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Ask Editor Alison Weiss #13 (right in here!)

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Post  Maggie Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:19 am

Books, writing, publishing, editing, drafting-- you ask it, she'll answer! Ready? Set? GO!!
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Post  Maggie Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:37 am

So, I'm drafting a novel right now, but I know that once I'm done, I'm going to read through it once, and then set it aside. After that I'm planning to pick up a novel that I finished and attempted to edit half a year ago. I'm a little bit nervous, because in the past, every time I've tried to REALLY edit and fix, I get overwhelmed by my story, and sometimes even sick of it before I actually GET anywhere. What are your suggestions? How should I begin? What's the most effective way for me to stay on top of things, and actually get work done on it?

Any advice will be UBER appreciated! And let me know if I need to clarify or re-word.
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Post  Rachel Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:46 am

Hi Editor Alison!

I have something of a broad question: what do you typically look for in a young adult science fiction manuscript? What would you consider an example of a "soft" sci-fi YA? A "hard" one? If that's too general, I can narrow it down some and give you more details.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!
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Post  Taryn Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:30 am

I have submission questions!

How long do you generally have a MS from an agent? How does the author->agent submission process differ from the agent->editor submission process? How do an agent and an editor build a relationship? If a new agent hasn't made any sales but does work for a respected agency, does that have an effect on how you look at them?

Thanks, Alison!
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Post  Editor Alison Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:14 am

So, I'm drafting a novel right now, but I know that once I'm done, I'm going to read through it once, and then set it aside. After that I'm planning to pick up a novel that I finished and attempted to edit half a year ago. I'm a little bit nervous, because in the past, every time I've tried to REALLY edit and fix, I get overwhelmed by my story, and sometimes even sick of it before I actually GET anywhere. What are your suggestions? How should I begin? What's the most effective way for me to stay on top of things, and actually get work done on it?

Hi Maggie,

I know just what you mean. Going back to a project to revise can be incredibly daunting. Where do you start. There's SO much that has to be fixed. What if the whole thing is just awful?

Stop. Take a deep breath. Now, you're going to approach this with a different hat.

Pretend you are not the author of this work. You're just a reader who picked this book up in the bookstore. What are the big pictures that would be going through your head as you're reading? Is the plot making sense? Are elements that are integral to moving your story forward introduced at the right time, or are they too early and killing suspense? Or are they too late and it's hard to figure out what's going on? Do you have places where you're getting bored? Are there places where things are moving too quickly and you can't keep up? What about your characters? Do you like them? Are they developing throughout in reaction to their circumstances, or do they just remain pretty much the way they were when the story started? Now you have some direction for improving the framework of your novel.

Now, let's get a little bit more focused. Dialogue. Does what you're character is saying sound authentic to that character? If it's a teenager, is that how a teen speaks? (Read it aloud. If it sounds strange, maybe there's something to adjust.) In characters interacting to each other, to experiences, do they know only what they could possibly know at a given moment? Or have things that you know as the puppet master crept in that shouldn't be there? Voice: Is it consistent? Is it natural? Phrasing overall: Do your sentences flow naturally? Are there are places that are clunky, or too wordy, or not descriptive enough that you need to tackle? You should now be elbows deep in your revision and well on your way to getting everything "just right."

How to keep at it? I think you have to be disciplined. I'm sure you'd love to watch TV, or go to the movies, or clean your room (okay, maybe not the last one, but I certainly did a lot of this putting off tackling college papers) but you just need to get yourself in the chair and say "I'm going to work on this for this long today." And you need to do this consistently. There's always something else you need or want to do. But if you want to make this book work--if you want to be a writer--you have to make working on your writing a priority.
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Post  Editor Alison Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:30 am

I have something of a broad question: what do you typically look for in a young adult science fiction manuscript? What would you consider an example of a "soft" sci-fi YA? A "hard" one? If that's too general, I can narrow it down some and give you more details.

