Buzzard, the debut novel by Inez Ray, is a dystopian novel set in a future where fertility is tightly controlled, abortion is outlawed, and corporations wield enormous power over reproductive rights. Imprisoned midwife Mae Bastet uncovers a dangerous conspiracy involving mysterious pregnancies among teenage drone pilots, forcing her to choose between her own freedom and her commitment to protecting others. Blending political urgency with high-stakes suspense, Buzzard explores bodily autonomy, surveillance, and the enduring strength of family bonds.
Buzzard will be published on September 22, 2026, by Bindery Bookz and is available for preorder now.
Debutiful is honored to reveal the cover of Buzzard, designed by Charlotte Strick and featuring illustrations by Kwonny, along with a Q&A with Ray about its creation.
While writing the book, did you have any ideas for what you wanted the cover to look like?
I thought for a long time that I was going to self-publish the book, and I always pictured having some kind of graphic uterus art with maybe some flowers and animals. I think that was what we originally discussed in early emails. Then Charlotte at Bindery found this Seattle Artist, Kwonny, that does this big wood-block murals with animals and skulls and I fell in love with her art. They asked her to come up with some options for us.
We knew from jump that the color yellow was going to be a big part of the cover.
Can you explain what the design process was like once you started working with your publishing team?
I was surprised to have so much input on the cover. I had heard stories from other authors with other publishing horses that that their publishers just sent them the cover and they didn’t get any say at all. But with Bindery they asked for my opinion at every step. I had a lot of control and input. When I had an issue or wanted something changed they were awesome about it.
When we first signed the deal, they sent me a questionnaire about what I saw on the cover. I sent them a few links to some cool art and covers that I liked.
They sent me a video presentation about the artist Kwonny in Seattle. I said yes I’d love for her to take a stab at it. And then we set a meeting for a few months later when they had some stuff back from her.
Originally I was really into this other option Kwonny sent. It looks nothing like the cover we have now! I don’t want to describe it here because maybe I’ll use it someday for something else *wink*. That second meeting was a super long one but we looked at all the options she sent and we looked at them against other books in the genre that my book would possibly sit next to on the shelf.
We looked at genre expectations and color. We watched at Charlotte moved things around in real time and made new images as we were talking. It was really cool to watch an artist work like that.
We eventually decided on this more symbolistic cover because it had more of a dystopian feel than the other ones. I had never thought before about genre when considering a cover, but it is actually super important when thinking about marketing.
I learned through this process that you have to think about your ideal reader, and what would appeal to them, graphically. It’s kind of like the opposite of writing. You think first about your reader, then about what kind of art would appeal to them and make them pick up the book. Then you think about what the book contains. I mean, how do you dial down a whole novel to one image? It feels impossible. My brain does not work like that. I was glad to have so many people on that call with a lot more experience in marketing.
What was it like seeing your finalized cover for the first time?
It gave me the butterflies! I could tell we were getting close when I got an email and was immediately emotional about seeing the image. Then we worked on it for a few more rounds adding shapes and adjusting colors before it was perfect. Originally the nipple in the bottom right was a bright pale pink color and I had them adjust the temperature of the pink so it was more of a skin color. I was so excited when I saw that nipple though! I knew that they were on my team about not chickening out on the cover.
How does the cover work to convey what the book is all about?
Everyone on the team will say something different. But to me, the cover puts a target on people’s bodies. It’s very confrontational. The book is all about autonomy and what it means to own yourself and your body; the ways in which we give away our power and the ways in which it is stolen from us before we even realize it’s gone. The cover grabs you with the eye and the nipple and puts a target right in the middle of the heart of the book. It definitely highlights the main themes of the book in that way. It’s very symbolistic.