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Book Cover Design Tell All by Viv Groskop

Failed designs, Devil Wears Prada-type meltdowns and a lot (seriously – a lot) of emails, as a special Friday treat, writer and comedian Viv Groskop is here to reveal what really goes on between publisher and author when it's time to create a book cover.

 

By Viv Groskop

You don’t hear much about the etiquette around authors and book covers. This is because there is a code of silence around this process. And maybe that’s right. Because (a) authors are moany and no-one likes a moaner and (b) publishers know a lot more than authors about what people like to buy and authors secretly know this. It’s just not the done thing to admit you don’t really like your cover. Worse, you have to pretend you love it.

Behind the Scenes at a Publishing House – Fact and Fiction: Getting Lost in the Past

In the next part of our series, author Sophia Tobin talks about the appeal of historical fiction and why she loves writing it. 

Recently, I was asked why I decided to write historical fiction. Of course, it's because I love reading historical fiction – but there are two main reasons why reading it and writing it appeals.

The first is escapism. The Silversmith’s Wife has themes – murder, love, secrets, redemption – that could equally have been explored in modern-day London. But setting it in 1792 – a time when revolution could easily have been on the cards for England – gave it a frisson of excitement, and allowed me to escape completely into another world: a London that is both familiar, but very different from now. When I read a book, I want to be completely absorbed and wrapped up in the world the writer is creating for me. My goal was to create the same feeling in my readers, and setting it in the past gave me that distance and sense of escape.  

The second reason might seem to conflict with the first. It's because I love facts. I used to sit in Berkeley Square on my lunch break and wonder what it looked like in the eighteenth century – when were the huge plane trees planted? (1789, by the way); was the nearby pub, The Running Footman, open then? (yes, the first reference I’ve found to it is from 1782). I love those little details.

Behind the Scenes at a Publishing House – Judging a book by its cover … the reveal

This month, author Sophia Tobin and Senior Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster, Clare Hey, reveal the cover of The Silversmith’s Wife.

Clare: The journey of designing the cover is both one of the most exciting parts of the publishing process but it can also be one of the most difficult. It is certainly one of the most important – we all do judge a book by its cover so it’s vital we get it right.

As an editor, I often have a clear sense of potential cover approaches right from the moment I first read a manuscript. But I used to work in the Art Department at HarperCollins (as the Studio manager) and so I know that designers are not keen on heavily prescriptive briefs – on top of the synopsis, a designer will need to know where a book sits in the market, where it will be selling, who the reader is, and what the competition is. So I let Mel, the designer, know the keys things about this novel: that it’s set in London in the winter of 1792, that it’s perfect for fans of Tracy Chevalier, and that at its heart is the story of a silversmith and his wife. I also mentioned to her that this novel brings to mind those old antiqued silver mirrors and delicate silver filigree and I included some pictures to demonstrate that. I confess that I wasn’t sure whether Mel would go down an illustrative or photographic route – both would work for the novel – so I was really pleased to hear that she had read the ms. This isn’t something that designers always have time to do, but it really helped in this instance.

The cover went through several stages before we hit upon the final look. First Mel tried an illustrative approach, with delicate silver foil and a woman centre stage. I really liked this, but something didn’t feel quite right. It was quite young in feel and, though beautiful, I wasn’t sure that the reader would know what they were getting if they picked this book up. So we decided to try a photographic approach, trying an image of a women in a period street. But again it didn’t feel quite right. There are so many people at S&S who have read and loved this book that we kept asking ourselves: is this cover special enough for a book this good? And when the answer was no, we kept pushing ourselves.

Behind the Scenes at a Publishing House – Book One Says Hello to Book Two

This month, author Sophia Tobin and Senior Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster, Clare Hey, talk about the writing of a second novel during the build up to the launch of the first.

Sophia: As The Silversmith’s Wife hovers in the background, waiting to be launched on the world, I’m working on my next book. So while I’m spending quite a lot of time writing and talking about my first book, I’m also getting into the world of the second.

When I wrote The Silversmith’s Wife, I didn’t really have a method, and I also didn’t mention it to people much. I can’t get away with that now. Friends make sweet-natured, careful enquiries about it, as though discussing the health of a small toddler. ‘Coming along OK?’ they say. Family members gently query word count whilst offering biscuits.

However, so far, my book and I are getting on just fine. The poor little mite doesn’t have a name yet, but it seems robust and likes to wander around pushing things over and asking questions. But I recently wondered whether my method of writing should be different this time.

