In the midst of her first Storystorm in 2015, Sarah Lynne Reul was picking up her daughter from French lessons (her husband is French with family in France) when she began receiving a slew of text messages from friends checking in to say they were safe. She had no idea what was going on. Turning on the radio, she heard scant details about the terrorist attacks in Paris.
“I walked into the after-school building full of people with family in France, and it seemed nobody else was yet aware of the attacks. I couldn’t decide if it was helpful or harmful for me to tell them about it, since I had so little information on what had happened.”
She recalled how everyone was glued to the TV during September 11, even though the news anchors kept repeating themselves, trying to reach conclusions before the mesmerized, worried audience.
While she was driving home, Sarah could tell that her daughter knew something was going on, even though the radio was off. “She told me she’d make a forcefield to protect everyone we knew, and it made my heart ache. I jotted that down when we got home as the idea of the day. I kept coming back to the concept, and a few weeks later created the first draft.”
The result is THE BREAKING NEWS, her debut picture book as author-illustrator. And today Sarah is revealing the cover with the story behind its evolution.
Thanks for hosting my cover reveal, Tara.
We went through a bunch of different iterations for the cover—my editor, Claire Dorsett, and my art director, Anne Diebel, provided lots of guidance and feedback throughout the process.
I began the process for the cover after I had finished all of the interior art. The original working title had been “THE BAD NEWS”, which felt a bit too negative, and for a while, we were playing with the title “ONE SMALL THING”, so you’ll see those names in some of the early sketches below. We eventually settled on “THE BREAKING NEWS” as a final title, which we all felt works best for the book.
Here are some of my earliest sketches for the cover.
I liked the one that I had circled here—I felt like it showed a problem for the main character to solve, but ultimately it didn’t show a connection to the actual news media, which plays a pretty big role in the book.
So I tried a few options that put the focus on newspapers and/or TV, as well as the reaction of the family.
We ended up going with a variation of the middle option, and then we went back and forth on the framing. Here’s a sample mockup from Anne:
Finally, I worked on softening the expressions and exploring options for the colors and the hand lettered title to find the right combination for the final.
Fascinating glimpse into the process for this book, Sarah, thank you! And having been lucky enough to read it, I can say that it sums up the story beautifully.
THE BREAKING NEWS by Sarah Lynne Reul makes it debut April 10, 2018 from Roaring Brook Press. Mark your calendars, eager readers!
35 comments
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August 9, 2017 at 8:11 am
Judy Sobanski
Congrats Sarah! Looks like a great book to help kids understand some tough events that can happen in our world. Looking forward to reading it!
August 9, 2017 at 8:17 am
Rajani LaRocca
Congratulations, Sarah! I love this cover, and I love this book!
August 9, 2017 at 8:20 am
Sherri Jones Rivers
Sounds like a much needed book today. Loved learning how real events prompted this story, and how you worked to,find just the right words and images.
August 9, 2017 at 8:21 am
Sheri Dillard
Great post! Thanks for sharing your process and inspiration, Sarah.
August 9, 2017 at 8:37 am
bgonsar
Congrats on the release date! Love seeing the art progression.
August 9, 2017 at 8:58 am
maryzychowicz
I’m marking my calendar. Looking forward to reading it!
August 9, 2017 at 9:03 am
Wendy Greenley
Books like this may be the force field we all need. Thanks for sharing your journey, Sarah!
August 9, 2017 at 9:36 am
carole calladine
Thank you for sharing your story and illustrations. I think the cover is great! Eye-catching! Relevant. Looking forward to reading your story.
August 9, 2017 at 9:53 am
danielledufayet
Thanks for sharing and congrats! Looking very forward to reading the “breaking News”. Merci!
August 9, 2017 at 9:57 am
Linda Hofke
This would have been a great book for my daughter when she was young. She took an early interest in the news. That brought positive and negative feelings, depending on what was reported.
