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July 28, 2009 by Travis Jonker

Create Your Debut YA Cover

July 28, 2009 by Travis Jonker   79 comments

YAcover

Click here to view the Create Your Debut YA Cover gallery.

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Usually I don’t do YA, but…

A few months back I posted the steps to Create Your Debut Fantasy Novel Cover. Now it’s time to do something for the Teens. Above is my debut YA cover. I had to modify the rules for this sort of cover to ensure the appropriate YA clichés were represented:

What will yours look like?

CREATE YOUR DEBUT YA COVER

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or click http://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.net

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, PicMonkey, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your site along with this text.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Comments

  1. tanita says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:07 am

    Heh. Perfect cap to the coverFAIL 2009 kerfuffle. Here’s mine.

  2. Elizabeth says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:09 am

    Awesome! Mine’s here.

  3. jennifer says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:24 am

    cool idea, i made one, it’s up on my blog!

  4. DaviMack says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:47 am

    Fun fun FUN! here’s my attempt!

  5. Str4y says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:25 am

    I just couldn’t resist…
    Keep

  6. Scope Notes says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:43 am

    Man, these are lookin’ good. I’ll be adding them all to the gallery.

  7. Melissa (Book Nut) says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:48 am

    I had fun with it. Thanks for the diversion!

  8. Diana Peterfreund says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:48 am

    Okay, I had to LOL at this, given that my debut YA, RAMPANT, actually does have:

    1) a one-word title
    2) a cover with a face on it.

    So I did two mock-ups, one for a girl book, and one for a boy book. I am surprised how realistic these look, and I really, really want to read YANK now!

    My “girl” book, REMINISCE:
    http://bit.ly/e8d6R

    My “boy” book, YANK:
    http://bit.ly/iEksY

  9. Scope Notes says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Ha – yeah, these turned out great! Keep Yank in your back packet for future use – I can foresee a banned book in the making.

  10. Anna Jarzab says

    July 28, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Here’s mine. Warning: it’s really creepy.

  11. jmlib923 says

    July 28, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    My faux cover is at http://nbplteenbookblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/create-your-own-ya-book-cover/

  12. Shalan says

    July 28, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    Mine is really weird:
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3jJtonujxLQ/Sm9I9VYn-VI/AAAAAAAAAgc/n7Lnk-3Qbzo/s320/GuzzleBookCover.jpg

    Sorry I have no clue how to link.
    🙂

  13. Alyson says

    July 28, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    A fun break
    Scorn

  14. Abby says

    July 28, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.

    Here’s my book, WHISK

    • www.nabzradio.com says

      February 18, 2014 at 6:04 am

      Reading posts like this make surfing such a pleasure

  15. Emily Ellsworth says

    July 28, 2009 at 6:07 pm

    Way awesome! Mine is here

    http://emilysreadingroom.blogspot.com/2009/07/wonder-my-debut-ya-novel-cover.html

  16. melissa says

    July 28, 2009 at 6:42 pm

    Loved this. Mine wasn’t as cool as yours. But, still so much fun. See it here

  17. Holly says

    July 28, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    That was fun! Here’s mine: http://hollysredbike.blogspot.com/2009/07/elude-my-fake-ya-novel.html

  18. thereadingzone says

    July 28, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    Haha, too fun! Mine is here: http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/create-your-debut-ya-cover/

    Sarah

  19. Elizabeth says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:06 pm

    Your YANK cover is amazing. I would definitely pick it up in the store. Possibly to mock it, but still — into the reader’s hands is half the battle, right?

  20. aquafortis says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    This is a perfect idea. I can’t resist these. Here’s mine:
    http://writingya.blogspot.com/2009/07/create-your-debut-ya-cover.html

  21. birdseyemaple says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:53 pm

    Fun! Thanks for the idea.
    http://maplesandfiddleheads.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/my-debut-ya-title/

  22. Jennie says

    July 29, 2009 at 12:09 am

    Fun stuff!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/spinningjennie/3767347255/

  23. Dean says

    July 29, 2009 at 1:25 am

    Fun stuff. I’m not convinced that mine will sell, though…
    http://seagullboy.blogspot.com/2009/07/showcase.html

  24. Lisa Chellman says

    July 29, 2009 at 8:57 am

    What a fun meme! Thanks! The gallery looks amazing. Most of them look as good or better than a lot of what’s on the shelf! Here’s mine.

  25. Ink Mage says

    July 29, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Mine is another “Pluck,” although I used a different picture and completely different style. Cool idea!

  26. Sophie says

    July 29, 2009 at 11:54 am

    I had fun making mine, although I didn’t realize at first you were supposed to put a person on the cover.

    http://notemilybookblog.tumblr.com/post/151637237/fake-cover-time

  27. KHazelrigg says

    July 29, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    Intriguing challenge. I really like the one I ended up with, although I have to say it looks too creepy for me to read.

    This girl has obviously been through something incredibly traumatic. And for reasons I cannot articulate, I think there’s definitely something supernatural going on here.

  28. Linz says

    July 29, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    This challenge was awesome. It was fun being artsy and just having fun. I don’t have a site or blog, but this is my cover.

    http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z294/ill_be_waiting_18/?action=view&current=image.jpg

  29. C.K. says

    July 29, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    Argh, I messed up by reading the instructions too quickly and not realizing the photo had to contain a person so the result isn’t as YAish as it could’ve been. Still fun though.

    http://theportableartist.hypermart.net/ck/archive403.htm

  30. The Vintage Reader says

    July 29, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    Oh, this was great. Presenting: Pitch.