Hi Rachel,

Interesting question. I think what I look for in a sci-fi manuscript isn't really that different from what I look for in any manuscript. A strong, engaging plot. Characters that are well-developed and engaging. Writing that I connect with in some way, and I just don't want to put down.

I understand the importance of defining hard sci-fi versus soft sci-fi, but as an editor, I guess I don't really think about that until after the fact. I think the traditional answer is that hard sci-fi tends to place greater focus on the science itself, while soft sci-fi uses it as a backdrop, but it's not the focus. And often it will have more of a social sciences focus, rather than hardcore atrophysics and the like.

For hard scifi, I'd think of Beth Revis's ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and A MILLION SUNS and Mike A. Lancaster's HUMAN.4 and it's forthcoming companion novel, THE FUTURE WE LEFT BEHIND. (Sorry, couldn't resist plugging Mike's fantastic books, since I'm his American editor.)

For soft scifi, I think you can look to many of the recent dystopias and divided society books. Ally Condie's MATCHED and CROSSED. Lauren De Seffano's WITHER. I'd even venture to say Cat Patrick's FORGOTTEN.

Hope this helps!
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Post  Editor Alison Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:49 am

How long do you generally have a MS from an agent? How does the author->agent submission process differ from the agent->editor submission process? How do an agent and an editor build a relationship? If a new agent hasn't made any sales but does work for a respected agency, does that have an effect on how you look at them?

Hi Taryn,

Oh the world of submissions. How long do I generally have a submission from an agent before I make a decision? Far longer than they'd like I think. But I have so many. And there are only so many hours in the day to consider submissions AND do all my other work, including editing books!

I think one of the main difference between the author/agent sub process and the agent/editor sub process is that, generally, agents have a sense of editors' tastes and lists and whether this project would have potential to sit with them. The submission process for every agent is different, but often you're just sending your query letter. Or a query letter and a handful of pages to get the flavor of the project. And if the agent likes it, they'll ask for the whole thing. But generally agents send editors the whole manuscript, and it's usually been polished up, and cleverly pitched to give the project best effect. (Okay, maybe it's not THAT different from writers querying agents. . . .)

How do editors and agents develop relationships? Sometimes it's a blind submission - an agent friend recommends an editor or the editor has recently popped up from another sale or a book of theirs that's getting press. But part of the fun part of our job is that publishing is a small world, and we do hang out socially. So I meet agents at cocktail parties, or industry events, or committees and when they have a great project that they think might be a fit, they give me a call. It's very much a networking world.

Your final question is a good one, but one that I think you'll get different answers for across the industry. I think you never know where the next great project is coming from, so you give every project due consideration, whether it's from Neil Gaiman's agent (who is lovely) or a junior agent just cutting his or her teeth. But it's true that all it takes to become an agent is to say I am representing this, and that causes some doubt and discomfort. I think every editor, over time, ends up finding a group of agents with tastes that align with their own (and vice versa, I'm sure), so you naturally start thinking whatever Joe Schmo sends me will be good. Still, I like to keep my mind open. I'm a young editor. I know how hard it is to break into the industry or make my first acquisition. And making your first sale is hard, too.
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Post  Editor Alison Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:53 am

I'll try to stop writing novels in answering your questions. Goodness!

Here's a question for you guys that I was mulling on my way to work:

What do YA authors get wrong in trying to portray teens? What do they do in the name of "authenticity" that's totally off from your own teen experiences, and makes you want to tear your hair out?
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Post  Taryn Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:57 pm

Teens aren't looking for forever. In fact, marriage and spending the rest of their lives together is terrifying. Even in love, even if someone says "I want to be with him forever," 'forever' really means the short long-term that we can comprehend.

We think about college a LOT, especially as seniors.

Cliques are not that rampant.

Idk. I was a weird, overachieving teen Smile
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Post  Rachel Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:38 pm

Thanks so much--that does help a lot. Are there any common pitfalls in scifi (and fantasy, for that matter) that we relatively-new-at-the-genre-people should be aware of? (As you can probably figure out...I'm venturing into scifi for the first time, so I have a lot of questions about it!)

