Mundie Moms

Monday, December 15, 2014

THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner; Blog Tour: Making The Cover, A Behind The Scenes Look and ENTER TO WIN



Hello & welcome to today's THIS SHATTERED WORLD blog tour stop. I'm so thrilled to be apart of the tour, hosted by Midnight Gardens. Today's stop is a behind on the scenes / making of the cover. First, here's a little bit about the book. 


By: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Published by: Disney Hyperion 
To Be Released On: December 23rd, 2014
Series: Starbound Trilogy Book #2
Purchase the Book: Autographed copies IndieBound B&N BAM Amazon


Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.
Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet’s rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.
Rebellion is in Flynn’s blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.
Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.
The stunning second novel in the Starbound trilogy is an unforgettable story of love and forgiveness in a world torn apart by war.

I love book covers, and I'm always fascinated with finding out how covers are created. Today I'm so thrilled to share with you a behind the scenes look at how they created the cover for This Shattered World. Before I share today's Q&A with the cover designer, I've got pictures!!! *Click on each image to enlarge*





Behind the Scenes with TSW Cover
Designer Whitney Manger!


Hi Whitney! So excited to chat with you again, this time about the cover design of This Shattered World. We can’t wait to hear about your creative process for the design of this book, and thank you so much for sharing these awesome behind-the-scenes pictures! (Readers, do not miss the ab-tastic close-up of Flynn!)


Q: When a new book comes across your desk, how do you begin to dream up potential covers?


A: The process always starts with reading the manuscript. While I’m reading, I note passages that I find inspiring -- either visually or ones that capture the tone of the story. Then I meet with the editor to talk about what we what we want to convey on the cover -- is it a thriller? Romance? Sci-fi? Does it have humor, or is it very serious and dark? Who is the audience? What other books will it be shelved with?


We discuss what we want to convey on the cover, and specific cover concepts we want to explore. Then, I get to work, and really let myself explore lots of directions. Some covers begin with a thumbnail sketch. Others are born out of imagery exploration or a second read through the manuscript. Or further discussion with the editor and my art director. When I design, I need several house of solo time to really focus! Sometimes it’s really intense, but when you reach a break-through it’s thrilling. Some covers just come to me within the initial designs -- but that’s rare! I find design inspiration everywhere -- movies, movie posters, Anthropologie catalogs, magazines, book covers, trips to museums and bookstores.


Q: Is this process any different for a sequel when you’ve already designed the cover for the first book?


A: It’s different in that you already have a formula established, so you don’t go through the process of coming up with lots of cover ideas. You need to make sure the sequel cover is different from the first book, but complementary so they can create a strong look together. So it needs to be beautiful on its own and next to its companion.


Q: We were so thrilled when we saw the models for Flynn and Jubilee. How does the design and photography team at Hyperion find such picture-perfect (pardon our pun!) people to represent the characters?


A: Once we have a tight cover comp that has been approved by everyone in-house (and by authors), we do a casting for models, working directly with the photographer. The photographer usually coordinates with the model agencies to find models that match the physical descriptions of the characters (with some leeway). At the casting, we meet several models and discuss their experience (it often helps if they’ve done book covers), and we select the models that have the right look. It’s also really important that the model is open-minded and easy to work with, especially for The Starbound covers, which are very physical!


Q: Were you on-set for the photo shoot? What was that like? How closely did you work with photographer Tom Corbett?


A: Always. In tandem with the photographer, I set up and manage the photoshoot as well as work with the stylist to create the look -- clothing, hair, and makeup. For This Shattered World, the jumpsuit was custom-made. The green dress on the cover of These Broken Stars was also custom-made. On set, we work with the photographer in terms of getting the right kinds of shots, poses and lighting we want, but it’s the photographer is works his/her genius to capture the perfect shot. We look at the shots on screen several times throughout the shoot to make sure we’re on the right track. It’s such a great and energized collaboration. Tom is an incredible photographer to work with.

Thank you so much, Whitney! The covers of these books always draw so many compliments, and it’s such great fun to share what you do with the world!

