Every author crosses their fingers and hopes they love the cover that the designers come up with for their book. Because covers sell books - I know this is true because I've lost count of the people who tell me they picked up INK or SPARK purely because of their excellent covers. #PicturesMeanBusiness - even if the only pictures your book has are on the outside.
My covers are illustrated by Jamie Gregory and designed by Andrew Biscomb. The design team at Scholastic UK is incredible. They went to town creating special sneak-peeks and proofs for INK (above) and the final cover is breathtaking.
And you know it's something special when nearly all of the translated versions of INK use Jamie's illustrations. Just take a look:
l-r: Netherlands, France, Italy, Lithuania, USA, Mexico, Slovakia, Russia, Czech Republic, Romania.
The only translation so far to go for a completely unique cover is the Romanian one - which reminds me of a joyfully well-thumbed copy of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids I have, and that makes me happy!
There are more books in translation to come and every time I receive one my hands shake as I look through it. Next time I will tell you more about the rights process and the translators who do the magic of sharing my words with others.
Covers are magic. Cover design matters. Thank you to Jamie and Andrew for making this book such a beauty. I owe you.