Hmm...it would be really nice to see a character who has a good relationship with his/her family. I mean--I understand why authors write characters who have tumultuous familial relations, but still. It would also be fun if there were more mature characters--not flawless, of course, but also not the childish types that tend to turn up in YA from time to time.

But, then again, I'm also weird. :-P
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Post  Editor Alison Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:09 pm

Rachel,

There are a lot of writing pitfalls, and they aren't necesarilly linked to just sci-fi and fantasy, so I'll just touch on 2.

I'm sure you've all heard this a gazilion times, but show, don't tell. Which is more interesting?

Joe was in love with Sally, even though she didn't know he existed.

OR

Joe sighed, looking on as Sally gossiped with her usual clique across the hall. His cheeks went red as she waved, a smile making her lightly frecked cheeks glow. Could she be waving at me, he thought, before awkwardly raising his hand in response. And then crash as Dirk, captain of the football team slammed Joe into a locker before grabbing Sally and planting a messy kiss on her lips. Guys like me, we never have a chance.

Okay, so this is not great writing. (Sorry, on the fly. And this is why you guys are writing, and I'm telling you what not to do.) But you get the picture.

The other advice I have, especially for fantasy and science fiction is to make sure you lose the bible in your script. No, I don't mean the religious Bible. I mean the entire world building history that you've likely invented and contstructed your world from. In fantasy and sci-fi, we talk a lot about world building, because it's likely that it's a world very different from our own, and it probably operates on rules that are different from the rules that govern ours. But that doesn't mean that your reader needs to know the long lengthy history. They only need to know what is necessary for them to understand how things are functioning in your construct. So rather than laying out the lengthy battles of Fronzle that caused some people to be enslaved, forever at the bidding of their captors, tell us, when necessary, just enough about how these battles impacted your characters. Did your protagonist lose their father in one of these historical battles, and that's why she harbors such resentment of the ruling class? We need to know that.

I hoep I'm making sense, and I hope these points her helpful.

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Post  Maggie Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:47 pm

Editor Alison wrote:I'll try to stop writing novels in answering your questions. Goodness!

Here's a question for you guys that I was mulling on my way to work:

What do YA authors get wrong in trying to portray teens? What do they do in the name of "authenticity" that's totally off from your own teen experiences, and makes you want to tear your hair out?

Firstly, thank you SO much for your "novel" of an answer. It's helpful beyond words. I'm going to print it out and re-read it as necessary. Especially the bit about needing discipline got me motivated. I'm ready to tackle this thing! But... er... guess I should finish drafting the other one first. ^^

And to answer your question, it varies. The one that bothers me most is when they pick a "teen-ish" word, and have their protagonist use this over and over. My favorite example is "Yeah." I don't like when teen voices sound like: "Yeah, I'm just a bit paranoid." "Yeah, I like chocolate that much." "Yeah, that's me." Kind of thing... It will feel like they're trying too hard.
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Post  Maggie Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:51 pm

And in reply to Taryn, I disagree... I think a lot of teenage girls ARE looking for forever. I know I am. I think that's why romance is such a hit in novels, because it appeals to that inner little girl who just wants to be a princess swept off her feet by a handsome prince and carried away on a white horse. Maybe not that picture perfect, but you know what I mean? I think there's definitely room for protagonists who ARE afraid of commitment and forever, and they should be out there for those teens who would relate better to that, but that comes across to me, personally, like a wounding/problem/character flaw(?) that I would like to see resolved. I'd want to see her overcome that fear to BE with someone forever, if there was a someone in the picture. *shrug*

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Post  Taryn Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:54 pm

Maggie wrote:And in reply to Taryn, I disagree... I think a lot of teenage girls ARE looking for forever. I know I am. I think that's why romance is such a hit in novels, because it appeals to that inner little girl who just wants to be a princess swept off her feet by a handsome prince and carried away on a white horse. Maybe not that picture perfect, but you know what I mean? I think there's definitely room for protagonists who ARE afraid of commitment and forever, and they should be out there for those teens who would relate better to that, but that comes across to me, personally, like a wounding/problem/character flaw(?) that I would like to see resolved. I'd want to see her overcome that fear to BE with someone forever, if there was a someone in the picture. *shrug*


Perhaps that came across wrong--I'm saying teens have a fairy tale version of forever. Not a realistic one. I realize that I am in the .001% of girls not interested in commitment, but I also think that protagonists are too quick to move from fairy-tale-forever into real-life-forever, if that makes sense. Which I don't think it does.