  31. Boni Ashburn says

    July 29, 2009 at 7:22 pm

    Oh, this was way too fun 🙂 Thanks Travis!

    Mine’s up on my blog http://boniashburn.com/blog/

  32. Boni Ashburn says

    July 29, 2009 at 9:00 pm

    Hey Travis- I added a cover that my son Henry did to my own blog post (he doesn’t have a blog). If you could add it too, that would be cool 🙂

    http://boniashburn.com/blog/

    Thanks!

  33. Scope Notes says

    July 29, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    It has been added – very nice.

  34. Bridget says

    July 29, 2009 at 9:39 pm

    I found this from Alyson’s post on our Youth Services blog : ) So here’s the one that I made: http://twitpic.com/c332g. This was pretty much the most entertaining part of my day.

  35. Gretchen says

    July 29, 2009 at 10:31 pm

    Amazingly accurate!
    http://blogwasstar.blogspot.com/2009/07/thrash.html

  36. The Alien Onions says

    July 30, 2009 at 1:29 am

    Hilarious and wonderful!

    We’re a bit late to the party but we’ve put a couple up on our blog.

  37. kay says

    July 30, 2009 at 7:30 am

    I did one too, and had so much fun with it! My verb was sober!

    http://infiniteshelf.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/sober-by-hellie-p-hart/

  38. teacherninja says

    July 30, 2009 at 10:32 am

    Here’s mine, thanks!

    http://www.teacherninjas.com/2009/07/betray.html

  39. margo says

    July 30, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    The gallery is amazing!! 🙂 I love seeing how everyone did their own! I’m going to post it on my book blog where hopefully more people will see it. May I link them back to you or let you know so you can do what you will with them? My friend Sara Dragonfly Book Review did one too. I didn’t know where the comment thing was for your gallery thing so I posted here. Nice work!!!

    -Margo

  40. Scope Notes says

    July 30, 2009 at 2:11 pm

    Link away – thanks!

  41. Phil says

    July 30, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    Fun! Here’s mine.

  42. KLHoward says

    July 30, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    This was so much fun! Thanks for this!
    I have two up on my blog (I couldn’t resist).

  43. Becky says

    July 31, 2009 at 9:46 am

    Thanks for a fun activity! =) Now I want to write a book. Here’s my cover. http://libridilectio.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-debut-ya-cover.html

  44. Lauri says

    July 31, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    I made one!!
    You can see it here:

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BQQ2F2rxi9E/SnMluLb909I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/QmwX6tsR_v8/s1600-h/YA+book+Focus.jpg

  45. Arielle says

    August 1, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    This was fun 🙂

    My debut YA cover: http://bookatopia.blogspot.com/2009/08/create-your-debut-ya-cover.html

  46. Amber says

    August 1, 2009 at 6:44 pm

    Can I play too?

    http://ajbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2009/08/debut-book-covers.html

    My ‘random VERB’ was ‘afraid’, though.

    ??

  47. Amber says

    August 1, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    Oh…the ‘person’ rule. Duh. Read the instructions.

    O well. It was fun anyway.

  48. Linz2 says

    August 1, 2009 at 10:16 pm

    Awesome challenge. I had so much fun that I made 4 more!

    http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z294/ill_be_waiting_18/?action=view&current=weep2.jpg

    http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z294/ill_be_waiting_18/?action=view&current=mime.jpg

    http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z294/ill_be_waiting_18/?action=view&current=end1.jpg

    http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z294/ill_be_waiting_18/?action=view&current=burn-1.jpg

    I think, although I forgot to keep the names the same, End and Burn could be part of a series. The feel of the covers kinda makes me feel that one’s a sequel to the other.

  49. Fear Death By Water says

    August 4, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    http://exitofhumanity.blogspot.com/2009/08/bit-of-departure.html

  50. Ivy says

    August 5, 2009 at 2:48 am

    Great challenge!
    Mine is here http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-debut-ya-novel.html

  51. Vicki says

    August 9, 2009 at 10:06 am

    This was so much fun!!

    http://ilratb.blogspot.com/2009/08/create-your-debut-ya-novel-cover.html

  52. Kim says

    August 9, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    What fun! One more safe addiction . . .

    http://zqueenbees.blogspot.com/2009/08/create-your-own-ya-novel-cover.html

  53. Jen says

    August 19, 2009 at 11:04 pm

    Ha! This is amazing. Aren’t we all a sucker for YA fiction?

    Here’s mine… Bluster! (with a rather English pen name too.)
    http://divinest-sense.blogspot.com/2009/08/little-fun.html

    Fun!

  54. Bill Bartmann says

    September 3, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    Excellent site, keep up the good work

  55. Tiffany says

    September 9, 2009 at 11:03 am

    My cover is at http://tiffanygholar.blogspot.com/2009/09/widget-wednesday-create-your-own-young.html and because I liked the concept so much, I have included it as my Widget Wednesday generator for this week.

  56. scrumptious says

    November 8, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    I hope it’s not too late to join the party! I just found this and your fantasy book cover and had a great time with them. I really like how you tailored the instructions for this one to generate a very YA cover.

    Mine turned out pretty creepy, so check out Order, the latest in the deluge of dark, dystopian, disaster books being published for young adults!

    • Meghan Elyssa Gunz says

      April 21, 2010 at 11:59 pm

      I had so much fun.

      http://meghangunz.tumblr.com/post/539926715/http-100scopenotes-com-2009-07-28-create-your-deb

  57. Kirsten says

    February 22, 2011 at 11:41 am

    This is great! I’m going to use this in one of my programs with my teens at my library!!!

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