Carolyn Mackler's Tangled has a new paperback cover, and it's out this week. So I had a chat with her about the changes (and also how she came to write with Jay Asher)! Here she is:
"My publisher had the vision for the hardcover jacket - the blue and pink tangling hearts (below right), and also this new paperback cover. I love its energy, especially with the butterflies since they strangely showed up in three of my four characters' stories.
"Harper was wonderful about including me in the development of Tangled's paperback cover. They wanted to do a photo shoot with models, and I got to look over several headshots and pick who I thought would work on the cover. The girl is Jena for sure, but in my head the guy is a mix of Dakota and Owen. They're brothers, so they have the same basic look. And Jena DOES kiss both of them. Surprised? Shocked? If you read the book it'll all make sense.
"When I saw the new cover, I loved it! I like the sharing-an-inside-joke vibe between the girl and the guy. It made me wonder what the models were talking about during the shoot.
"They showed me several shots of the guy and the girl in different stages of embrace, cuddle, and glance. I picked the sharing-a-joke vibe, which felt right for the story. Also, I asked them to change the color of the guy's sweatshirt. The model had been wearing an orange sweatshirt, but on the cover it looked a bit pink. Per my request, they changed it to the grayish color. If only I could change things around in my closet with one click.
"I've also included two works-in-progress, that show a different vibe (sultry, but no inside joke) and the notorious pink-orange sweatshirt:
"One thing that's cool about this cover is, if you look at the very top, you'll see a few lines of praise from Jay Asher, the bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why. When he gave that amazing quote for Tangled, we didn't even know each other. But soon after, we started emailing - and decided to write a novel together! Our upcoming novel, The Future of Us, comes out in November. And wait until you see the cover. VERY COOL."
Thanks, Carolyn! I think both of these covers, different as they are, give the same feel. Very Tangled (I loved this book). Also: Totally into smiling over the sultry.
What do you guys think?
And, I can't wait to see the real cover for The Future of Us! You can read another of Carolyn's Cover Stories, for Guyaholic, here!