In part one, we looked at book signings and other programs. But how do you pitch your program to a library?

Showcases: Some state and regional library associations run performer showcases, where local authors and performers who wish to present in libraries can share a brief taste of their programs (usually 10-15 minutes). Participating in a showcase is a great way to put your presentation in front of lots of librarian eyeballs (and sometimes school contacts as well). You will likely be presenting alongside magicians, mad scientists, and naturalists with adorable fuzzy creatures, so share the liveliest parts of your presentation!

No showcases in your area? Consider creating your own! Join forces with other authors, illustrators, or children’s performers and propose a free showcase session for your state or regional library conference. This is a win-win: you get to promote yourself, and the conference gets a free program. And of course, don’t forget to hand out bookmarks, postcards, or brochures with your contact and booking information!

What kind of program?: If you can tie your program into library initiatives, you will make it easier for librarians to say yes to booking you. Some major trends:

The Makerspace Movement: Providing hands-on spaces to create, with everything from 3-D printers and coding software to discarded books turned into art. This type of programming may be geared to children, teens, or adults. Check out this Library Journal article for an overview: http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/10/public-services/the-makings-of-maker-spaces-part-1-space-for-creation-not-just-consumption/

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math): Public libraries are offering more programs with an explicit science focus, but they are also emphasizing the math, science, and technology elements found in traditional storytimes. This School Library Journal article gives a picture of what these programs look like: http://www.slj.com/2013/10/programs/full-steam-ahead-injecting-art-and-creativity-into-stem/#_

Early Literacy: This is not early reading – rather, it is the constellation of skills, such as print awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and the ability to apply real-world knowledge to a text, that prepares children for the tasks of reading and writing. Check out the American Library Association’s page on Early Literacy and Libraries for more information: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/literacy/earlyliteracy

A Word about Meeting Rooms: Library meeting rooms are often available for use by community groups. This can cause some confusion when writing organizations want to hold programs at the library. If you approach the library about “using the meeting room” for a program, you will likely be given the standard community group reservation policies, which often include a ban on selling anything during the program. However, if you approach the library requesting that it sponsor or co-sponsor a program, new doors are opened. When the library sponsors a program, book sales are usually allowed and the event will appear in the library’s publicity.

Partnering with Other Community Organizations: Bring extra value to your program by brainstorming ways to connect with schools, community groups, and local businesses. Erin Hagar, author of Julia Child: An Extraordinary Life in Words and Pictures (Duo Press) had a group of middle school students perform a skit about the famous chef at one of her signings. Find local businesses related to your book’s topic and ask them to help get the word out to their customers about your event, through print or social media. If you are traveling some distance for the event, offer a discount if the librarian helps connect you with local schools willing to host a presentation on the same day. Invite the local independent bookseller to sell books at your program. If you’re not sure where to start in contacting these local groups, ask your librarians – providing those resources is their job, after all!

Swag and Selling Books: The number of books you sell can vary wildly from library to library, and you can’t necessarily judge the effectiveness of the program by the number of books sold. Depending on the location, audience, and timing of your program, the audience may not be in the frame of mind to purchase a book. (Case in point: When my nonfiction book, Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together (Huron Street Press) came out, I did a mini-storytime featuring American Sign Language to promote it. In libraries where the program was scheduled in place of the regular weekly storytimes, I sold few books – often the parents would tell me that they hadn’t even brought their wallets, because they were in storytime-attendance mode.)

Make sure you have bookmarks or postcards to hand out to each attendee with information about your book and your website. That way, there is a chance that person may purchase the book later (or at least leave the bookmark on a restroom counter and someone else will see it!)

It’s important to clarify whether books can be sold during the event, and if so, who will be responsible for bringing and selling them. The Friends of the Library may be on hand to sell books, or the library may have a pre-existing relationship with a local independent bookseller.

If the library expects you to handle book sales, bring a friend or family member to handle sales so you can focus on signing, or contact a local bookseller yourself. Don’t forget to account for sales tax, and to report your direct sales as required by your state. The Small Business Association has a handy guide for collecting and reporting sales tax here: https://www.sba.gov/blogs/sales-tax-101-small-business-owners-and-online-retailers

Making the event go smoothly: Communication is key! Confirm the event in writing. If you set up the event with a central coordinator, then call the branch where you will be presenting a day or two before the program and find out who your in-person contact will be. Make sure that person knows when to expect you and has your cell phone number to contact you en route if necessary. This day-before call seems like a small thing, easy to overlook, but it is HUGE for creating rapport with your host and showing your professionalism.

