Author Guest Post + Book Giveaway: Julia Karr of XVI

We all know that authors have very little, if any, say in the design for their cover. I think that I always imagined authors as having much more artistic license in choosing the fonts, layouts, and images for their covers. I mean, what if you hate your own book cover? Surely this has happened. Fortunately for Julia Karr, she has one of the most stunning covers I've seen. Perfect for a dystopia, don't you think? Well, here's what she has to say about it:

My editor and I both had a similar idea of what we thought the cover of XVI would look like. I spent a lot of time daydreaming exactly how the Penguin design team would work it out. Then, I got an email from my editor with the subject line: XVI cover! I was terrified to open it.

Before I opened the file, I read what she had to say, which was along the lines of “this is nothing like what we thought it would be!” My hand was shaking as I clicked open the .jpg. Then - O.M.G.! I was thrilled beyond belief! 

There was minor tweaking of the shading, but other than that - the cover has remained the same.

Interesting story about the cover:  The model of XVI contacted me on Twitter! It turns out that she was not only the model, but she also did the photography! It’s a self-portrait of her as a teen! She wrote a fabulous blog post about it shortly after we corresponded! [ http://dearcrissy.com/my-first-book-cover/ ]http://dearcrissy.com/my-first-book-cover/ How cool is that?!

Thanks for stopping buy, Ms. Karr. I just finished your book and loved it!

As part of my first blogiversary, I am going to giveaway a *shiny* new copy of XVI to one lucky commenter!  Many of you regular readers know that I love a good dystopia, and this book definitely meets that criteria. This giveaway is open internationally (wherever the Book Depository ships). This giveaway will close on January 31st at midnight (EST).


To enter, simply leave a comment stating why you'd like to read this book or what you love about dystopias. Make sure to leave an email where I can reach you if you win!

Extra Entry Points
+2 Follower (new or old)
+2 Comment on my book review of XVI
(please include all points in one comment)