Despite the familiar caution against judging a book by its cover, appearance can be a make-or-break factor in reader appeal. Great cover art is like a strong handshake, a book\u2019s initial chance to make that all-important, positive first impression. <\/p>\n
Along with writing and teaching, I\u2019m an artist. My undergrad degree is in graphic design. So I consider myself, if not an authority, well, at least competent when it comes to book covers.<\/p>\n
And when it came to my book, THE NAMESAKE<\/em>, I had definite ideas. I waffled between my protagonist\u2019s face and something more content-based, perhaps a nod to the Saint Sebastian imagery in the novel. Excited at the prospect of Evan\u2019s story being out in the world, I imagined it wrapped in a variety of beautiful designs.<\/p>\n But there was another important fact I knew about covers. As an author, especially a first-timer, I\u2019d likely have little or no input regarding mine. That made me nervous, considering some of the truly awful covers out there. <\/p>\n Merit Press\u2019s initial concept was an abstract portrait, similar to the original design for Gary Paulsen\u2019s Hatchet<\/em>. I liked that proposal, a melding of my own portrait and image ideas. I waited expectantly to see a picture of Evan, perhaps with an element of the Sebastian imagery (an arrow, maybe) integrated with his sensitive face.<\/p>\n After a few weeks, my agent, Gelfman Schneider\u2019s wonderful Victoria Marini, forwarded an email from my editor, Jackie Mitchard. It included a jpg and the message \u201cHope you love it!\u201d Expecting Evan\u2019s face, I excitedly opened the attachment and saw…an empty hallway. <\/p>\n It was actually an emotional moment, realizing the face of THE NAMESAKE<\/em> wouldn\u2019t include a face at all. My wife and I were silent, absorbing the unexpected. Then we simultaneously said, \u201cWow!\u201d <\/p>\n Following the initial shock of Really? A hallway?<\/em> I pretty much fell in love. And I also realized this mysterious hallway was a better fit, more in line with my novel. After all, I avoided detailed physical description precisely so readers could visualize Evan themselves. <\/p>\n That hallway nicely represents a lot: Evan\u2019s school, the retreat house, the mystery surrounding his father, Evan\u2019s journey to truth. Plus, I love those colors. <\/p>\n The lesson is this: sometimes when you know exactly what you want, something even better comes along. So, thanks to Jackie Mitchard and everyone at Merit Press, I\u2019m happy to have readers judge THE NAMESAKE<\/em> by its beautiful cover\u2014as long as they also take the time to look inside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite the familiar caution against judging a book by its cover, appearance can be a make-or-break factor in reader appeal. Great cover art is like a strong handshake, a book\u2019s initial chance to make that all-important, positive first impression. Along with writing and teaching, I\u2019m an artist. My undergrad degree is in graphic design. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,10,4],"tags":[25,26,27],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":354,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stevenparlato.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}