During the event itself, be a good guest. Don’t be a diva, and communicate clearly about what you need for the program to go smoothly. Understand that your host may not be able to stay in the room the entire time because the library is short-staffed, or someone is vomiting in the children’s department, or there is a crisis at the circulation desk. (There’s always an adventure happening in a public library!)

Afterwards, send a thank you note to your host as well as to the contact person. Post pictures from the event on your website and social media and tag the library. (Do not post any photos that show faces of attendees unless you have their written permission!)

Keep a record of the staff you work with at each library, so that, when your next book comes out, you can send a personal note – and perhaps secure another invitation to present!

Other Ways to Connect With Public Libraries

Getting the library to carry your book: Most libraries have centralized Materials Selection specialists who develop the collection based on reviews, the library’s budget, and community needs. Even if your book is published by a major publisher and is reviewed in national journals, it’s a good idea to reach out to your local libraries and let them know that you live in the area.

If your book is published by a smaller press, or if you are self-published, then you may have a tougher time. Libraries rely on review sources such as Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and if you don’t have trade reviews to show them, they may not consider purchasing your book. Many libraries have established a process for local authors to submit one or more copies for the materials selectors to review.

Patrons can also request that the library carry certain books, and the more requests the library gets, the more likely it is to purchase the material. Enlist the aid of your supporters to make these requests at their local libraries.

Public libraries can be an author’s best friend! I hope these tips have given you some ideas on how to start connecting with libraries far and near.

Got more tips for working with libraries? Share them in the comments!

KATHY MACMILLAN is a writer, American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, founder of The Sweet Sixteens (www.thesweetsixteens.com) and avowed Hufflepuff. Her debut young adult novel, Sword and Verse, is an epic fantasy that explores questions of power and prejudice. Find her at www.kathymacmillan.com and on Twitter at @kathys_quill.

I’ve been lucky to experience public libraries from both sides of the reference desk: as a Children’s Services Supervisor at Carroll County (MD) Public Library (where I still work as a substitute), and also for thirteen years as an American Sign Language storyteller performing in libraries up and down the East Coast. As I gear up to promote my YA debut Sword and Verse (HarperTeen, January 19, 2016), I’m putting everything I’ve learned to good use—and thought maybe other authors could benefit from these tips too.

How Public Libraries are Structured

Public libraries come in all different sizes and shapes. Some are part of a state or local government. Some are independent entities. In my home state of Maryland, most public libraries exist within county systems of central headquarters administering multiple branches. In some places, libraries function as individual units, and multiple independent libraries may serve overlapping geographic areas.

The first step in connecting with libraries is to figure out the structure—that will give you an idea about where collection and programming decisions are made. Front-line librarians may need to direct you to higher-ups for decisions about programming and whether the library will carry your book. Some branch managers or department heads may be able to schedule a program for their branches, but you’d need to connect with a systemwide coordinator to get into the other branches. You can find directories online by searching for your state library or state library association. Or just call the library and ask – most librarians will be happy to help!

Book Signings and Other Programs

While your publisher may set up some appearances, most authors cannot count on this. It’s definitely in your best interest to make contact yourself.

To charge or not to charge: It’s up to you whether you are willing to make appearances for free or charge for them, but one thing is certain: public libraries LOVE free programs. They routinely face budget constraints. Consider the type of program you are offering. Will you be doing a promotional reading/Q&A/signing? A lower cost or free program might be appropriate. If you’re offering something more substantial, like a class or workshop, you should absolutely and unapologetically charge for your time.

Library Friends Groups: Many libraries have Friends groups that provide program funding and volunteers to help out at programs. The programs themselves are usually booked by the library staff. If you have a contact in a library Friends group, ask him or her to suggest you as a presenter!

Publicity Lead Time: Libraries generally have a long lead time—much longer than bookstores or schools—for scheduling events. The deadline is usually about 3 months before the event, and some require publicity information for all summer programs to be submitted by December 31 of the previous year. So contact early and think ahead!

Summer Reading Program: Summer reading is HUGE—it’s the busiest time of year, and most libraries do much more programming in the summer than the rest of the year. That’s because most public libraries run reading incentive programs for preschoolers, school age kids, teens, and adults, with prizes ranging from coupons and local business gift certificates to chances to win iPads and Kindles. Librarians spend many spring days in local schools talking up books and the summer reading program. Most libraries also have larger budgets for summer programming. So if you want to pitch a workshop or other paid program, summer is a good bet.