Also, thanks for pointing out my flaws :p
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Post  Rachel Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:07 pm

That's very, very helpful; thank you so much!

And, just because I can...do you have any awesome books to recommend? I'm looking for things to add to my reading pile. Smile

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Post  Maggie Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:16 pm

@Taryn Ahhh, I see what you mean. And I do agree! There should definitely be more realism in the romance department. Though everyone loves a too-good-to-be-true romance now and then, I WOULD like to see some more realistic romances-- and protagonists approaching relationships with realistic expectations/ideas. *nods*

And nooo, that sounds WAY worse than I meant for it to. And now I feel bad. *hides face*
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Post  Amanda Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:42 pm

Editor Alison wrote:I'll try to stop writing novels in answering your questions. Goodness!

Here's a question for you guys that I was mulling on my way to work:

What do YA authors get wrong in trying to portray teens? What do they do in the name of "authenticity" that's totally off from your own teen experiences, and makes you want to tear your hair out?
To add my two cents, cliques, while prevalent with my experience, weren't so set in stone as I've often seen in books/movies/TV. Many people float through two or more cliques, depending on their interests—more like circles than cliques, really. Kind of like having work friends and church friends and school friends, though, you know, they're all at school. Smile I know I hung out with the smart kids, the art kids, the music kids, and the English geeks, etc., and I'm shy, haha. And then I had my own group of close friends that were just a mix of all kinds—not popular, but not the 'loser' crowd, either. I'm not really sure if there was a loser crowd, except for the Neo-Communist clique(the "Commies"), who everybody thought were idiots.

In many contemporary books, they have the loser kid longing to be popular, or be with a popular person, but I really didn't see much of that. There were loners, yes, but they were the people that didn't try to connect with others/pushed people away. And I know firsthand that smart people are bullied in school, but it's not as if they're alone/only have two friends, as I often see in books. Most high schools I've heard of have more advanced classes/honors classes, which draw the academically-gifted people into a relatively big group, and they have their own subculture, rather separate from the stereotype of social hierarchy. In my experience, we ended up isolated from the rest of the school, but also less prone to being bullied. I was generally only bothered in gym class, very rarely in my academic ones.

*cough* Anyway, I also agree with Maggie about trying-too-hard teen voice. I entered a contest judging voice, where people commented on entries trying to guess the characters' ages, and so many posts came off as inauthentic, 'HEY GUYS I'M A TEEN, DID YOU HEAR THAT I'M A TEEN', but the adult comment-ers were raving, oh, such a good teen voice! And I was like…that's not a teen. That's an adult trying very very hard to sound like a teen. Anyway, I see this a lot in published works as well.

One more thing! The 'BOYS BOYS BOYS' mindset—not quite as common as popular fiction leads one to believe. I want more MCs interested in their schooling and their future, instead of drooling over every slightly-attractive guy that walks by.

Aaand…@Taryn—I might be one of the 0.001% that does want forever, but also realizes it's not all puppies and rainbows and sunshine. Razz So there's that under-represented demographic, too.

Sorry for adding another opus to this thread, guys, I just…had a lot to say? Embarassed
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Post  Editor Alison Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:12 am

Rachel,

I always have fantastic books to recommend. Mostly because I want the world to read the books I edit so I can sell them and my wonderful authors can get recogniton. Okay that's only partially in jest.

I guess it depends on the kinds of books you're looking for. I want to do a mix for you guys but, frankly myother company reading has been suffering lately at the hands of manuscripts, so it might just be Egmont books for you. I'll do better next time!

