Cover coverage
Whoa! Opinions about my cover designs have flooded in and they were fantastically useful.
Covers are tough. They have to evoke the book and also jump off the shelf. My friend Paul who designs a lot of wonderful covers (including the all-morse code cover of my first book) says that the cover is the product.
Cover #1 was the first design but it always felt a little fiddly and disjointed to me. #2 was a second swipe at the same idea: a pastiche of my life done in a rough-hewn sort of way but more of a neutral tone. #s 3 and 4 felt sort of 1960s to me and I liked that for some reason. They're probably not appropriate as the cover of EDM but I quite like them in the abstract. #5 is the most traditional in a way and could be any sort of book (Also we want to down play the New York aspect of the book. My previous publisher thought that was an important hook but it meant that Barnes & Noble has been shelving the book in the New York section where I really don't think it belongs).
The current tally, between comments and emails, were:
41 votes for #2
32 votes for #1,
14 votes for #5
3 votes for #4,
3 votes for the original hard-cover design and
0 votes for #3.
So we'll be going with #3. I am far more handsome than any of you people are willing to acknowledge and I am sure the general public will agree. And we want to keep the book a culty sort of thing and to sell it to as few people as possible.
Actually, three of the votes for #2 were mine, my editor's and the Hyperion art director's and so that will probably be more or less what the book will look like. Many of you gave excellent reasons for your choices and helped me a lot in figuring out where to go with the final design. It'll be a little brighter and more colorful and may have a couple of different drawings thereupon. I'm not sure if the paper will be textured or if the background will be a picture of the texture. The first is more authentic but more likely to get grubby in the hands of undecided book buyers.
Anyway. my publisher has decided that the paperback will come out a few months after The Creative License, early spring '06, so the hard cover will endure until then.
Thanks again for all your help. It was an exciting experiment.
Next, I'd like your help on what sort of sandwich I should have for lunch.
A record of my exploration into all aspects of drawing, illustrated journaling, creativity, and the inspiring aspects of art. By the author of "Everyday Matters," "The Creative License", and "An Illustrated Life" and other books.
Comments
not that you're REALLY asking, but yesterday i saw a brie and mango chutney sandwich that made me stop and take another look....
Posted by: crissy | December 17, 2004 12:14 PM
grilled cheese is always good.
Posted by: Serena | December 17, 2004 12:20 PM
sandwich: one fat enough to leave traces in your notebook. :)
Posted by: Karl | December 17, 2004 12:22 PM
thanks for the tally - i got confused after reading about 10 and gave up. sandwich... you are own your own, very funny... in ny a pastrami on rye from Katz... best of luck. patty
Posted by: patty | December 17, 2004 12:26 PM
A cheese and marmalade toasie is something I've not had in a while. Maybe it's time to blow the dust off the toasted sandwhich maker.
Posted by: Michael Nobbs | December 17, 2004 12:47 PM
You can't go wrong with a PB&J. Strawberry jam without seeds, of course and JIF peanutbutter.
Posted by: Lu | December 17, 2004 01:37 PM
Sorry Danny - couldn't get your Web site loaded yesterday or the day before, so I'm seeing the covers only today. So these comments are too late to matter, but anyway: You are indeed a handsome fellow, but I'm not sure the illustration on cover #3 does you justice. I was partial to #1 and #5, but I also liked the cover of the hardcover version - although that's probably because I'm averse to change. Despite my reservations about your chosen cover, I will encourage friends to buy the paperback and will give it as gifts.
Re sandwiches - tuna never disappoints, and cheese and tomato is always reliable.
A personal note: My agent (we shook hands over the telephone; contract will be signed in January) is enthusiastic about my book, and is thinking it will find a publisher quickly and will have a Fall 2006 release.
Posted by: Terry Murray | December 17, 2004 01:54 PM
peanut butter, tomato, red onion, greek olives, lettuce and mayo on toasted Italian bread. Sounds weird, but oh is it yummy!
I still think you should go with #1 if you want to sell a lot of books.
Posted by: Sarah Macak | December 17, 2004 02:51 PM
Sandwich? Have your usual ...
The whole schmear ... on wry.
And I'm confident your cover will be fabulous, no matter which way it turns out.
Posted by: Karen Winters | December 17, 2004 05:06 PM
Grilled cheese with tomato soup.
Yummy.
Glad you went with numero dos.
Posted by: Donavan | December 17, 2004 09:20 PM
I love that you were probably just kidding, but have already gotten ten OOhh-hey-here's-my-idea-
for-a-sandwhich messages.
Hey, speaking of sandwiches, I highly recommend grilled chicken, cheese and brown mustard.
Posted by: Heather | December 18, 2004 02:12 PM
Re: Where your book gets shelved
When I went to my local bookstore to buy Everyday Matters, I couldn't find it anywhere I thought of looking. They had it shelved in the "Death & Dying" section. Go figure.
Posted by: Susan | December 18, 2004 08:30 PM
More on which-shelf-are-they-hiding-it-on:
I found 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (correspondence between the late Hanff and a 2nd hand bookshop in London - clearly biography, no?) under 'relationships' in the psychology section.
I found Baumgartner's Bombay by Anita Desai, a novel, in travel.
And finally, Lewis Percy, by the very prolific British novelist Anita Brookner? It was shelved in fiction - but under P for Percy. ("Anita Brookner" by Lewis Percy?)
Just *had* to share...
Posted by: Terry Murray | December 19, 2004 04:11 PM
Baked chicken with ranch-style sauce and lettuce on homemade black olive bread roll. My reason: it's YUM!
Very cool that you got all that feedback!! Makes you more aware that there are a lot of people out there who love your writing and art, doesn't it?
Thanks for involving everyone! It was great to read other opinions!
Posted by: Amy | December 21, 2004 09:28 PM