My short story manuscript, Moon Is Cotton & She Laugh All Night, won a contest for innovative fiction sponsored by Subito Press at the University of Colorado/Boulder, for which I am honored and heartily grateful.
The book was printed on a small press with a limited print run (500). It won’t be on Oprah. Michael Silverblatt won’t be calling me for a Bookworm interview on KCRW. It’s not even available in bookstores (yet).
But that’s fine. These are my stores, on my terms, recognized by a fine university.
There is only one problem. A biggie. I don’t like the cover. As I suspected it might, the art has since grown on me. But it got me thinking…What would the “right” cover for my book look like anyway?
I asked some of my talented creative friends for ideas and they came up with a few. And so I invite you to…
JUDGE MY BOOK BY ITS COVER! That’s right. Tell me which of these alternate book covers appeals to you, dear reader. Which book would you like to read? Which one draws you in? Vote with your heart, your mind and your wallet. Do it now! Why?
Because small presses are vital to keeping new, non-mainstream writing alive.
Because I’ll donate 75% of proceeds to the favorite charity of the designer of the most popular cover. (Yes, that’s very generous of me. I bet you thought I dreamed up this promotion just to try to sell a boatload of books.)
And because this contest ends February 2, 2010. After that, you’ll have to get my book the old-fashioned way. On Amazon or at a bookstore or something. With no cool custom dust jacket. Naked.
P.S. A mighty THANK YOU to my generous designer friends for donating their time, energy, good will and resources (even if it seems a couple of them have not read my book) and who shall remain anonymous until the close of this promotion on 2/2/10..