Egmont loves:
Things I Know About Love by Kate le Vann - Speaking of realistic/unrealistic portrayals of relationships, this is as real as I think you can get, and people hate me for it. This is a modern Love Story for all you romantics out there. Brit Livia's beat leukemia and is coming to America to visit her brother who's studying at Princeton. And she'd fancy a bit of a summer fling with a cute college boy, if she can manage it. But when she meets Adam, the stakes entirely change. WARNING: You will need tissues. And you'll hate me, too. But as one reviewer wrote "I'm besotted with them all."

BZRK by Michael Grant - So you might know Michael's Gone series. This is a whole new world, but I think as, if not more, engrossing. In the near future, a war is being raged between peaceful uniformity and the craziness of free will. The battlefield? You and me. Fought on the macro (ie our normal world) and micro (ie, inside of us with nanobots and biots) levels, two sides are facing off for the control of the world. And there are only two possible outcomes: Victory or Madness. (Out the end of the month)

The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride - Imagine if your best friend was kidnapped while out riding her bike, and for two long years you've heard nothing, and put your life on hold. Because how can you enjoy anything, when she can't? Now imagine she comes back. Everything can go back to normal, except nothing is the same. This is a really tense thrilling contemporary read. (And Jay Asher thought so, too!) The other reason I want you to fall in love with this book (maybe?) is because I'm editing Kristina's next book out this June and it's fantastic (I'll give a heads up below).

Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster - Kyle volunteered to be the hypnotized at the talent show to help out his poor, suffering friend. But when he wakes up, his world will never be the same. Everyone in the audience is frozen. Phones, TVs, computers, etc. no longer work, but a strange language seems to flash across the screens. And when everyone does snap out of it, it's like Kyle and the other 3 volunteers aren't even there. This is a great techno-thriller for you sci-fi fans. Funny, fast-paced and so very creepy. And a follow-up not sequel, but sort of companion novel, The Future We Left Behind, will be coming out in November. Equally as great.

Hourglass by Myra McEntire - A book that's a little hard to stick into a category, so I call it timeslip. Emerson Cole has been seeing ghosts ever since her parents died, and she's thoroughly sick of it. She's tried everything - medication, psychiatrists, acupuncture - nothing helps. In a last ditch attempt, her brother finds a mysterious organization called the Hourglass, and the divine Michael Weaver. And Michael believes absolutely every word Emerson says, because he can see the ghosts, too. Only they aren't ghosts; they're people from the past. Emerson has a gene that allows her to travel through time, and Michael needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened. If you're talking book boyfriends, Michael is mine (or he was, until I had to give him up to the world). Love this one!


Things to look for in the future:
One Moment by Kristina McBride - Maggie remembers climbing the cliff with her perfect boyfriend Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft and lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can't she remember what happened in that instant before they were supposed to jump into the water below? Why was she left at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated below in the water, dead? But as Maggie's memories return in brief glimpses, maybe she doesn't want to remember. Because piecing Joey's final moments together uncovers secrets that Joey clearly didn't want her to know. And if he was keeping these things from her, what else was he hiding? (June 2012)

Shift by Em Bailey - Olive isn't crazy. Not anymore. She takes her medication and stays under the radar, avoiding the toxic influences of the popular girls. And especially avoiding new girl Miranda Vaile who is rumored to have killed her parents. But living on the sidelines makes Olive one great observer, and she notices that Miranda is slowly wheedling her way into the popular group, right up to the side of the queen bee herself, and pushing the other girls right out. But there's something stranger - something almost parasitic about the relationship. And what if Olive is next. . . . (May)

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross - This one's for all you Once Upon a Time and Grimm fans out there. Mira has grown up intensely protected by her two guardians who refuse to let her go back to the town where she was born, and where her parents died. So she, of course, runs away. But the town of Beau Rivage is not exactly normal. There's a gorgeous, pale girl with an acerbic tongue with a morbid interest in apples. There's an obnoxious playboy who’s a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. And then there’s the strange boy with the blue hair who just keeps trying to get Mira to leave town. And his older brother, who oh so suavely draws her in to stay. But Mira has her own fairytale fate to play, and she’ll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns. (April)

Probably enough for now. Happy reading!
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Post  Editor Alison Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:18 am

And I realize I basically only did YA. But I love middle grade. So if you want middle grade recs, LATER, happy to accomodate. Maybe I won't do Egmont ones! Ha!
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Post  Taryn Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:40 pm

So when you've acquired a project, do you always meet with the author in person?