Many libraries throughout the U.S. participate in the Collaborative Summer Reading Program (http://www.cslpreads.org), a consortium of shared thematic summer reading materials for all ages. The themes for the next two years are available on the site.

Upcoming themes are:

2016: wellness, fitness, and sports

2017: architecture, building, construction

If your book ties in to one of these themes, you’re golden! But if it doesn’t, think about how you can make your presentation relate to the theme. For example, could you talk about the architecture of your plot and give your presentation a catchy title to match? I guarantee that will catch the interest of program schedulers. Tying your presentation to the summer reading theme will also allow you to pitch that program to multiple libraries that follow the collaborative theme.

Public libraries can be an author’s best friend! I hope these tips have given you some ideas on how to start connecting with libraries far and near. I’ll be back on PubCrawl on November 30th to share more advice on things like planning a program and getting the library to carry your book.

Got more tips for working with libraries? Share them in the comments!

KATHY MACMILLAN is a writer, American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, founder of The Sweet Sixteens (www.thesweetsixteens.com) and avowed Hufflepuff. Her debut young adult novel, Sword and Verse, is an epic fantasy that explores questions of power and prejudice. Find her at www.kathymacmillan.com and on Twitter at @kathys_quill.

The funny thing about writing a horror novel is that approximately 87% of the people you meet will tell you to your face they don’t want to read it.

Oh, there’s rarely anything malicious in this declaration. Sure, there are always a few “I only read serious books about serious topics” types with tiny minds who can’t fathom how a book about horror things can also be about other things, but nobody cares what they think. I ignore them.

For the most part the reaction from future non-readers is more along the lines of, “Oh, I don’t know if I could read that. It sounds–” And this added in an apologetic, almost conspiratorial tone, as though imparting a terrible secret from which I could have been protected, had circumstances differed: “–too upsetting.”

*

I fell into writing horror backwards, much the same way the unwary first-act hanger-on in a horror movie falls backwards into a vat of mysterious glugging liquid the remaining cast will assure themselves is simply oddly chunky water until the third act. I don’t really think of myself as a horror writer, because I write all kinds of other things too, some (a few) of which are not (very) horrifying at all (mostly). But I did write a horror novel.

It happened like this. One time I went to a garage sale and found ninety-nine Stephen King paperbacks on sale for a penny each, so I borrowed a crinkled dollar bill from my mom, took the books home, and retreated to a dark corner of my bedroom where I spent three weeks constructing a paper nest using only the shredded pages of Misery and my own spittle, and I lived there for five years, eating nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and anxiety. When I emerged I could never write anything again without ominous symbolic settings and existential dread and rotting corpses.

Or maybe it happened like this. When I wrote my first novel, I didn’t sit down at my computer and think, “I want to scare somebody’s pants off today!” I sat down and I thought:

1. wouldn’t it be funny if monsters were teenagers
2. i mean like really angsty teenagers the kind who feel bad a lot
3. and they’re gross monsters not sexy monsters nobody likes them
4. SPOOKY STUFF
5. everybody has feelings
6. feelings
7. feeeeeeeeeeeeeelings
8. dead things
9. feelings

One of those anecdotes is the 100% true story of how I accidentally wrote a YA horror novel.

*

There are a thousand different kinds of horror stories, but the kind I wrote is a contemporary teen fantasy story covered with blood. It’s all monsters and dark magic and dark evil monster magic and teenagers encountering and/or using dark evil monster magic. It’s full of death and pain and terrible things happening. Claws, too. There are claws. Did I mention the blood? It is a bit scary in places–at least, I hope it is. It would be disappointing if I deployed that many carefully chosen adjectives and it didn’t give people at least a bit of a spine-tingle.

It isn’t too upsetting as an accidental by-product, the unintended consequence of a writer meddling with forces she cannot control. Being upsetting is, in fact, the entire point. I wrote it that way on purpose. I have my reasons, and it’s not entirely because I am a ravenous creature of shadow and darkness who survives by consuming the nightmares of my young readers. Not entirely.

There’s an oft-misquoted-but-rarely-quoted-correctly passage about fairy tales from English writer G.K. Chesterton (from Tremendous Trifles, 1909):

“Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.”

