Designing From Cover to Cover

Stephanie Yang: I work at Scholastic designing book covers and book interiors for middle grade and young adult novels. I’ve probably designed about 300 books in my career so far.

SY: My first step is to read the book’s manuscript. It’s usually a rough draft because my design process starts about a year before the publishing date. Once I have a good sense of the story and characters, I reach out to the book’s editor. The editor is my closest partner throughout the process because they’re my connection to the author. I always want to make sure I’m staying true to the author’s work. Then I hire artists to work on the covers.

SY: The Missing Magic of Sparrow Xia, written and illustrated by Leia Ham. The world-building in the story is amazing, and there is beautiful art on almost every page. Our cover design features embossed gold foil to create a look that feels magical, like the story. We also incorporated stained edges, which is a big trend in book design right now. The edges are the white parts of the pages that are visible when a book is closed. Our book is detailed with blue-stained edges that are decorated with art. I’m really excited to continue that magical look in book two of the series.

SY: As a kid, I loved reading and drawing. I thought I would be an author and illustrator when I grew up. In college I studied painting and sculpture, and I had a job making posters for the theater department. I liked turning narratives into visual images. When I graduated, I gravitated toward book design positions because of my own experience as a reader. My first job was working as a junior designer in publishing.

SY: Working with artists! I get to hire illustrators for nearly every project. We collaborate really closely for three to six months on rough sketches and revisions to perfect the final artwork for the printer. I love having a career that helps me stay connected to current artists and their artwork!