A Smugglerific Cover: Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

Today, we are thrilled to host a cover reveal for Kate Karyus Quinn, who is making her authorial debut with young adult horror novel Another Little Piece (due out from Harper Teen in June 2013). As soon as we read the full synopsis for Kate’s novel, and then Kate’s thoughts about the book, we were completely sold.

Behold! The Smugglerific Cover (and summary)!

THE SMUGGLERIFIC COVER:

THE SUMMARY:

A reckless wish taken from the darkest desires of the heart…

A bloody razor engraved with the names of the girls who turned to dust…

An endless cycle that feeds of loneliness and craves destruction…

Together, these pieces form a twisted puzzle that Annaliese Rose Gordon has to solve. Trapped in a body that isn’t hers – with no memory of how she got there – she must unlock the secrets of her past in order to escape the horrors of her future.

THOUGHTS FROM KATE:

At the beginning of this year, I got an email from my HarperTeen editor, Erica Sussman. She told me that the design team would be starting work on my cover soon, and wanted to know if I had any thoughts or ideas I would like to pass along.

I read the email, once, twice, three times, letting this further proof – that my book was really truly becoming a BOOK – sink in.

Then I tried to picture that book with bound pages and a slick and shiny cover wrapped around it like it was a present waiting to be opened. And I couldn’t. I knew my name would be there. Fingers crossed that it would be spelled correctly. The title too – the same one I’d given it when I was writing the first draft with no promise, but only high hopes that it might one day be published.

But I still couldn’t bring to mind one solid image that would be the totally perfect one to sit on top of my book and – without words – communicate to potential readers what Another Little Piece was all about.

Total fail on my part.

Well, not totally. I eventually wrote back to Erica that the covers I loved and found myself most strongly drawn to where ones that evoked a certain mood or feeling.

Super helpful, right? I’m sure some design teams would be tempted to roll their eyes at being told that the author wants “to feeeeel something.” Hell, rereading it, I’M rolling my eyes. And yet somehow they gave me exactly what I’d asked for in my slightly silly and incredibly vague kind of way – a cover that does an amazing job of capturing the feeling and mood of Another Little Piece.

The girl, isolated and alone, her face hidden. That’s the first thing my eye was drawn to. Then I noticed how she stood directly on the train tracks, her gaze focused towards something we cannot see. But even though we can’t see it, there is a sense that something is coming. Something bad. Something that might smash her and her pretty pink skirt to bits.

I love it.

And then there is the title font. I can’t forget to mention that. It is the distorted blood-spattered cherry on top of my sundae.

THE GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away one signed ARC of Another Little Piece to a lucky winner! The giveaway is open to ALL and to enter, use the form below. The contest will run until Sunday November 4 at 12:01AM (EST). Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway