I just met a guy who has ghostwritten a few of the newer Hardy Boys books. He says that he's given a picture of what the cover will look like and it's his job to write the entire story based on that.
How is it harder than trying to write a novel without the constraint of fitting in what's on the cover?
Constraints often make creativity easier. Tell me to write a Hardy Boys novel and I won't know where to begin. Show me a cover with a lighthouse and some treasure on the beach and stories begin to suggest themselves.
It does take some for sure, but it's actually in a fine, long tradition of commercial writing -- it wasn't unusual for pulp mags in the first half of the 20th century to get a big name illustrator and then have a writer develop a story from it. See venerable Wikipedia for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine#Illustrators
This seems like an exaggeration. What does the person who creates the cover illustration get to work off of? Surely there's at least a short treatment or something.
Maybe, I didn't talk to him for that long. But it makes sense that they'd focus group the cover and title first since that's what makes most kids choose the book.
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I just met a guy who has ghostwritten a few of the newer Hardy Boys books. He says that he's given a picture of what the cover will look like and it's his job to write the entire story based on that.
Damn, that must take incredible creativity, akin to being asked to code a website from seeing a screenshot of the privacy policy.
How is it harder than trying to write a novel without the constraint of fitting in what's on the cover?
Constraints often make creativity easier. Tell me to write a Hardy Boys novel and I won't know where to begin. Show me a cover with a lighthouse and some treasure on the beach and stories begin to suggest themselves.
It does take some for sure, but it's actually in a fine, long tradition of commercial writing -- it wasn't unusual for pulp mags in the first half of the 20th century to get a big name illustrator and then have a writer develop a story from it. See venerable Wikipedia for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine#Illustrators
This seems like an exaggeration. What does the person who creates the cover illustration get to work off of? Surely there's at least a short treatment or something.
Maybe, I didn't talk to him for that long. But it makes sense that they'd focus group the cover and title first since that's what makes most kids choose the book.
I'd be willing to bet the same is true for adults.