One More Sleep
It is Wednesday evening in Guangzhou. When Ping wakes up tomorrow, she will begin her journey back to Houston.
Meanwhile, I am doing battle with the publisher about the book cover for the second edition of our book. We know how to create covers that will sell books, I was told. We don't like the cover that is on your book now. That cover won't inspire someone to pick up the book and purchase it. We will put that cover in our file and create a new cover that will sell books.
So they sent a book cover to me. It was created by one of their graphic artists. It was selected by the creative team from three that he had created. My reaction to it? This is just a mess; a bunch of clutter. I would never be inspired to pick up this book if I saw it in a bookstore. I looked at the other two covers that were created and they were even worse.
By way of comparison, my reaction to the cover of the first edition of the book was that it was stunning. I would find it to be irresistible if I saw it in a bookstore. I would pick it up. I would read inside. I would buy it.
So the graphic artist has been making changes based on my ideas, but at the moment, all that has been accomplished is to eliminate the cluttered, messy look. It does nothing for me when I look at it. I don't know if we can get there from this starting point, but I have offered a few other ideas to try to improve the look.
The average buyer makes a decision about a book in three seconds, based on its cover, they tell me. That may be true, but I don't take that long. I make a decision about a book in a split second, based on the cover. If the cover doesn't grab me when my eyes first glimpse it, I will never pick it up to look inside. We are a long, long way from that standard with what they have come up with so far, and I am quite discouraged.
Meanwhile, I am doing battle with the publisher about the book cover for the second edition of our book. We know how to create covers that will sell books, I was told. We don't like the cover that is on your book now. That cover won't inspire someone to pick up the book and purchase it. We will put that cover in our file and create a new cover that will sell books.
So they sent a book cover to me. It was created by one of their graphic artists. It was selected by the creative team from three that he had created. My reaction to it? This is just a mess; a bunch of clutter. I would never be inspired to pick up this book if I saw it in a bookstore. I looked at the other two covers that were created and they were even worse.
By way of comparison, my reaction to the cover of the first edition of the book was that it was stunning. I would find it to be irresistible if I saw it in a bookstore. I would pick it up. I would read inside. I would buy it.
So the graphic artist has been making changes based on my ideas, but at the moment, all that has been accomplished is to eliminate the cluttered, messy look. It does nothing for me when I look at it. I don't know if we can get there from this starting point, but I have offered a few other ideas to try to improve the look.
The average buyer makes a decision about a book in three seconds, based on its cover, they tell me. That may be true, but I don't take that long. I make a decision about a book in a split second, based on the cover. If the cover doesn't grab me when my eyes first glimpse it, I will never pick it up to look inside. We are a long, long way from that standard with what they have come up with so far, and I am quite discouraged.
Stick to your guns Lee, don't let them push just any thing for a cover for YOUR book.
I like the old cover and would have picked it up in a store.
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Thanks Michael. Things are going my way on the debate. We have a cover that I would rate about an A- now. It includes the original photo of Ping, but arranged differently. It also includes one of my favorite photos of Ping and Cici when Cici was about 4 years old. The last item we are discussing is the font. I want to see whether a Chinese looking font would make the cover look even better. The publisher doesn't have one, so I found one for them and sent it to them. Who knows, I might not even like it when I see it on the book cover, but it is worth a look.
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Can you tell them to get lost, and find another publisher? Or is there a contractual issue that you have to stick with them?
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Well, we do have a contract for this book and my next book, so I can't just walk away. They are listening to me now, though, after they have seen how the changes I have suggested look. I think they are just accustomed to bullying the authors around, and they were surprised to find one who refused to go along with their customary game plan.
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How would you compare them to the original publisher?
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The new publisher is light years ahead of the original publisher.
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