There is a lot that has to happen behind the scenes before we can get our books to readers. Edits, rewrites, marketing, event planning, design—it’s nothing if not exciting! While our author Q&As and From the Editor’s Desk features generally cover many of those (and if you don’t know what those are, all will be revealed if you subscribe to our newsletter!), but we focus on cover design a bit less often. That changes today! We talked extensively with artist Karen Vermeulen last year about her work, and now we’re chatting with Karen again about just one cover— the upcoming YA sci-fi novel The Thousand Steps by Helen Brain.
The Thousand Steps is the first in Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral Trilogy, and is a dystopic sci-fi Young Adult novel set in Cape Town in 2055. After spending her entire life living in a bunker deep inside of Table Mountain, 16-year-old Ebba is released when the truth of her lineage is revealed. While learning to navigate the unfamiliar “Above,” Ebba must fight for her survival, and that of her friends still below. The Fiery Spiral is an eco-feminist trilogy that examines how class, race, and social identity are foundational to the ways in which society is organized and power wielded. It releases on January 7.
You can learn more about Karen and her work at her website, Instagram, and Twitter.
Continue reading “Designing the Cover for The Thousand Steps”