Read on Twitter
Actually, I hope Micah will forgive me - but I'd love to talk about why this cover art genuinely makes me so happy, and some of the ways it really reflects the content of The Jasmine Throne. Thread! https://twitter.com/micahepsteinart/status/1341420856946397184
One thing I've appreciated about Orbit (my publisher) is their determination to make my covers reflect the right cultural context. I loved the covers for The Books of Ambha - Lauren Panepinto and Lisa Marie Pompilio used Mughal art and weaponry and it really showed.
But when The Jasmine Throne was starting to cook into an actual book, and my editor asked me for my thoughts on a possible cover, I said I would love to see a cover with character art.
Part of this was shallow - character art is cool! But it was also because I really, really wanted someone to go into a bookshop or online and stumble on a big doorstopper fantasy book with a queer, brown woman in a sari on the cover.
I wanted it for me.
I wanted it for me.
And surely I'm not the only queer desi woman out there, who reads fantasy, who'd look at something like that and feel her heart brighten right up? Actually, I know I'm not so. Moving on.
Covers aren't for authors, though. They're a marketing tool.
Covers aren't for authors, though. They're a marketing tool.
Generally, although authors may give their input on covers, publishers have the final say. This is normal! So I'm very grateful that my editor Priyanka was enthusiastic and worked tirelessly alongside Orbit's art team (hi Lauren) and the artist, Micah, to make the cover *work*.
They could have decided that kind of cover wouldn't be marketable (do people want a big old fantasy novel with a woman on the cover? A brown woman? Who will this cover turn away?) but they never said anything even close to that. Orbit went for it full throttle.
And frankly, seeing the cover - seeing Priya, staring out? Gives me the same thrill that the cover for The Poppy War did, and Gideon the Ninth, and upcoming Son of the Storm, and The Wolf of Oren-Yaro.
Oh. There we are.
Oh. There we are.
(And - since we're talking queer, here - I'd die for the cover of The Unbroken. Those ARMS. Anyway.)
Right, big emotions aside, the details of the cover are just so good? I'm going to geek out now, feel free to leave a drink a cuppa.
Right, big emotions aside, the details of the cover are just so good? I'm going to geek out now, feel free to leave a drink a cuppa.
The glow of fire!!! in the background!!
Fire is a huge, huge part of the plot (and if you're familiar with mythic imagery around Hindu womanhood, cough cough anyway moving on) so seeing it there is *chef's kiss*
Fire is a huge, huge part of the plot (and if you're familiar with mythic imagery around Hindu womanhood, cough cough anyway moving on) so seeing it there is *chef's kiss*
There are so many small plot relevant details: a huge edifice in the background that may or may not be a mountainous, crumbling temple. The stick in Priya's hands. The roots, winding and forcing their way up to the surface. White flowers, blooming where they shouldn't bloom.
