Here is the final cover art afrom the incredibly talented illustrator, @mcrockefeller for my newest middle grade horror novel titled THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR!
📖 ABOUT THE BOOK 📖

For fans of “Not Quite Ghost” and “Ghost Squad”, acclaimed middle grade author Ellen Oh of Spirit Hunters and an APALA Honoree delivers a new spooky novel about young hero Rory and the creepy house next door.

Home is where the sinister lives.

Rory Parker knows not to step a foot in, on, or around the house next door. He’s seen things creeping in the shadows, has had encounters with spirits, and lost a best friend to the house’s malevolence. But when his new neighbors, Jack and his lovable family, move into the house next door, Rory makes it his duty to protect them at all costs.

But the vicious forces lying within the house are plotting something evil, something that puts Jack’s little sister in extreme danger. Soon, Rory understands he’ll need the help of his new friend and some friendly ghosts in order to stand a chance at defeating whatever lurks within its walls for good. But what exactly lives in the house next door, and will Rory and Jack find out in time to save the day, or can its evil never be evicted?

📅 Releasing September 30th, 2025
💻 Available for pre-order now!

The following is an interview with Matt where he talks about how he approaches cover designs from the ground up, how the tone of the story influences art design, and how the cover evolved from start to finish.

1. What is the process in approaching a cover for a book?

For me, the first step is always to read the manuscript of the book I’m illustrating. I love to get a feel for the story, the setting, its characters, and any other details that could really make the cover feel unique and specific to the story the author has envisioned in the text. If I can get immersed in their world, it is always so much easier for me to get excited about conveying the story visually through the cover art. I always get so frustrated when I get a cover brief but don’t have access to the manuscript because it’s not ready yet! If I can read and give time to the story, the cover almost always is more fun to make and turns out better in the end.

My first step towards creating the art is thumbnailing– a process in which I often create dozens of tiny little rectangular, loose doodles that explore different concepts and scenarios for the cover. At this stage, the idea is to not get too wrapped up in details and really just let myself get any and all ideas out on the page. Finding something that works at this scale is the key to the cover working well once the art is fully fleshed out, but to most onlookers these drawings likely look like a bunch of scribbles!! Afterward, I’ll pick a handful of thumbs that feel like a good possible direction, scan them, and then use them as a foundation to create more detailed, digital sketches. At this stage I really try to consider the style and placement of the title and any other text that will need to appear on the cover as well as the overall lighting and mood of the piece. These sketches are the first art I will share with the designer or art director from the publisher that I am working with, who then will take them to the broader team to select which direction will make the strongest cover. Next I implement any notes/edits as I create a rough color sketch, while also finalizing the sizing, formatting, and bleed. Finally, it is time to create the final art! For this cover, my process involved printing out the sketch and using a light box to create pencil drawings that comprise several layers (Usually background+ characters) that I later compile and color digitally.

2. How much involvement does the author have in the cover process?

Typically, I have little to no direct communication with the author during this process. However, they will often fill out a cover form that provides many details or even concepts of what they would like to see on the cover. In Ellen’s case, she compiled so much wonderful information on both the setting and characters, including reference pics of actors or other real kids who might look a bit like who she was envisioning for each role. This is always SO SO helpful and an excellent resource that I will continue to reference all the way through to the end of the process. Once the ball is rolling on the art, the author will communicate with their editor and can give input and feedback on my sketches, which I will often receive alongside broader notes or edits from the team. Sometimes, the author will make special requests, or correct/ provide details on character appearance, setting, etc.

 

3. Can you share some initial sketches or other comps for the cover? What was your inspiration?

Having illustrated several of Ellen’s other fantastic middle grade books (many of which were also horror or contained horror elements), I really wanted to create something that could stand apart from the others but still convey that great sense of creepiness that oozes from all of her stories. For this one, I was really looking to do something with strong lighting that conveyed the dreadful feeling of peering down into the dark basement and not being sure of what shapes you can make out in the shadows. (you’ll see some of my other sketches focused on looking down rather than up as in the final art) I was coming up from the basement in my own house when I got the idea to reverse the perspective as if you are standing down there with all the creepies and looking up at those vulnerable kiddos at the top. I felt inspired by that super intense angle and the feeling it gave to the cover art, so I took a couple reference pics and started going from there!

4. Can you visually share how the cover evolved from a sketch to final?

 For this cover, the main changes that were made between the sketch and color sketch phase were the size and proportion of the characters at the top of the stairs (they needed to be more prominent). The one additional change that was made in the transition to final art was changing the water guns to a frying pan and tennis racket. While the water guns are present in the text, it was a good call to avoid anyone who thought the kids were holding actual guns when first glancing at the cover of the book. (thanks to Ellen for the suggestions!) I would say that the whole process from start to finish took roughly 20-25 hours including thumbnailing, sketching, the color sketch, edits, and final art.