It looks like you’ve done a great job with the illustrations. Thanks for sharing your process for making the cover.
I look forward to reading this book.
August 9, 2017 at 10:02 am
kathalsey
Love seeing your process and congrats on your debut and an important book!
August 9, 2017 at 10:39 am
kirsticall
Sarah! I love the cover, and it was a privilege to read one of your earlier versions of this story. LOVELY.
August 9, 2017 at 10:48 am
Brian Yanish
A great look into the evolution of an idea. Thanks for sharing Sarah. Congratulations.
August 9, 2017 at 11:02 am
Maria Barbella
Sarah Congratulations! on your April 10, 2018, “Breaking News” I’m looking forward to reading it with my grandchildren.
August 9, 2017 at 11:27 am
Barbara Raff
I am thrilled with this book! I was lucky to see it early
August 9, 2017 at 11:59 am
Cover Reveal for THE BREAKING NEWS | sarah lynne reul
[…] Here are some early sketches below – to see the final cover and to learn more about the process and inspiration, check out the cover reveal post here! […]
August 9, 2017 at 12:01 pm
Manju B. Howard (@ManjuBeth)
Great concept and cover art! Thanks for sharing your process in creating the perfect cover.
August 9, 2017 at 12:05 pm
Ilona
Thanks for this peek behind the scenes! And I can’t wait to read the book.
August 9, 2017 at 12:11 pm
chardixon47
Congrats, Sarah! Your cover art is ideal. I’m looking forward to reading the story 🙂
August 9, 2017 at 12:18 pm
LeeAnn Rizzuti
Story ideas come from the most unusual standout moments in our lives, don’t they? Congratulations, Sarah, and thank you for sharing this part of your creative process.
August 9, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Jessie Oliveros
Can’t wait to read this!
August 9, 2017 at 2:00 pm
mariagianferrari
This sounds like an amazing and much-needed book. Congrats to you, Sarah! BTW, April 10th is my BD and your book BD 🙂
August 9, 2017 at 2:21 pm
David McMullin
I love seeing how much work goes into every little detail.
August 9, 2017 at 3:37 pm
Sarah Lynne Reul
Thanks so much Tara – I really appreciate the lovely post!
August 9, 2017 at 4:53 pm
Sheri Radovich
Thanks for offering this look into book creation. Sounds like a way to break into the subject and treat it several ways.
August 9, 2017 at 5:32 pm
Cathy Biggerstaff
How exciting to see a success on the picture book front and one so needed in our society today. Blessings to you and to your future writing.
August 9, 2017 at 5:36 pm
Carrie Charley Brown
Hooray, Sarah! I’m happy to hear that this story will make it into print! 🙂 I’ll be eager to see how it changed since critiquing. Congrats!
August 9, 2017 at 6:58 pm
Hannah Holt
Love it! Looking forward to this one!
August 9, 2017 at 7:12 pm
Kaye Baillie
I love the cover and the whole idea of the book. Can’t wait to read it.
August 9, 2017 at 8:33 pm
Denita Johnson
I love the cover and thanks for showing all the work that goes in to it. Can’t wait to read it.
August 10, 2017 at 9:16 am
aliciaminor
Another breaking news! Congrats Sarah! I wish you more books to come. I love the title and the waiting begins…
August 10, 2017 at 10:16 am
Cathy Ballou Mealey
So interesting to see the evolution of a cover design! Congrats Sarah! Can’t wait to read this.
August 11, 2017 at 7:22 pm
Jen Betton
Great post Sarah & Tara! And congratulations Sarah!! After getting a sneak peek at the book, it’s really fun to see the process behind it!
August 14, 2017 at 5:12 pm
Carol Gordon Ekster
Congrats, Sarah! So happy for your success. And thanks, Tara, for being so supportive of our #kidlit creatives.
August 14, 2017 at 9:25 pm
seschipper
Wow! Love reading about all of the “magic” that takes place prior to publication! Congratulations! 🙂