Lou’s News #5 — Memoir Book Cover Project
Hi all,
It’s that time in the lifespan of a book: the cover reveal. In this case, a semi-reveal, because we’re still getting the skin tones right for the face. Art Burrows of ajaxdesign.com came up with the design.
To be honest, I balked at this design at first. Did I want my big face stuck there on the front cover of any book, let alone my memoir? How about just a pretty picture of a mountain? Art suggested this 1974 mountaineering portrait of yours truly, shot by Don Peterson on a winter climb in the Canadian Rockies — one of the many failures I write about in the book — those failures which define a few successes.
Art believed the image would intrigue potential readers and communicate the memoir genre. Our focus group folks agreed. It might be my imagination, but I think there are avalanches in my eyes. I’ll lift the photoshopped veil prior to publication (perhaps in another newsletter); maybe you’ll see the avalanches, too.
Meanwhile, dear readers, how about some help? Two text color alternatives for the title and subtitle: reddish and black. Both work okay with the sepia toning, but we need one that’s our preferred. Feel free to reply to this email with your feedback. If you don’t see my reply, check your spam box, or ping me through the contact link on my website.
As a side note: what’s happening with book covers these days? Google a modern book, and you might find multiple cover designs out there in the wilds of the ‘net. Sometimes a handful, sometimes dozens! It’s like, Photoshop exists, and decision-making is hard, so why not blast ’em out? I think we’ll stick with two, maybe three designs. But you never know. Give me a few days with my old friend Adobe and I’ll have twenty to choose from!
(Please don’t concern yourselves with the cropping, text positioning and such. These are just sample mockups. The text color is the decision point. And because you might ask: The background is the view from the Harper Glacier on Denali, looking down toward the Muldrow Glacier.)
(Update: After publishing this newsletter via email, feedback indicated most people liked the black text. Art and I both concurrred.)
