YA Indie Carnival 12/9/11

This week’s topic: COVER LOVE

You might think because I’m a writer I am well aware of the old adage “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” well… I hate to disillusion you but I’m incredibly superficial.
If a book’s cover doesn’t catch my eye then I won’t read it. Period. UNLESS it gets mass amounts of rave reviews telling me I should read it. Otherwise the book will never be purchased and downloaded onto my Kindle. It just won’t happen. I’m not saying this is a good habit. All I’m saying is it’s my habit. If you write a good book then get a good cover to go with it.

Since my belief is a book’s cover should rock, I went through several cover artist until I found one I could not live without. Might sound a little overly dramatic to you but have you seen my book covers for Existence, The Vincent Boys, and Because of Low? I mean honestly, look at this
and tell me my cover artist isn’t freaking brilliant!
Point made.
So I’ve interviewed the artist who created my book covers, Stephanie Mooney, for this weeks post.

1. How did you start designing book covers?

I’ve been doing graphic design for years. But designing covers was an idea that a friend gave me last summer, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. I love it. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before. It was just one of those lightbulb moments.

2. How long does it take you to design a cover?

It depends on how complex the cover is. The simple ones can take a day, others can take several. I usually give myself 10 business days to get it right.

3. What are your top three favorite covers that you have created? (And I don’t expect you to list one of mine 🙂

Ha ha! That changes all the time. I could never pick a top three, but some of my favorites at the moment are MESMERIZED by Julia Crane and Talia Jager, FORGOTTEN by Madeline Gobat, and BECAUSE OF LOW… and no, it’s not just because you wrote it. 😉

4. What are your top three favorite book covers you didn’t design?

OH Gosh. That’s a hard one too. HONALEE by Amanda Hocking, INCARCERON by Catherine Fisher, and SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater.

5. Do you have a zone when you design covers? For example: music you listen to or a certain spot you work or certain snack foods you must have handy?

Yes! I love to listen to film scores and audio books while I design. They inspire me. And chocolate doesn’t hurt!

You can find out more about Stephanie and her brilliantness (Yes I think I just made that word up) here:

Website: stephaniemooney.blogspot.com

Flickr: flickr.com/amoonalu

Twitter: twitter.com/mooney

During the month of December I am making signed copies of Breathe available to purchase. Email me at abbiglines@yahoo.com if you’re interested in purchasing one.