We know this to be true, no matter how many misguided parents and school boards try to deny it: Children and teenagers don’t need books to tell them that there is evil in the world. They know that before they crack open any book. Children and teenagers don’t need books to tell them the world is scary and unfair and that bad things happen all the time. They already know all of this. There are adults in their lives who wish them harm. Kids know this. There are monsters who wear friendly faces and are enabled by the people and institutions who ought to be protecting the helpless instead. They know.

Children and teenagers aren’t separate from the world. They are part of the world, right in the middle of it, right in the middle of all the violence and unfairness and cruelty it has to offer. For young readers, just like adult readers, stories can be both an escape from the world and a way of connecting to and understanding the world, both a shield and a lens, often at the same time.

That’s no small thing. It is the exact opposite of a small thing. It is the entire reason literature exists, and it isn’t less true or less important because the intended audience is under eighteen. I would even argue–if anybody ever wanted to argue with me about this, which nobody does–that it is even more true and more important for children’s and young adult literature. You never know who is going to pick up your stories and find something that resonates, and you never know what it will mean to them, and you never know if that reader on that particular day will need the escape or the understanding or both.

Okay, let’s be honest: It’s usually both.

*

I can’t write stories so steeped in the grit and struggle of realism they are indistinguishable from real life. I also can’t write stories that imagine life to be fantasies of summer kisses and bosom friendships. Those are all perfectly wonderful types of stories, and I love to read them and am thankful they exist in the world, but they are stories for other people to write.

Me, well, I can do ominous thunderstorms and branches scraping on dark windows. I can do the metallic taste of fear at the back of the throat. I can do people who aren’t really people and monsters who aren’t really monsters. I’m really good at describing spooky graveyards. In fact that’s my #1 life skill, ranked even higher than my formidable talent at making up silly nicknames for cats: describing spooky graveyards.

Blood and guts, monsters and magic, murderers under the floorboards and ghosts in the walls, shocking scares and sleepless nights–the trappings of horror are what makes it vivid, visceral, and oh so very fun, but it is, after all, spectacle. It’s stage-setting strung up around what really matters: a story about life and death. A story that offers a spark of life in a world where life is unwelcome and makes you think, “Oh. Oh. Everything is terrible. There is no hope. What now? What the hell do we even do now?”

Horror stories, when done well, aren’t powerful because life is cheap, but because life is precious. And because life is precious, we get carried right along when characters faced with monsters and mayhem have to fight for it, for themselves and their families and maybe people they’ve never met, against horrors and nightmares and impossible odds, as they feel fear and despair and hope and anger and grief and every human emotion in between. The fantasy is in the details, but the realism is in the emotion, and it’s the emotional realism that leaves a mark long after the story is over.

Stories are how we make sense of the world, and the world is terrible and wonderful, frightening and hopeful, beautiful and ugly, and it is, alas, full of monsters. Lucky for us, it’s also full of people who know, or want to believe, even if they aren’t quite convinced, that monsters can be faced and fought and sometimes, maybe, maybe, they can also be defeated.

Kali, thank you so much for being our guest here today on PubCrawl! Readers, now it’s your turn–do you like to read horror? Do you like to write scary stories? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

For most of her life Kali Wallace was going to be a scientist when she grew up. She studied geology in college, partly because she could get course credit for hiking and camping, and eventually earned a PhD in geophysics. Only after she had her shiny new doctorate in hand did she admit that she loved inventing imaginary worlds as much as she liked exploring the real one. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, F&SF, Asimov’s, Lightspeed, and Tor.com. She was born in Colorado and spent most of her life there, but now lives in southern California. Shallow Graves, her first novel, will be published by Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins in January 2016.

You can visit Kali on her website, follow her on Twitter, and add SHALLOW GRAVES on GoodReads!

The July Blogging Theme for The Sweet Sixteens (#SixteensBlogAbout) is CHARACTERS. With that in mind, I thought I'd look back on a couple of my favorite past blogs on the subject.

Getting Into Character highlights a simple strategy for helping young authors quickly develop interesting story characters--with just a few hats to set things rolling.

Use the picture on the left to help you create a character by completing the form below.

Use the picture on the left to help you create a character by completing the form below.

C-O-V-E-R
R-E-V-E-A-L
D-A-Y!!

