Okay, time for some nerdly authorial enthusiasm. I just received the new trade paperback edition of THE LEISURE SEEKER over the weekend. It doesn't actually come out until February 9th, but I got an early copy because, well, you know. (Btw, I could have also said that the book "drops" on February 9th, were I trying sound more hip hop. Luckily for everyone, I don't do that.) Anyway, I have to say that it was really exciting to receive the book.
As I mentioned earlier in this blog, the cover design is completely different from the hardcover. And though I loved the hardcover, I think this new design is just beautiful. All day Saturday, I kept walking back to the book on the desk in my study. I kept needing to pick it up, open it up, run my hands over the cover. Obviously, I'm a dork, but it was thrilling. Everything -- the satiny cover varnish, the type treatment, the back cover design, the five pages of blurbs, all of it, right down to the tiny photo on the spine of the book underlined by a stripe that matches the woman's track suit in the photograph -- reveals an incredible attention to detail. It's no wonder I couldn't keep my paws off of it.
Of course every author wants his cover to look wonderful, but it doesn't always happen that way. Though I think cover design just keeps getting better and better (Thanks, Chip Kidd!), that's no guarantee that a writer isn't going to wind up with some generic-looking cover that someone slapped together in an afternoon. I've been very lucky so far. I've pretty much loved all my covers. And since I work in a world with many artists and designers (and count them among my friends), I have very strong opinions about such things. Hence, I'm not that easy to please. But I am pleased.
Big kudos to everyone at Harper Paperbacks. First and foremost, my editor Jen Pooley, whom I know thinks and thinks and thinks about these things (I can tell by the midnight e-mails from her); Robin Bilardello, who did the lovely cover design; the photographer Andy Reynolds, as well as the author photograph by my friend John Roe of Roe Photo. Thank you all. And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pet my book.
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Hey Michael! I bought Leisure Seeker from you on Saturday at the RV Show in GR. Almost finished reading it and I'm loving it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's a good looking book. The texture of the cover is strange in a good way too. Makes you want to just rub your hands over it.