A bit late, but I found this too cute and funny not to share.
Covers of Classics: a Genre Mash-Up
I’m excited to reveal my new project of diversion.
I majored in interdisciplinary studies, which is a fancy way of saying “I couldn’t decide on just one major, so I proposed my own to the university, and they accepted.” I called my curriculum “Visual Communication.” It included studying the written word (literature, writing, and editing) as well as two-dimensional art (design, art history, and photography). In college, I focused on writing and had some short stories and poetry published. When I graduated, I worked as a designer, doing some editing from time to time to distract myself. Now I’m focusing on editing, and it’s no exaggeration when I call it my dream job. When I help writers polish their prose, I feel like a superhero.
And yet I still need to feed that visual side. So I came up with a new project, and I’m really hoping that you’ll collaborate with me! Introducing:
So here’s where you come in.
I’ve chosen 20 classic books and 20 different genres. It’s up to you to pick the combinations. I’ll choose my favorites from your suggestions, and I’ll post them on Wednesdays.
Note: I won’t be posting every Wednesday. The third Wednesday of the month is reserved for Query Workshops, and I can’t guarantee I’ll always get a chance to do the designs.
Why am I doing this?
It’s a distraction, it’s a chance for creative collaboration, and it’s good practice for me to keep my design skills from getting rusty. It’s also meant to treat my perfectionism. I will give myself a time limit for each design, and when the time is up, my design is finished. No endless tweaking for these. You’ll be seeing some less-than-perfect designs, but hopefully I’ll grow as a person by letting go of my need for perfection.
The Choices
Choices that have been crossed out are pairings I’ve already designed. However, if you contribute your own, you can choose from any of the two columns below.
| 1 | Alice in Wonderland | Adventure/Epic |
| 2 | Anne of Green Gables | Chick Lit |
| 3 | Beowulf | Comedy |
| 4 | The Count of Monte Cristo | Drama |
| 5 | Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Fantasy |
| 6 | Gulliver’s Travels | Historical Fiction |
| 7 | Hamlet | Historical Romance |
| 8 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | |
| 9 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Literary Classic |
| 10 | Jane Eyre | Literary Contemporary |
| 11 | Memoir | |
| 12 | Les Miserables | Illustrated Middle Grade |
| 13 | Metamorphosis | Mystery |
| 14 | The Odyssey | Science Fiction |
| 15 | Peter Pan | Self-Help |
| 16 | Pride & Prejudice | Textbook |
| 17 | Pygmalion | Thriller |
| 18 | The Scarlet Letter | Travel Guide |
| 19 | Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Women’s Fiction |
| 20 | Treasure Island | YA Contemporary |
Example
My first request came as a result of asking a few people to pick a number 1–20. They chose 11 & 8—The Jungle Book as a Horror novel.
Results
I’ll blog each mash-up I design, then link to them below. If you’d like to participate, please read on. Otherwise choose your mash-ups and comment with them below! Your pairing could be next!
- The Jungle Book—Horror
Designers and Illustrators—Want to participate?
Please do! Just post yours on your blog or website, including a link back to this page. Don’t forget to tell us which pairing it is. You can choose one of the suggestions given from commenters, or you can decide on a pairing yourself. There are no restrictions. All of you could do a Chick Lit Beowulf if you wanted. Then use the form below to give me the link so I can add it to the list of results. Note, if you post yours to a WordPress blog, I will also reblog your contribution.
Note: By entering, you accept responsibility and ownership over your artwork. If your artwork should be found to be a copyright infringement, I am not responsible. All of the titles above are in the public domain. It’s up to you to get permission to use any images or fonts in your design.
Slushproofing your Query pt. 2: Getting all the Blocks
Max Wirestone gives great query advice. Don’t forget, agents and assistants skim queries. They’ve got to! They read hundreds per week!
Let me engineer a made-up query that has an element I saw in several entries.
Emily was worried. She knew that meeting Nick’s parents would be a minefield. She couldn’t ski, she couldn’t ice skate. She was going to be completely out of place– from the sounds of it, Christmas with the Millers was nothing but a sequence of winter sports. But she really started to lose it when she discovered that Nick’s mom was in the Daughters of the Confederacy.
I ran into a query like this (that was actually probably more subtle) and I read it three times before I got the subtext. Which is here is: Nick is white, Emily is black. The book is an interracial romance.
The author doesn’t state that, though. They imply it. They artfully suggest it. But they don’t state it out right. Instead, it’s hinted at it in a single, important…
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Manuscript Format Template (free download)
Have you read my posts on Formatting your Novel Manuscript? If not, read part one here and part two here.
I surveyed forty literary agents in October of 2014 to ask them which font they preferred for submitted manuscripts. The clear winner was Times New Roman. Many agents read pages on e-readers or mobile devices, and TNR is a web-safe, system-installed, serif. Using TNR allows them to read pages without changing formatting first, but it is also an easy font to change.
Download the MS Format TEMPLATE.
Right-click the link above and “save as.” I saved it as a Word Document, even though I personally use Pages, so if there are any issues, please report them to me! Our PC isn’t working, and I don’t have Word on my Macbook Pro.
This template uses paragraph styles, which you can import into any preexisting document. Otherwise save a copy of MS Format TEMPLATE, rename it, and begin typing or pasting your manuscript.
Read through all of the instructions on the template, and save it as-is to keep as a reference. Do not type into the original TEMPLATE—type in a duplicate or copy file.
Copyright Notice:
This template was created by me for personal or educational use only. You may share it with others—simply give them this link or share the link on social media using the buttons below. You may not pass this template off as your own or charge anyone to use it. You may not upload the template to any website or blog.
Of course, you have full ownership of your own manuscript, whether you use my template or paragraph styles to format it.
Lara Willard 