Cyn Balog has glowing, otherworldly covers that always attract my attention. This fits, since her latest novel, Sleepless, is about a Sandman who falls for a human girl who is grieving the loss of her boyfriend and experiencing terribly sad dreams. How to express that in a cover? Here's Cyn to tell us how it came together:

"When I was writing Sleepless, I'd always envisioned the logo for Dreamworks (right), with the boy fishing off of the moon. I had always hoped that the moon would play into my book a little, because I am just a sucker for the moon (my first name means 'belonging to the moon'). And I knew my third book, Starstruck, was going to have a tie to the sun and the stars, so I thought I could be all about the celestial. Maybe I'd find a way to write about clouds and comets for my next books. I also hoped that Delacorte would try to keep me in a brand, and would try to pull in elements from the cover of my first book, Fairy Tale, so that all my books would look like they were from the same author.
 

"The designer of the book cover did all these things, but took it one step further. First, she kept the black background and the same fonts as in the cover of Fairy Tale (left). Then she put the moon in the upper left corner, signifying Eron, the Sandman, and a flower in the lower right corner, signifying Julia, the mortal girl he falls in love with. Since each chapter the narration alternates between these two characters, the moon and flower picture are carried through, and each chapter has a picture of either the moon or a flower, depending on who is speaking. It's a very nice treatment, and I think it adds a lot to the book.

 
"I've never had to suggest too many changes to my designer because she's so good at coming up with really striking cover designs, but the one thing I did suggest was changing the look of the moon. Originally, it was a full moon, but I thought it looked more iconic as a crescent instead of an orb. I've always felt very lucky because my covers have always taken my breath away at first glance, and the cover for Sleepless was no exception!"

Thanks, Cyn! I think a crescent moon is more iconic, too—what a lovely change. I adore it when characters are represented this way, and readers can come to know the meaning of the cover through the text. Of course, covers also have to leap out at you before you know the story, and I think this one accomplishes that, too.

What do you guys think?

Melissa Walker is the author of four Young Adult novels, including the Violet trilogy and Lovestruck Summer. She is co-creator of the popular teen newsletter I Heart Daily and the new awkward-stage blog Before You Were Hot. Her author blog, where Cover Stories originated, is melissacwalker.com.