*Thank you to Midnight Gardens Blog Tours for the guest post questions & answers

About The Authors


Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner are longtime friends and sometime flatmates who have traveled the world (but not yet the galaxy), covering every continent between them. They are sure outer space is only a matter of time. Meagan, who is also the author of the Skylark trilogy, currently lives in Asheville, NC, while Amie lives in Melbourne, Australia. Although they currently live apart, they are united by their love of space opera, road trips, and second breakfasts.
Visit the These Broken Stars website for the latest news on the series and follow the authors on Twitter at @AmieKaufmanand @MeaganSpoonerThis Shattered World is available for pre-order (with fun swag!) and will be released in North America on December 23, 2014.

The Pre-Order Campaign 


Check it out! Pre-Order your signed copy from Books of Wonder & find out what else you'll receive with your book, HERE

ENTER TO WIN

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:
Monday, December 8          The Midnight Garden    Secrets of Starbound: Characters       
Tuesday, December 9         The Book Smugglers    Making an Audiobook
Wednesday, December 10  Ivy Book Bindings        Secrets of Starbound: Science and Settings
Thursday, December 11       Cuddlebuggery             How Amie & Meagan Met
Friday, December 12            Little Book Owl             Video Interview
Monday, December 15         Mundie Moms               Shooting the Cover
Tuesday, December 16        Xpresso Reads             Starbound Inspirations
Wednesday, December 17   A Book Utopia               Video: Your New Book Boyfriend
Thursday, December 18       Supernatural Snark       Q & A
Friday, December 19            Love is Not a Triangle   Gender in Science Fiction

17 comments:

  1. Wow, it's amazing to see and read about how such a gorgeous cover came to be!! Fantastic post!

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  2. SO COOL. I always wonder about the behind the scenes of cover shoots and how all that is. Too bad there isn't a movie clip or anything of them being photographed. Are the on a trampoline or wires, or did they do both? I love these covers so muuch.

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  3. Christina R. in the rafflecopter

    I LOVE it when covers match the actual content and characters of the book! It's clear she wanted the cover to really reflect what the story is about and I love how we got to see how trampolines were used!!

    thank you so very much :)

    Lovely interview!! :) And photos rocked!! :)

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  4. The creative process behind book covers is fascinating to me, especially as a graphic designer. And I can't wait to read this book! I thoroughly enjoyed Lilac and Tarver's story, and am excited for another journey to this universe.

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  5. Whitney Manger has my dream job! Covers can make or break a book in the sense that people will either pick them up because it catches their eye, or they will walk right past it because the book and its cover don't interest them.
    Whitney Manger and her crew have created covers that display the adventure and romance in Amie's and Meagan's books, and the covers totally compliment the stories that are told in this trilogy! So amazing, and I hope that one day I can become a cover designer so I can do that for authors and readers, too!

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  6. This is great!! I don't know what I'm more excited about; reading the story or gaze at the cover forever and then put it next to book one and do some more gazing! Can't wait to see the cover of book 3 agh!!

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  7. Thanks for being part of the tour, Katie! <3 <3 <3

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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  8. I've always wondered how book covers were made too! So cool seeing the process! And I love the model choices; they seem like they will be good matches for Jubilee and Flynn.

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  9. Awesome! I love getting all these behind the scenes looks, they're so much fun!

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  10. Wow that's so cool! Makes me want to become a cover designer:)

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  11. Wow so cool to see behind the scenes on the cover. And That cover!! I love it, the fist one was also great, ohh they will look beautiful side by side.

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  12. LOVE seeing photos from the cover shoot - I remember reading about the cover shoot for the first book too, and being fascinated by it!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  13. so cool! those photos look amazing and even more amazing once they are on the cover! can't wait to pick this one up!

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  14. Well that was just cool! Pretty amazing the way they caught the shots mid-air. And those covers - gorgeous!

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  15. I did not realize that they have actual photo shoots to design covers! I honestly thought everything was just done on the computer.

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  16. This is sooo cool i thought they were in harnesses but this is way cooler!
    Thanks for sharing this!
    <3 Britt

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  17. Ahh beautiful book covers. I fell in love with These Broken Stars and This Shattered World's covers, and now I get t look at how they were made! And it's amazing!!

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