I’m working on preparing an old manuscript for publication—what do you think of these two covers? I woke up this morning and took my camera for a walk. A lot has changed since I first came to Brooklyn, and I felt uncomfortable snapping photos of brownstones when I know that longtime residents are wary of newcomers invading and occupying their neighborhoods. I’m partial to the first cover, though I don’t yet have permission to use that photograph (ETA: which is why they asked me to take it down). My ideal image would be a black woman shielding one eye with her hand, but I can’t afford to hire Lorna Simpson and don’t think I have the energy to find a model and shoot the cover myself.
One Eye Open is a novel I started in 1993 after spending my first summer in Brooklyn. I finished it in 1999 while living in Toronto, but couldn’t find a publisher and so set it aside (you can read a chapter here). The manuscript needs work, and I may try to do some editing this weekend, but mostly I just want it to exist. I want to leave behind a body of work—what if your life ended unexpectedly? What would be visible and accessible, and what would be buried on your hard drive or tucked away in a drawer? We’re doing a self-publishing panel on 4/21 in Toronto and I’d like to have proofs of One Eye Open to share. I’m a better writer today, but still feel proud of my first novel and want to quietly welcome it into the world sometime this spring.
I go with number two – I just like the addition of color (which is probably why you prefer the first!) :–)
I agree with Jill, I think the second cover would attract more readers because of the color. In the 90’s I would have said the first cover, because there were more Black and White covers.
The black and white cover.Definitely!
Thanks for the feedback, everybody! I’ve got a photo shoot scheduled for later today, so I’ll be sure to post Option #3 once it’s ready…
This sounds counter-intuitive, but I really don’t want a lot of attention focused on this book and don’t expect it to ever be on a bookshelf. The novel’s over 500 pages long, so only die-hards will pick it up!
If you enjoyed writing it, others will enjoy reading it too!