Are you going to BEA?

And, for an article I'm doing for school, I have a few questions about cover design.
-How soon after acquisitions do you begin working on a cover?
-How many people work on the cover?
-How do you decide if you will use illustrations, photographs, or some other form of art? (sculptures of some type, like THE BODY FINDER or THE NIGHT CIRCUS, etc)
-Has your house begun to emphasize covers as a selling point to get readers purchasing "real" books over ebooks?
-Does this affect the price of design?
-Does this, in turn, affect the price for the consumer?
-Outside of the image on the cover, what other nuances go into the overall presentation? (texture, images beneath the jacket, etc)?

That's a lot of questions! Thanks so much!
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Post  Editor Alison Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:59 pm

So when you've acquired a project, do you always meet with the author in person?
No. And the main reason for this is that authors are all over, and I'm just here in New York. After an acquisiton, you always have a conversation with the author. To say hi. To talk about the project generally. To answer any questions or concerns. It helps to have a mindset of where the author was coming from before getting down to work on their manuscript because what if you're telling them to cut out a storyline that's the nearest and dearest thing on Earth to them. And sometimes you do this anyway, but it's good to know.

Are you going to BEA?
I've been the past three years. Hoping to at least pop in for a day, but we'll see.

And, for an article I'm doing for school, I have a few questions about cover design.
-How soon after acquisitions do you begin working on a cover?

It depends on when the book is bought and when you're planning to publish it. We're working on Spring 2013 right now. Probably start working on Summer '13 soon.

-How many people work on the cover?

Again, depends. We work with freelancers, so we'll hire a freelance designer to do the jacket. But inhouse, there are many opinions that weigh in. And if you're hiring an illustrator or photographer for the cover, there's that, too. Generally one main person, though.

-How do you decide if you will use illustrations, photographs, or some other form of art? (sculptures of some type, like THE BODY FINDER or THE NIGHT CIRCUS, etc)

I think it's just what you think will work best for the project. What are the jackets like on other, similar books. What will make a book truly stand out in the crowded marketplace. What sorts of ideas has the designer had.

-Has your house begun to emphasize covers as a selling point to get readers purchasing "real" books over ebooks?

We use the same jacket for physical and eBooks, so I don't think so. But we think the jacket is incredibly important to the sell. We want you to pick up our book, as opposed to the one next to it. So we work hard to get the jacket right.

-Does this affect the price of design?
Do you mean jackets with special effects versus just a plain printed cover? Yes. Every time there's embossing or lamination (those shiny bits) or foil, it adds to the price to produce the book.


-Does this, in turn, affect the price for the consumer?
No, not really. You tend to spend more money on the special effects for bigger books, and publishers sometimes will charge more for books that they expect high demand for because they know people will buy them. But they don't really raise consumer prices because of the specs.


-Outside of the image on the cover, what other nuances go into the overall presentation? (texture, images beneath the jacket, etc)?

Lots of things. Type treatment. How the text is laid out. Tweaking coloring or shading. Sometimes you print on special paper. Sometimes you'll have blurbs, and how those are worked into the overall design can make a differenct. Of course, specs and how they'll make different elements stand out.

Hope all of this helps!
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Ask Editor Alison Weiss #13 (right in here!) Empty Re: Ask Editor Alison Weiss #13 (right in here!)

Post  Maggie Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:07 pm

Huge thank-you's to Alison for answering our questions so awesomely (as usual). YOU ROCK!!!

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