Monday, July 16, 2007

The True Meaning of Smekday – Making the Cover 3

So here's the cover we selected and I painted again, in case you didn't see it the first time. This is what the jacket will look like when the books ship in September:

But, waste not, want not. I still liked the flying car cover idea, so it became the book's title page:

And, finally, I used another of the concepts on the book's case–you'll have to lift the dust jacket to see this "alternate cover."

Incidentally, if you'd like to learn a little more about The True Meaning of Smekday, click here.

26 comments:

Shawn Escott said...

MAN!!! Just awesome! I like the glassy robots on the cover. Very well done. And glad to see you using the other terrific designs in the book. Great stuff!

Tony Shasteen said...

Looks great Adam! I'm glad you could use the other pieces as well. Waste not, want not... not sure what that means but my Grandmother used it on these occasions, so there you go!

Tim Bye said...

Great work! I love the paintings!

froggie is... said...

at my house the paper jacket wraps always dissappear...the smalls here don't like em, and i have no idea why that is. THIS copy of SMEKDAY, when it comes out, will be safe on my work shelf, and INTACT so i can have all the pieces as you intended them. :) and ty for the link for more info on smekday, adam! :)

Diantres said...

Great Adam!

(the Abraham SuperLincon fanart is coming soon!)

Adam Rex said...

Thanks, Shawn, Tony, Tim, Colleen, and Diantres. And I'm holding you to that promise of fanart, Diantres!

Dan Santat said...

Oh man! I'd buy the book just for the cover. Great job buddy!

Adam Rex said...

Hey Dan!
For those who do not know it, Dan is Awesome. Go to his Doodlevision blog if you don't believe me.

Ted Dawson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ted Dawson said...

Can't wait to get this book!

gail said...

I can't wait for this one to come out. Man, I'm with Dan, I decided to buy it as soon as I saw the cover!

Nice work!
gail

Anonymous said...

Hi! I have this book and it is the BEST BOOK EVER!!!!! Is it true that I got a copy before it was published? My friend does not believe me when I tell her I got it in July and the copyright date says November. On the book itself, it says that it is an uncorrected advance proof. I can't find any copies in the libraries, so I don't know if that is just a joke. Can you PLEASE tell me? I got the book from the free pile in a small store. Please, please tell me! =D

Adam Rex said...

Thanks, Anonymous! (Cool name. Dutch?)
You do have an uncorrected advance proof (also called a galley, an advance reader's copy, an ARC, etc.) These are made before publication to send out to book reviewers, librarians, bookstore owners, and so forth. It says "uncorrected" because there are probably a few mistakes in it, and I'm sure you noticed that some of the art is missing. All those blank spots that say "art tk" are filled with drawings in the hardback that was published in November. Oh, and the art in your copy is just my sketches, not the finished art.
Anyway, a lot of people like to collect ARCs, because they are a lot harder to come by than the real book. But I hope you get a chance to see the real book, if only to look at all the art you missed.

Anonymous said...

She still does not believe me. She says that it is part of your book and that you are just following up on it. I don't know how I can prove her wrong- I guess I'll try to find a real copy of the book.

Anonymous said...

By the way its German not Dutch =D

Anonymous said...

By the way, do you know whether or not you are going to make a sequel or something related? I would lovvveee to read another one of your books. You know what? I'm gonna change my name! Nevermind I'll stick with anonymous... I think it's sooo cool that I'm talking to a real author of my favorite book. =D

Adam Rex said...

Hey Anonymous,
Your friend might be a little weird. Yeah, I guess finding a copy of the real book would be the best way to win this argument, but I also found someone selling an ARC of Smekday on ebay. Here's a link:
http://tinyurl.com/2y35q6
Scroll down to see where it says the book is softcover, not hardcover, and that its an Uncorrected Advance Proof. If she doesn't believe you then, I don't know what do tell you.
I didn't think I was going to write a sequel, but I have to admit that I'm sort of working on a short story that would take place after the end of the novel. It's about J.Lo revealing himself to the rest of the world. If it turns out okay, we might include it in the paperback version of the book, whenever that comes out. I'd probably put it online, too.
Thanks again for writing, Nonny! (I'm calling you Nonny, now, for short. You probably get that a lot.)
-Adam

Anonymous said...

HI! Ya my friend might be weird... Thanks for the link, I'll have to show it to her. I can't wait for your "sequel" if you do decide to like your story! I bet I'd like it! Alllsoo, you are in a completely different time zone than me... it's kind of weird... haha

-Nonny(Ya I sometimes get that.. if my name was Anonymous) =D

Nonny Mouse =D said...

Do you write comic strips? I think I'm writing too much on your blog, but I want to know. Everyone else has only written one comment, except me obviously... I was thinking of making a "newspaper" to give my friends, and there could be a comic section. I'm probably going to go to newspaper websites and look at the archives, but if you've written some already somewhere on the web my decision would be made. Don't worry, I'll be quiet from your blog soon!

Nonny Mouse =D

Adam Rex said...

Not really, Nonny. I made this comic to promote Smekday that you might have seen:
http://www.smekday.com/10reasons.html
That's about it, as of late.

Anonymous said...

Wow, nobody's been on this blog in a while. I wonder if you still read it, but I guess I'll find out.
My younger brother, who doesn't even like reading, was reading your book (he checked it out from the school library) and talking about it during a road trip. On the way back, he let me borrow it, and I read it cover to cover, laughing (or, in some cases, gasping or saying "Ohhhh!") the entire time. When my mom asked what was so funny, I found I couldn't really explain, so I got her to read the book also. J.Lo is absolutely hilarious, and sometimes I say quotes from him: I let my dog "into the out" instead of out and write "werefore you knowing it?" in my notebook at school for information that's not going to be on the test but is interesting anyway.
In conclusion, yours is an AMAZING book and has really cool illustrations too. I like the running Boov on smekday.com and the promotional comic is so funny. Love it!

Adam Rex said...

Hi Slushious! That's crazy, you having that name and me naming a car in my novel the same thing. What an almost unbelievable coincidence.
Anyway, thanks so much for writing. Messages like yours are the best part about being an author. Thanks to your brother, too.
Did you think no one had been on my blog in a while because you found this page through a web search? If you click the banner with Abraham SuperLincoln at the top you can see my more recent entries.
Take Care,
Adam

Anonymous said...

1. Yes, what a crazy coincidence! Slushious was also pretty much one of my favorite characters if a car counts as a character. Funny how whenever my name is Googled it says "Did you mean: slushies." You'd think it was more common of a name than that.
2. Thank YOU for writing! :)
3. Yeah, I did find this through a web search but I actually meant nobody's been on this Smekday blog-topic thing in a while, not your whole entire blog. If your whole entire blog was nine months old I'd probably assume you had a Bee explode in your computer or something and I wouldn't have posted my comment.

Adam Rex said...

Gotcha. Luckily all new comments get emailed to me, or I might have missed your message, Slushious.

Unknown said...

1. I and a group from the library I worked at were a little late in discovering your book (and I to your website) but we read it as a group and loved it.
2. I read it right before going to DisneyWorld,and had a new perspective of the whole park. Thanks
3. Will there ever be that follow up short story about J-Lo?

Adam Rex said...

Hi Arthur!

The paperback edition (out next month, most likely) will feature a new two-page story about J.Lo, and featuring Gratuity. I hope you like it. Apart from that, I'm always waiting for some new Smek story to dawn on me. I have to really feel like it's worth telling, or else I don't want to tell another story at all.

Thanks!