Today we have the honor of revealing the cover for THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner, forthcoming from Random House on March 8th, 2016. Jeff is a really cool guy and I was so excited when his book sold, and while book deals are crazy exciting and life changing, I was REALLY pumped when Jeff messaged me with the beauty we’re revealing today. Once you manage to pull yourself away from this arresting cover be sure to continue scrolling to learn more about the book, Jeff’s thoughts on the cover, an insightful look into the cover process between Jeff’s editor Emily Easton and cover designer Alison Impey, how you can win 1 of 5 arcs, and a high-five from yours truly.

HERE’S THE COVER! Isn’t it glorious?

Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, as he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and his very public fall from grace.

The only antidote to all this venom is his friendship with fellow outcasts Travis and Lydia . But as they are starting their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. The end of high school will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is happy wherever he is thanks to his obsession with the epic book series Bloodfall and the fangirl who may be turning his harsh reality into real-life fantasy. But Dill’s only escape is his music and his secret feelings for Lydia—neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, Dill must cope with another ending—one which will rock his life to the core.

Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and, at times, comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.

JEFF’S THOUGHTS ON THE COVER

ADAM SILVERA: Jeff! Dude. I’m obsessed with this cover. The scaly font is pretty baller and the tone has this cross appeal vibe for both the YA and adult markets. I would’ve cried happy tears to find this attachment in my “Book Cover!” email. But this is YOUR cover so tell me how YOU feel.

JEFF ZENTNER: Let me tell you how I feel about this cover. If Crown had given me money to hire a designer and do anything I wanted, I might have come up with something I love half as much as this cover. Not only is the cover beautiful, the book has a gorgeous velvet matte finish that you just want to roll around on naked. I truly feel fortunate to have a brilliant designer like Alison and a brilliant editor like Emily in my corner.

CREATING THE COVER

EMILY EASTON (Editor): When you publish a book you have taken to heart and nurtured for so long, it is sometimes difficult to know what to put on the cover to help readers love it as much as you do—or at least to make them pull it off the shelf, which is the first step on the journey toward loving it. With such a richly textured story, there were so many directions we could have gone—and did try—as part of the process.

ALISON IMPEY (Cover designer): There was one line in the book that really stuck with me. In English class, Dill is asked what Lord of the Flies is about. He answers, “I guess it’s saying that we’re all born with seeds in us. And if we let them see sunlight and air, they’ll grow through us and break us. Like a tree growing up through a sidewalk.” This inspired a couple early cover concepts. One was a screen-print-style image of a guitar with a tree growing out of it that represented the creative seed in Dill that with a little “sunlight and air” could grow. A second option featured a tree, its branches reaching up through the title, with a snake wrapped tightly around the trunk. We then found the perfect illustrator to help bring these concepts to life.

EMILY: We shared these illustrated covers, and while everyone agreed the images were striking, the consensus was that the illustrated approach was making the book look too young for our targeted audience. There was also concern that the symbolic snake pushed the book more in a fantasy direction, while the content is realistic fiction.

ALISON: At this stage we agreed to go back to the drawing board. We enlisted a couple of designers to bring as many new ideas to the table as possible. We wanted to make sure no stone went unturned. As new ideas started to roll in, some featuring snakes, we realized that with our title—The Serpent King—we had fallen into the trap of saying and showing the same thing.

EMILY: As we moved in a new direction, we were drawn to the idea of showing the main character, Dill, to somehow depict the strength of his inner light, which allowed him to prevail against the darkness that threatened to extinguish it. Dill is really the heart of the story, and we thought putting him front and center could draw readers in.

ALISON: It was very helpful for us to regroup and prioritize what we wanted to achieve with the cover. When we started to discuss “triumph” as the main theme and the emotion we wanted to convey, it really helped us break through and refocus.

EMILY: We had two cover versions focusing on Dill that we were seriously considering. But there was one image from Alison’s early concepts that we couldn’t forget. It captured the sense of place, the power of friendship that was the saving grace for our three main characters, and the sense of hope that readers are left with by the book’s end. Originally I had passed this image by because I was looking for something either more iconic or more character-driven. But when Alison paired this image with a dynamic type treatment she created, it gave the cover concept a whole new power and interest.

ALISON: When we discussed triumph against all odds, I envisioned Dill breaking away and shedding his past. I wanted the title type treatment to represent this, as if the scales of Dill’s past are breaking away, scattering, about to give sun and air to that seed in him. So after a long process and many, many cover concepts, we did in fact land on an image that was in the very first batch of ideas. To some this may feel like the process was all for naught, but it wasn’t, and it rarely ever is. You always discover something new. The type treatment on the final cover is something that evolved through this process, and I am very happy it did.