I began The Silversmith’s Wife by writing 40,000 words without reading any of them back. I would soothe myself by thinking of it as organic, a lovely word which made me feel better about not really knowing what I was doing. The truth was, I really loved it: writing with no pressure, and writing just what I wanted. Much later, it took a lot of carving up to get it into shape, and I wondered whether I’d made a mistake being so free at the beginning.

How to Write a Press Release

Guest Post by Katie Allen

So your book is being published, hurray! But you have to promote it yourself, eek!

Authors are increasingly having to promote their own books, and with 500 titles published every day in the UK, it’s harder than ever to get your novel noticed.

However, even if you’re working as a one-woman publicity team, a good press release will go a long way. At We Love This Book we see dozens every day so here are some of the dos and the definitely-don’t-dos that we’ve noticed.

1. Be targeted. Make sure your chosen publication covers your genre – there’s nothing more likely to make a busy journalist hit ‘delete’ than an irrelevant press release. Try to track down the correct person to contact, and use their name.

2. Work out when to send your press release. Women’s magazines will have most of their content nailed down months in advance. At We Love This Book we need to hear about books at least a couple of months before publication. There is also no point in sending us stuff long after the book’s out.

Ask the Editor – What is your favourite rom com movie and why?

Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!

Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:

What is your favourite rom com movie and why?

Caroline says: What a great question! And very easy for me to answer. There’s a little known movie called Til There Was You starring an actress called Jeanne Triplehorn (trivia fans: she was supposed to get the female leads in Four Weddings and Pulp Fiction but had to turn down both roles at the last minute) and the very gorgeous Dylan McDermott. I can’t quite remember how I stumbled on it for the first time but I absolutely love how it tells the story of two characters who are clearly perfect for each other – if they could just meet. But they keep missing each other by a hair’s breadth – at school, at university, through mutual friends in LA. It also has Jennifer Aniston and Sarah Jessica Parker in it, being funny and gorgeous. All in all, it’s rom com heaven and should be rented immediately if you’ve never seen it.

Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@novelicious.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!

Behind the Scenes at a Publishing House – Proofing: the fine art of pickiness. Plus a giveaway!

In the next part of the series, author Sophia Tobin and Senior Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster, Clare Hey, talk about what it's like to receive the proof copies of The Silversmith’s Wife.

Sophia: On a Saturday morning two weeks ago, I opened the door to a cheery postman cradling an enormous jiffy bag in his arms, with Simon & Schuster stamped on the front.

I was so excited that, in the process of extracting the contents from their wrapping, I somehow mangled the jiffy bag, releasing enough fluff from its lining to make my bedroom resemble a newly shaken snow globe. But this didn’t worry me, because lying before me were my proofs; a solid block of a manuscript, bright white in the sunshine, like a pristine wedding cake that’s so beautiful, no one wants to cut it.

Ask the Editor – How many submissions from agents do you get in a month?

Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!

Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:

How many submissions from agents do you personally get in a month, how many of those do you love, and how many of those go on to be bought by Pan Macmillan?

Caroline says: This question is almost like a maths test! And I’m afraid I don’t have hard numbers to work it out. The rate of submissions changes depending on the month we’re in – whether there’s a big book fair around the corner, or holidays are just about to start, or it’s the start of a new year and everyone wants to get cracking with great new projects. Likewise, there’s no guarantee that I’ll like every 10th submission, even every 25th one. Sometimes you will come across two things in the same week that you love and find you just can’t choose between them and want to see if you can fit them both on your list. And during quieter months you might not find anything that’s quite your cup of tea. It’s not a balanced equation, I’m afraid! As an editor, you need to keep your eyes peeled for that special something at all time…

Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@novelicious.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!

Ask the Editor – Do books get turned down by agents more often because of poor writing or because the timing is not right?

Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!

Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:

Caroline, do you think books get turned down by agents more often because of poor writing or because the timing is not right?

Caroline says: That’s tricky for me to answer, as I’m not an agent. But my best guess is that for something to be taken on by an agent it has to be brilliantly written AND timely in terms of what’s happening in the bestseller charts or where gaps in the market are. That’s not to say every book written should jump on a bandwagon, far from it. If you’re writing something that would fit into a genre that’s doing very well (like erotica or psychological suspense) then your book has to be a cut above to stand out amongst so many established authors. And if you’re writing something in an emerging genre, your writing has to be just as brilliant to convince people to try something new.

Basically, you can’t get far unless your book is absolutely up to scratch. So if it came to rushing something out to agents because it feels timely over spending time rewriting and editing it, I would always go with the latter.

Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@novelicious.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!

