Behold! The “FANGIRL” cover! Is it not GLORIOUS?

This arrived in my inbox yesterday. I freaked out.

It’s the cover for my third book, FANGIRL, which comes out next fall. It was designed by the amazing Olga Grlic, who also designed the Eleanor & Park cover.

And it was illustrated by Noelle Stevenson.

IT WAS ILLUSTRATED BY NOELLE STEVENSON.

I still can’t even believe this is true. It’s like someone said, “Hey, Rainbow, what would your dream book cover look like?” And I told them, “Oh, I don’t know, but it would be illustrated by Noelle Stevenson.” And then they said, “OKAY, YOU CAN HAVE THAT.”

SERIOUSLY. THIS IS BASICALLY WHAT HAPPENED.

If you’ve been following my cover design adventures, you know that authors don’t usually get much say in what their covers look like. You’re lucky if you get to offer some input. You’re extremely lucky if the publisher invites you to be a part of the process . . .

That was me on Eleanor & Park. Extremely lucky. Extremely grateful. Extremely happy with the final design.

We were still wrapping up the Eleanor & Park cover when my editor, Sara Goodman, started talking to me about FANGIRL. She asked if I had any ideas, and I told her that I knew it was a long shot, but that there was an illustrator who I thought would be perfect . . .

I told her about Noelle Stevenson, more famously known as Gingerhaze, and about her wonderful fandom illustrations, and her excellent/charming Tumblr blog, and her really cool webcomic. And I explained how her style — whimsical, smart, funny, feminist — seemed like the perfect fit for the book.

I mean, those are all things that I hope FANGIRL is, as a story.

So I told my editor all this, and the next time I talked to her — seriously, THE NEXT TIME I TALKED TO HER — Noelle was hired, Olga had this concept, and it was all happening.

HAPPENING.

I’m almost embarrassed to talk about this, I’m so geeked out over it. But I guess it’s okay to act all uncool and fannish when you’re talking about the cover for a book called FANGIRL? I hope, anyway?

Imagine having your book illustrated by an artist whose work is already all over your walls . . .

 (This is in my dining room.)

 (And this is in my bedroom.)

(And this one is going in my office someday.)
(When I have an office.)

I am so happy about this.

Happy that I have a wonderful, open-minded, creative publishing team at St. Martin’s Press. Happy that Noelle had the time and inclination to work on this cover. And happy that this book, my third book, is almost a real, live THING.

(P.S. I’m probably going to write another post soon about FANGIRL. What it’s about. Who those two guys are in the thought bubble. Why they’re in love. Why I wrote about fanfiction . . . But for now — LOOK AT THAT COVER!!)

MOVE ON UP, Curtis Mayfield