EMILY: When we showed this concept to our team, it was met with a resounding “yes!” We all believe it has just the right appeal to draw in as wide an audience as this special book deserves. Or at least that’s our hope!

Thank you so much, Emily and Alison! I’m sure our readers will take away a lot from the insight behind this incredible cover.

HOW TO WIN AN ADVANCE READER’S COPY

If you want a chance to win an advance reader’s copy before the book’s March 8th, 2016 publication be sure to tweet about this cover reveal or share the cover on Instagram using the #TheSerpentKing hashtag. Jeff Zentner/Random House will select 5 lucky winners on Friday, July 3rd! You can enter multiple times on Twitter or Instagram (or both platforms!) but you must use the #TheSerpentKing hashtag each time.

*high five*

What do you think of this cover? Would you like to hear from more editors and cover designers in future posts? Let us know in the comments below!

Few things come as naturally to Harper as epic mistakes. In the past year, she was kicked off the swim team, earned a reputation as Carson High’s easiest hookup, and officially became the black sheep of her family. But the worst mistake was her first one: destroying her relationship with her best friend, Declan.

Now, after two semesters of silence between Harper and Declan, Declan is home from boarding school for summer break. Everything about him is different—he’s taller, stronger . . . handsomer. But Harper has changed too, especially in the wake of her mom’s cancer diagnosis.

While Declan wants nothing to do with Harper, he’s still Declan, her Declan, the only person she wants to talk to about what’s really going on with her. But after she betrayed his trust, he’s also the one person she’s lost all right to seek comfort from.

As shared friends and shared histories draw them together, Harper and Declan must decide which parts of their past are still possible to fix and which parts they’ll have to live with forever.

I could go on and on about this book, but I know you’re dying to see the cover, so here it is!

Isn’t it GORGEOUS? We are so lucky to have Karina Granda, Designer at Simon & Schuster, here to discuss the process that went into the design.

Where do you start when it’s time to design a cover? Do you get a chance to read the book? Do you consult with the editor? How do you pull together those first ideas?

Every book is its own world and has its own process, which keeps my job varied and fun! Sometimes we just have an outline, author or editor’s concepts, comp titles, icons, etc. to work with, but whenever possible, I do LOVE to start by reading the book! I was fortunate to be able to read THE YEAR WE FELL APART, and it really helped me to get a deep sense of the tone and to develop a package that feels as special as Harper and Declan’s story.

As I mentioned, our projects are hugely varied–sometimes I get to work with a really cool artist, other times I compose my own iconic or type-driven covers, occasionally I’m able to direct and style a shoot, and sometimes we just comes across an existing image that perfectly jives with the story—and there are many factors that go into deciding the final direction: what is the tone of the book; are there any compelling icons; is it important to show the characters; what other books do we want to be associated with; and of course, what is the budget?

The editor, Sara Sargent, and I both immediately knew that THE YEAR WE FELL APART needed an illustrated cover since it would give us huge range for creating a unique package that would capture many aspects of the story. Which brings us to that question: The editor is hugely involved through the whole process, and our editorial team does a tremendous job of providing ideas and feedback and ensuring that the images and tone are right for each individual project.

Tell us a little about the cover design for THE YEAR WE FELL APART. What choices did you make, and what did you want to convey?

In the case of THE YEAR WE FELL APART, we were able to work with the fabulous artist, Sarah Dennis, whom I’ve been wanting to work with for a long time! She not only illustrates, but she creates her illustrations through cut paper rather than drawing, which just brought that extra special touch that we wanted for this cover. We knew she could bring the right feel. As a team, thematically, we wanted to emphasize the course of the year and time and the seasons through the cover. So much of the book is about what can and cannot be changed over the course of time (and the emotions that come with that!), so we felt that depicting the course of the year with images that felt relevant to the story would make for a good cover.

Though all projects can (and do!) take many different directions and turns, ultimately the end products are always the result of a very collaborative team effort, and THE YEAR WE FELL APART was definitely no exception. The author pulled a bunch of images from the story that felt most relevant to her—the oak leaves were specific to the type of tree that was special to Harper and Declan, the friends spend a lot time in a quarry during the summers so it is a place of tension now that Declan and Harper are at odds, etc. Among many other ideas, the editor made the key suggestion that we should bring a hand-written feel to the type design. I found and art directed the illustrator, provided direction for the palette and composition, and created the hand-written elements on the jacket. Sarah Dennis brought her own ideas, compositions, wonderful details, and most importantly, her killer illustration skills!

