Mundie Moms

Monday, November 15, 2010

Interview with The Vespertine cover designer, Regina Roff & Giveaway

To celebrate the gorgeous final cover for THE VESPERTINE, we were lucky enough to get a chance to interview the cover designer! Regina Roff (http://www.reginaroff.com) is an Associate Designer at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and she was kind enough to answer some of our burning cover questions.


* How do you become a cover designer?


I originally went to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for Illustration; after 2 years and some of the program I began to realize that my skills for designing were surpassing my skills for illustrating (plus, I really loved designing) so I changed my track to design.

I had always had an interest in children's illustration (which was reflected in my early illustration work) and marrying that interest with my design skills led me to the field of children's book design.

I was very fortunate to meet my art director, Christine Kettner, at a portfolio review. She liked my work and just happened to have an open position and the rest is history. That was about a year ago.


* What are some of your favorite YA or MG covers (yours or others')? Do you ever redesign covers made by other artists in your mind?

I have a special relationship with YA covers because I have friends who are designers and friends who are illustrators. My favorite team is Elizabeth Parisi (creative director of Scholastic) and Tim O'Brien (illustrator extraordinaire) with the covers for THE HUNGER GAMES and other great titles.

Some more of my current favorite covers are the covers for SHIVER and LINGER, the covers for the HOUSE OF NIGHT series, and the HARRY POTTER series (love that typography! so iconic!)

* What is the process for picking "the perfect" cover for a book?


It's quite a process! It's more developing than picking. It starts with the manuscript getting sent to the art department through the editorial staff. If I'm working on a book, my art director will pass me the materials which include the manuscript, a form that gives me important info like main character descriptions, a synopsis, and book covers that the editors feel have the 'look' they'd like to see for the book.

Then I read the manuscript and take notes about the mood, any scenes that strike me as good cover possibilities and details like totems, settings, colors, etc that might help build the image. Then it's a process of working with the art director and the editor to choose if we're going to go with an illustrator, have me build something with stock imagery, or hire a photographer.

Then a HUGE meeting of editorial, marketing, production and design, happens where the cover comp is discussed and approved (or not).


* In working on the cover, do you read the book whose cover you're making or do you talk to the authors for their input?


As I mentioned above, I do read the book. Sometimes authors have input at the outset that we take into consideration, but if not, I generally don't consult them.


* Do you do photo shoots or use stock photography more often?


In this case, Carol Chu- another designer here at Harcourt- is the one who found the final image we used..


* What's your favorite part of designing covers?


I have a few favorite parts. :D The first is reading the manuscript. I have always been an avid reader and one of the real joys of my job is getting to read these books and watch them unfold from just a manuscript in Microsoft Word to a real bound book I can hold in my hands.


The second is getting comps approved. I love making the comps, don't get me wrong, but it can be a very long and arduous process sometimes and there's nothing better than hearing that "OK, go to finish!" after all that hard work.


Lastly, I love picking out the case and endpapers. It seems like such a trivial thing, but deciding what the actual board and endpapers look like is a lot of fun and can add so much character to a book when you remove the jacket. It's like a little hidden treasure under there sometimes!


(And I recommend checking out the boards of THE VESPERTINE when it comes out; I have some fun ideas for what will be hidden under that jacket!)


* What was an important element from THE VESPERTINE that you wanted captured for the cover?


THE VESPERTINE was a beautiful story that for me combined the best parts of historical fiction and supernatural romance. I wanted that to be conveyed through the imagery and the typography. I wanted to make sure that the setting sun feeling was echoed in the color scheme as well, since the sunset is so important in the story.


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Thank you, Regina!! If you want even more behind-the-cover-scenes action, check out her blog, where she shares cover designs that didn't make it, details on layout, and more!


Thank you to Saundra Mitchell, author of The Vespertine for this wonderful opportunity and for letting us host this AWESOME GIVEAWAY!


3 winners have the chance to win some amazing prizes. Here's what our prize packs contains: 1st Winner-

· 1 signed ARC

· 1 signed dance card

· 1 signed special bookmark

· 1 silver & amber sun pendant on a black silk cord.

· 1 blown glass amber pen w/ amber ink & rest

· 1 bar of Bay Rum and 1 bar of Apple Jack handmade soap

2 additional prize packs containing:

· 1 signed dance card

· 1 signed special bookmark

· 1 signed regular bookmark

· 1 bar of either Bay Rum or Apple Jack handmade soap

City of Fallen Angels Cover Contest Winners!!

Thank you to everyone who entered our City Of Fallen Angels Fan Made Cover Contest. This was a lot of fun hosting this and seeing the cover designs that were made. We had over 1,200 votes cast for the open poll voting. This was such a close contest for both the Admin/Cassandra Clare choice and the voters.

The winner of the Cassandra Clare & Mundie Moms Admin choice is.....

#1 By Niki


The Winner from the open voting poll is......



#3 By Tynga


CONGRATULATIONS to our winners!!!

Niki will receive the complete TMI series for their iPod/MP3 player.

Tynga will receive the complete TMI audiobook series.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Mundane Monday #59

Happy Monday!! I hope everyone had a great weekend and here's to a great Monday.


"Come on." Jace pushed Clary toward the exit. The crowd was dense. She held her backpack in front of her, hands warped protectively around it. Someone bumped her shoulder, hard, and she yelped and moved sideways, away from Jace. A hand brushed her backpack. She looked up and saw the vampire with the stake earring grinning at her. "Hey, pretty thing," he said. "What's in the bag?"

"Holy water," said Jace, reappearing beside her as if he'd been conjured up like a genie. A sarcastic blonde genie with a bad attitude.

"Oooh, a Shadowhunter," said the vampires. "Scary." With a wink he melted back into the crowd.

"Vampires are such prima donnas," Magnus sighed from the doorway. "Honestly, I don't know why I have these parties."

"Because of your cat," Clary reminded him.

Magnus perked up. "There's true. Chairman Meow deserves my every effort." He glanced at her and the tight knot of Shadowhunters just behind her. "You on your way out?"

Jace nodded. "Don't want to overstay our welcome."

"What welcome?" Magnus asked. "I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but it wasn't. Not that you aren't all fairly charming, and as for you-" He dropped a glittery wink at Alec, who looked astounded. "Call me?"

-City of Bones, page 243

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