Cover Reveal: The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Book One: Return to Coney Island by Melissa Stoller

I’m so excited to announce the cover reveal for my debut chapter book, THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION – BOOK ONE: RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND. The book releases on July 25, 2017!

It’s very appropriate that Becky is hosting this reveal because I wrote the first early draft of the manuscript during the Chapter Book Challenge in 2016! I participated in the challenge as an author new to the process of writing chapter books. I really enjoyed spending the month brainstorming ideas and writing alongside others who were pursuing the same goals and facing the same obstacles. Next, I enrolled in The Chapter Book Alchemist course with Hillary Homzie through Mira Reisberg’s Children’s Book Academy. Hillary’s online course and critique helped me with character development, pacing a chapter book, and so much more. I subsequently enrolled in the Chapter Book Blueprint course, further refining my work. In Chapter Book Challenge 2017, I made great progress on the manuscript for Book Two: THE LIBERTY BELL TRAIN RIDE!

I’m so grateful to the Chapter Book Challenge community – everyone is incredibly supportive and it's heartwarming to know that an entire group of like-minded authors is rooting for you to succeed. So thank you to Becky, and to the rest of this wonderful community. I can't wait for next year’s challenge and for ChaBooCha Lite in September!

So here it is, the cover, illustrated by the very talented Callie Metler-Smith. Callie is also my publisher at Clear Fork Publishing. I’m thankful to Callie for publishing this book series, and for contributing her beautiful art. I love how Callie captured the Cyclone Roller Coaster that’s featured in the story. The Cyclone is encased in the snow globe and it also forms the background of the cover, representing the worlds inside and outside the snow globe. I feel like Callie read my mind about what Emma and Simon should look like – their expressions are perfect. And I’m so happy with the fonts and the glittery snow in the globe and at the upper left corner. Callie includes so many evocative details . . . I can’t wait for you all to see the inside illustrations as well!

I’m thrilled to include a sneak peek of the back cover draft text as well:

They thought it was an ordinary sleepover . . .

When nine-year-old twins Emma and Simon shake a snow globe from their grandmother’s enchanted collection, they’re transported back to Coney Island, New York, on June 24, 1928. According to family legend, that’s the day their great-grandparents meet. But if events don't work exactly as they’re supposed to, the meeting won't take place and the twins might never be born. After a day of adventures – from the Cyclone Roller Coaster to the boardwalk arcade and finally to the fateful Coney Island trolley ride – will the twins help make it happen? VOYAGE OF THE IDEhelp the LibertmLOBE]ringing the Liberty Bell to California. When trouble brews, will the twins help the LibertVOYAGE OF THE IDEhelp the LibertmLOBE]ringing the Liberty Bell to California. When trouble brews, will the twins help the Libert

VOYAGE OF THE IDEhelp the LibertmLOBE]ringing the Liberty Bell to California. When trouble brews, will the twins help the LibertVOYAGE OF THE IDEhelp the LibertmLOBE]ringing the Liberty Bell to California. When trouble brews, will the twins help the LibertVOYAGE OF THE IDEhelp the LibertmLOBE]ringing the Liberty Bell to California. When trouble brews, will the twins help the LibertVOYAGE OF THE IDEhelp the LibertmLOBE]ringing the Liberty Bell to California. When trouble brews, will the twins help the Libert

I hope you’ll follow my writing journey at www.MelissaStoller.com and sign up for my blog at www.MelissaStoller.com/blog. And of course l hope you look for my book starting on July 25^th!

Cheers to all the authors working on their own chapter books! I look forward to reading your stories!

*****  

Melissa Stoller is an avid collector of snow globes, sea shells, stories, and other treasures. She lives in New York City with her husband, three daughters, and a mischievous puppy. THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION – BOOK ONE: RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND is Melissa’s debut chapter book. Her debut picture book, OLIVE’S MAGIC PAINTBRUSH, will be published in March, 2018, also by Clear Fork Publishing/Spork. Melissa is delighted to be a Regional Ambassador for the Chapter Book Challenge!

Connect with Melissa at:

Facebook – Melissa Berger Stoller

Twitter - @MelissaStoller

Instagram – Melissa_Stoller

Pinterest – Melissa_Stoller 

Teapot Tales: Volume 3 cover reveal! #TeapotTales #TT3

Here's the promised cover reveal for "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales (Volume 3)."

I took all of the votes off of Facebook, through e-mail and here in the comments and totalled them together.

The final vote was:

#1 – 1 votes

#2 – 4 votes

#3 – 0 votes

#4 – 6 votes

#5 – 6 votes

That left me with the tie-breaking vote. This was hard for me, because I actually believe very strongly that the first 3 covers were closer in style to the original two Teapot Tales anthologies, so I am kind of sad that none of them won the vote. So, as the vote was between the last two covers, #4 and #5, I decided to take many things into consideration, including aesthetics, fitting in with previous anthologies styles, and how the colour of the background will look when printed. #5 has the trees which are more like previous anthology covers, BUT the colour was much brighter and glaring than previous covers, which had more muted colours. (Yes, I printed the two covers up to see how they'd look on glossy paper.) In the end, after much consideration, I voted for:

#4

So that means that the new cover for Teapot Tales volume 3 is:

I'm still a little bit torn because we had an equal number of votes between each. (I really thought one would win out over the other.)

I was thinking that I could make an extra anthology as an extended version with a couple of extra stories in it and some extra pictures, using one of the covers, while using the other for the non-extended version. (That would mean more work for me though, as we have very few pictures at the moment!)

I'd love everyone's thoughts on this. If you voted for the #5, did you have your heart set on it? Would you like an extended version to be available, so that both covers could be used?