How many concepts did you consider, and how many drafts did this one go through?

Honesty, I cannot even remember how many specific concepts we considered for this book! So often tons of ideas are tossed around in conversations with the editor or at team meetings—many get left right there, some make it into rough comps, and sometimes we are picking between options at very final stages. THE YEAR WE FELL APART has been through two “final” iterations—though in this case they came consecutively rather than simultaneously. We strongly pursued the idea of focusing on the tree or a tree stump, and though our art team tried several iterations of that concept that were beautiful, it was ultimately a bit too young and did not capture the depth and scope of the story. However, that process did lay the groundwork for developing the ideas that made it into our final cover. Even when concepts are rejected, they are always a crucial step in the process!

Thank you so much Karina!

Author Emily Martin is also here to answer a few questions!

© Kate L Photography | www.kateLphotography.com

Congrats on your beautiful cover! Karina mentioned that you had some input into the design, in that you offered some images from the story. How were you brought into the process? What was that like?

Thank you! My editor and the team at S&S were amazing about keeping me in the loop on the cover design. We discussed which places and moments in the book felt most important, and it became clear we all wanted a similar look for the cover. Being able to see the cover evolve from sketch to final product was an awesome experience.

The designer said that lots of ideas were considered, and that there were two “final” versions of the cover. Were you able to see different drafts? If so, how much did they vary?

I saw sketches of both covers that became contenders, and from sketch to final version, neither of them changed too drastically. However, the two concepts were very different from each other.

I really loved the first design, so it was painful to find out the team had decided to go in a different direction. But I was fortunate enough to be brought into the conversation again, and I was thrilled when we settled on Sarah Dennis as the illustrator. I wound up falling even harder for the second design!

Since you were somewhat involved in the process, did you develop an idea in your mind of what the cover would look like? Does the finished cover reflect your expectations, or did it surprise you? How did you feel when you saw the final version for the first time?

Despite knowing who the illustrator would be and having an idea of the concept, it was still really difficult to visualize the finished product. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the cover completely blew me away. It just felt so special to me, such a perfect representation of my characters and their story.

Has your love of this cover caused any interesting new behaviors? Do you carry a miniature version of it tucked in a locket, or sleep with it under your pillow? (You can tell the truth. We’re all friends here!)

Ha! I am fairly obsessed with it, and did immediately save it on my phone… but I only peek at it a dozen or so times a day! Pretty sure it’s only a matter of time before a framed copy finds its way onto my bedside table.

More about the author: Emily Martin lives and writes in the Greater Boston area, though she will always call Michigan home. When not writing books, you can find her hiking New England’s peaks, searching for the perfect cup of hot chocolate, or baking something pumpkin-flavored. She is a member of The Sweet Sixteens and the Class of 2k16. Visit Emily online at her website, and on Twitter @thatEmilyMartin.

Thanks to Karina Granda from Simon & Schuster for sharing her process with us, and to Emily Martin for not only letting us host her cover reveal, but also generously giving away an ARC of THE YEAR WE FELL APART! (Emily will happily send an ARC to the winner’s US or Canadian address, once they are printed later this summer.)

You can add TYWFA to your “To Read” shelf on Goodreads and pre-order it on Barnes & Noble and/or Amazon. Please join us in congratulating Emily in the comments below!

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The idea for this post came from a thread on the Sweet Sixteens’ discussion forum. Kali Wallace, who writes YA horror, posted a question for historical fiction writers. I thought it was great that a writer was reaching across genres to ask a question, and the replies were stellar! Thank you all for agreeing to let me share this great discussion with the readers of PubCrawl! (And stay tuned for more of Kali Wallace and YA horror in a future post!)

I have a question for writers of historical fiction:
How do you research for a historical novel? What sort of research do you do?
How do you balance getting the period details right with writing for a modern MG/YA audience?

~Kali Wallace, author of Shallow Graves, Katherine Tegen Books 2016. You can visit Kali’s website and follow her on twitter @kaliphyte.