For those educator’s looking for the YOU ARE HERE educator guide. Here it is YAH EducatorsGuide (2)!

I’m so excited about this new anthology that is coming out this fall! I cant wait to share it with all of you!! We Need Diverse Books is thrilled to announce our latest anthology, ON THE BLOCK, which follows the interconnected lives of multigenerational immigrant families residing within the same apartment building. The book will be released on October 22, 2024, from Crown Books for Young Readers. The narratives follow the lives of multigenerational immigrant families residing within the apartment building, including a new kid on the block, a Popsicle-bridge builder, a ghost hunter, a lion dancer — and their families, friends, and neighbors from all around the world.

“In reading the stories in On the Block, I found myself thinking back to the many wonderful things I learned as part of that community. The stories in this book are interrelated stories, much the way people in a building are interrelated neighbors. The narrators share an address, but they also intersect in other more interesting ways with the people who live on the other side of their living room walls. They all call their building space home. And the beauty of their shared home does not come from any single person, but instead from the sum of their experiences. I hope you’ll enjoy peeking in the apartment windows (metaphorically, of course) as much as I did,” said Meg Medina.

The collection is edited by WNDB CEO Ellen Oh and features stories by Tracey Baptiste, David Bowles, Adrianna Cuevas, Sayantani DasGupta, Debbi Michiko Florence, Adam Gidwitz, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Lê, Ellen Oh, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Andrea Wang, and Jasmine Warga. “We can’t wait for readers to discover On the Block, a celebration of immigrant life and what it means to find your home,” said Ellen Oh. “Not only is this book a perfect companion to our first anthology, Flying Lessons and Other Stories, but these collections feature inclusive stories that are both timely and timeless.”

WNDB has published four other critically acclaimed anthologies with Crown Books for Young Readers, including FRESH INK, THE HERO NEXT DOOR, and A UNIVERSE OF WISHES. The organization’s first collection, FLYING LESSONS AND OTHER STORIES, was edited by Ellen Oh and received four industry starred reviews. Since 2016, WNDB has sent thousands of copies of FLYING LESSONS and its other anthologies to students in need nationwide. WNDB remains committed to providing diverse literature to all readers.

Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee is out in the world!!

@theellenoh

When readers remind me that i wrote a romance and are demanding more. #collidingworldsofminalee #yaromance #booktok #marrymyhusbandsoundtrack

♬ The Journey – Kelley McRae

Happy 2024 Year of the Dragon!

I’m excited that my new YA release, COLLIDING WORLDS OF MINA LEE, is out this January 23rd! Cover art by the fabulous Audrey Mok! And I have some preorder swag for those of you interested in getting some exclusive CW content! It includes:

1. Two character stickers – art by the youngest Oh who is a webtoon artist and you can see his 2 brilliant webcomics here.
2. A beautiful art card by the amazing Kelly Wang who was also the brilliant illustrator of my Dragon Egg Princess character cards. She out did herself this time with this gorgeous art piece playing off the aha Take on Me video which is the inspiration of CW.
3. A signed bookplate made to look like the tablet Mina draws on designed by my brilliant youngest Oh.

To enter for this exclusive preorder swag, all you have to do is preorder Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee from the following:

1. Preorder from my local indie the amazing Loyalty Bookstore in Washington, DC for a signed copy of CW as well as all of the swag!
2. Preorder from the wonderful Belmont Books in Boston, MA for a signed bookplate and swag!

Preorder now while supplies last!

My TedxTalk can be watched here.

What a wonderful experience to present with these brilliant, amazing women who all killed it! It was a lot of work and stress but well worth it to have listened and laughed along with a wonderful supportive audience. I will be forever grateful to have had this opportunity. You can watch all of these fantastic TedxTalks by searching for TedxBethesdaWomen 2023.

I’m doing a TedXTalk on October 12th at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD. There are still some tickets for a wonderful day of great talks and conversations.

I’m so excited that HARU ZOMBIE DOG HERO is out in the world! I’ve always wanted to write a zombie book, and I’ve always wanted to write a dog book. So of course I wrote  a zombie dog book! And I’m happy to be writing horror again but at the heart of Haru is a story about the love between a boy and his dog.

And if you read The Week Junior, I am proud to be an Author Ambassador this summer for their summer of reading program! I’m very grateful that they also shared a little bit of Haru!

Airports are where people and lives briefly touch, interact and then move on.  In these twelve interwoven short stories by different authors set in a Chicago airport, Asian–American children and teens interact with each other while awaiting flights.  Unfortunately, sometimes when they encounter other passengers these children are met with racism, leading to the overarching question: are you where you belong? This collection of powerful, yet funny stories is a great start to a conversation about both listening and speaking up in order to find one’s place in society.  

On April 26, at 10:30AM, I will be presenting at the Politics and Prose Bookstore on Connecticut Avenue, DC!  This event is free to attend and open to the public, however, reservations are required for school groups interested in attending. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis.