drafts with varied colour tones. I’d asked for a refugee boy in a life jacket in the colours of the refugee flag. That didn’t work . The boy looked overwhelmed by the orange and black life jacket.
I needed an appealing , sensitive face which could be any culture . Age-wise about 14-ish
The seventh try was perfect. ‘The current cover of ‘Wasted?’ is my favourite of all my covers. And hopefully it will convince a producer to screen it.
Joh added the jellyfish in sneakers to the life jacket, to indicate the sig. which my teen caricaturist uses on his drawings. Only later did I find out that some refugee kids have drawings on their jackets too. And one teen reviewer thought it was a brain in sneakers. Loved that.
'Wasted?' was my 21st choice of title, but the question mark makes the difference.
But a book cover is the first clue for a potential reader of the story inside. So it needs to suggest the setting, drama , tone, character and maybe the genre. And it needs to stand out from others on the bookshelf or even the digital catalogue.
An author is expected to write an art brief for the illustrator , stressing the essential ideas to be turned into visuals. Dot points are best.
'Wasted?' was a very different #Clific YA novel.
Garbage Patches ,mid ocean , are re -purposed by activist asylum seekers as a new state which trades bio fuel .Can teenager Kit make a difference? He draws ideas.
Not all illustrators read the manuscript. Good ones do. Joh Fitzpatrick had designed my earlier adult mystery cover ‘
Wed Then Dead on the Ghan’ And that had attracted an audio contract.I prefer to choose a sensitive and technically able illustrator who can capture the essence of the tone. Like Joh. The story is also a tribute to the innovative skills of asylum seekers turned science activists and problem solvers. The protagonist is teen, but its a YA/adult cross over novel for the issues involved. The cover needs to appeal to adults too.
Joh did 6 drafts with varied colour tones. I’d asked for a refugee boy in a life jacket in the colours of the refugee flag. That didn’t work . The boy looked overwhelmed by the orange and black life jacket.
I needed an appealing , sensitive face which could be any culture . Age-wise about 14-ish
The seventh try was perfect. ‘The current cover of ‘Wasted?’ is my favourite of all my covers. And hopefully it will convince a producer to screen it.
Joh added the jellyfish in sneakers to the life jacket, to indicate the sig. which my teen caricaturist uses on his drawings. Only later did I find out that some refugee kids have drawings on their jackets too. And one teen reviewer thought it was a brain in sneakers. Loved that.
'Wasted?' was my 21st choice of title, but the question mark makes the difference.