Lois Sepahban: My stories always start with a character, and I think that even in a historical setting, the character’s experiences are what make his/her story accessible and interesting for modern readers. But getting the setting details right does require research. Over a period of several months, I devour everything I can find about the setting–books, newspaper articles, diaries, documentaries, and museums. During those months, the story starts to slowly come together in my mind. So as soon as I’m ready to start writing, then I’ve already done most of the research.

I use a notebook to keep track of what I learn, and I always need to go back and dig up new details while I’m drafting.

By immersing myself in the history and culture before I start writing, I have found that the details come naturally as I’m drafting.

(Lois Sepahban is the author of the upcoming MG Historical, Paper Wishes, coming from FSG/Margaret Ferguson Books in Winter 2016. Learn more about Lois on her website and say hello to her on twitter @LoisSepahban)

Janet B. Taylor: When I FIRST started writing for REALS, I’d planned to write adult historical fiction. I was working with a hisfic author as a “writing coach” who told me–in no uncertain terms–that though I was a good writer, with potential…blah blah…my “voice” was too modern and too “YA”.
Now, at the time, I didn’t really know what “YA” was. And I certainly didn’t know what voice meant in writing terms.

Soo…I cried. A lot. Then I got to thinking. Okay. Modern voice. YA. Loves historical…..TIME TRAVEL!

I’ve been fascinated by the medieval period for years, and had studied it for a long time. Particularly England and France, and even more specifically, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. (I’d LOVE to write about her one day. Her teenage years are absolutely astounding. However, there are a LOT of wonderful books already written about Eleanor. And I’m not sure I have the chops to go up against someone like Elizabeth Chadwick or Sharon Kay Penman, for instance.)

Anyhoo, with that background, I basically did what Lois said. Total immersion for months. Websites. Read a lot. Traveled to Europe a few times. Read a lot. Castles, museums. Oh, did I mention I spent WAY too much money on books so I could read a lot? I got everything about anything to do with time period. I even got to spend the night inside Fontevraud Abbey in France, where Eleanor spent her later years, and is buried. I got to be alone with her (and Henry II and Richard the Lionheart) at night, in the cathedral, all alone. It was magnificent!

Now the sequel to my current book will take place in NYC during “The Gilded Age” 1895. That is requiring a LOT of new, very detailed, very intense research, as I wasn’t really familiar with that era. But it’s such a cool time and I’m enjoying it very much!

(Janet B. Taylor’s debut YA Adventure/Time Travel, Into the Dim, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in Spring 2016. Visit Janet on her website and follow her on twitter @Janet_B_Taylor)

Patrick Samphire: Almost everything I write is set in one historical period or another. I’ve written short stories in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, as well as in the first world war and prehistoric Britain. My novel, SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB, is set in 1816, and I’m also working on a novel set in the 1930s.
But the shameful truth is that I’m an absolutely terrible researcher. I hate doing it. I pick up some incredibly informative, vastly heavy reference book and I rarely get past the introduction before my brain melts into a puddle of supreme apathy. I just can’t bring myself to do it. Come on. I can’t be the only one, right?

So, I have developed a special method of Historical Research for the Historically Ignorant and Terminally Lazy:

1. Watch movies and read books set in the relevant period, to get a basic idea of what the period was like. You have to be careful that you’re not picking books and movies by people who are equally Historically Ignorant and Terminally Lazy. For my 1816 book, that meant reading Jane Austen, Bernard Cornwell and Georgette Heyer and watching lots of Jane Austen adaptations. Yeah, and some people claim this is work…
2. Write your book.
3. Figure out all the bits you should have researched and go and look them up. Wikipedia is, of course, not particularly accurate about many things, but admit it, we all use it… Alternatively, ask my wife (you’ll have to find someone else to ask; sorry). My wife loves doing historical research. She reads books like that for fun. She even has degrees in this kind of stuff.
4. Realise that what you have in the book can’t possibly have happened, because you didn’t bother to research it in advance.
5. Rewrite, making it less impossible.
6. Blame the wizards/fairies/aliens. My books tend to have pretty heavy fantasy or science fiction elements, so when I get something wrong, I just blame the influence of magic/technology for changes to real history.
7. Now no one will realize how little you actually know about your historical period. Unless you write a blog entry admitting it.

(Patrick Samphire is the author of the upcoming MG Adventure, Secrets of the Dragon Tomb, coming from Christy Ottaviano Books (Henry Holt / Macmillan) in January 2016. Learn more about Patrick on his website and say hello to him on twitter @patricksamphire)