Behind the Scenes at a Publishing House – What will the readers think?

In the next part of our series, author Sophia Tobin talks about the process from her perspective, as she looks forward to receiving her proof copies.

We're getting close to the day when I will see the proofs of The Silversmith's Wife, and hold the book for the first time. In a way, it feels like that moment will break the book's connection with me – it will become its own entity. Since the day it was introduced to its professional family – my agent, my editor Clare, and the other people who have worked so hard on it – I have learnt to see it not just as mine but through the eyes of others too. It's a privilege, but it's also a big contrast to how I thought of the book at first.

As a book which has murder at its heart, but which is also a love story, I've never been that keen on labelling The Silversmith's Wife. However, one label I'm very happy with is historical fiction. Through all its changes – from my first hurried notes to the very last line edits – it has always been sure of its time and place: eighteenth century London.  For me the past is a vivid, disquieting, but always exciting place to visit. 

As I began the book, I was just writing for myself. I had one first 'go' at the story without reading it back at any point.  I wanted to find out what the plot was without scuppering myself with self-doubt (I had no idea who had committed the murder). I hesitate to call it a first draft – it was nowhere near as polished as that – but it was 40,000 words, and it gave me the backbone of my plot and a few surprises. For example, Digby, the nightwatchman who is one of my main characters, was meant to appear for only two or three pages. But once he'd turned up, he had no intention of going anywhere, and stood around looking at his fingernails until I included him in the plot.

Ask the Editor – What do you think of Fifty Shades of Grey?

Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!

Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:

What do you think of Fifty Shades of Grey?

Caroline says: Do you know what? I haven’t read the whole thing, so I can’t have a fully formed opinion, I’m afraid. And I think it’s always slightly dangerous to take a view on a book you haven’t actually read.

The main reason I haven’t read it is the sheer size of the thing (insert your own innuendo here); I’ve only read the Kindle sample. I have so many submissions to read that I have to be really selective with what I pick up the rest of the time. And although I don’t have any qualms with erotica as a genre, it just isn’t at the top of my list, personally. But philosophically speaking, I think any book that has caused such a huge new wave of people to get into reading is a good thing.  

Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@novelicious.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!

Behind the Scenes at a Publishing House – The Structural Edit

In the third installment of our series, author Sophia Tobin and Senior Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster, Clare Hey, tell us about going through the first stage of the editing process.

Sophia: Getting a book deal had been a surreal journey, but things were about to get real. It was time for editing to begin. I received Clare’s notes on a Friday evening and, to keep the mood light, read them whilst twirling round and round on an office chair (go with me on this). Having already worked on the novel with my agent, I was used to receiving criticism, but that didn’t stop me from being nervous. After all, it was possible that Clare and I would disagree. On everything.

The first document I saw was my novel, with tracked changes and highlighted line edits on words and phrasing. The other document, the structural edit, offered Clare’s overview on the whole thing – and it was a diplomatic masterpiece. Still though, I did give the occasional wail when reading it – I’ll explain why in a moment.

Line edits are like doing a crossword puzzle. The structural edit is like Mastermind with an added assault course. The beginning and the end of The Silversmith’s Wife needed re-shaping, and even comments which seemed straightforward (‘Could we lose this character?’) impacted the whole book. You have no idea how many times that character was mentioned.

Ask the Editor – Will self publishing my book put off editors?

Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She’s currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women’s Fiction. She knows her stuff!

Today’s question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:

I have self published my book and was wondering if this will put editors off?

Caroline says: Lots of successful self-published authors are being signed by ‘traditional’ publishing houses – esteemed Novelicious founder Kirsty being one of them! So it’s definitely not going to put editors off if you self-publish but it’s important how you do it and the standards you achieve. Invest time and money in the copyediting, proofreading, cover design and formatting to make sure your book looks as professional as possible. If you can attract lots of readers to your book, it’s going to be a massive help in convincing publishers there’s a large market for it out there. But if you put out something that looks half-arsed (forgive my French), then a publisher might assume your commitment and talent are the same.

Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@novelicious.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!

Ask the Editor – What do you predict to be the next trends in Women’s Fiction?

Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!

Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:

What do you predict to be the next trends in Women’s Fiction?

Caroline says: I wish I could predict the Next Big Thing. I’d buy twelve books in that area and then retire to Devon and eat cream teas morning, noon and night. But although I don’t think it’s possible to try and pinpoint what the next major trends will be (or necessarily wise – you risk putting all your eggs in one basket), I do think it’s safe to put my head above the parapet and say: women’s fiction is better than ever.