There was a time when all I wanted was to have a choice. I even prayed for situations where options would be narrowed down by me. But for a long time that just wasn\u2019t the case\u2026at least not in the way I wanted it to be. I had to take what I could get. That was the case for me when it came time to decide what college I would go to and later what jobs I would take \u2013 not necessarily the ones I wanted, just the ones that didn\u2019t reject me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, after many years, I finally got an opportunity to choose only to find out it\u2019s not all that it\u2019s cracked up to be. Choosing is hard because so many variables, scenarios run through my mind: how do I make the right choice? how do I know I\u2019ve made the right choice? what if I make the wrong choice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the situation I find myself in now as I hire people to help me bring my book to life or to print. Hiring a book cover illustrator\/designer has been an especially challenging task. You know what they say, you can\u2019t judge a book by it\u2019s cover, but from what I\u2019ve read regarding book covers, people do in fact judge books by their covers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I must admit, when I decided to self-publish my book, the cover was the least of my concerns. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever judged a book by its cover. Whenever I go shopping for a book, or get it from the library, I\u2019ve usually already heard of the book. Even when I go up and down the book aisles, I\u2019m usually looking for a familiar author or title, that\u2019s what draws me in, not the cover itself. But nowadays many people are browsing online, so perhaps that\u2019s what makes the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, that\u2019s where we are now, and so now I\u2019m kinda obsessed with getting the perfect cover. I want a book that\u2019s pretty enough to leave on your coffee table. Even though most fiction books don\u2019t end up there, I want mine to be different \u2013 move over Tom Ford! Although my book will be much smaller than his, so actually it can just sit nicely on top\u2026maybe at an angle for more interest. \u00a0I want my cover to have a bit of mystery as the story inside does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In choosing someone to take on this project, there has been so much to consider: their artistry, their fee, their turnaround time, and lastly their attitude.\u00a0 You may have noticed that I left off experience. That was no accident. Experience doesn\u2019t mean that much to me\u2026professional experience that is. I mean you can\u2019t be like I want to design your cover and have nothing to show, but I don\u2019t care about your GPA, where you\u2019ve worked, who you\u2019ve worked for as long as you have a portfolio of work , it could be from your Instagram, and I\u2019ll consider it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hard part is having to turn people down or in essence reject them. I\u2019m all too familiar with rejection and I hate how that feels, so it\u2019s difficult to inflict that on someone else. And for all I know, these people may not even care, but it\u2019s my own personal pain that makes that so hard for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I almost feel like I should have commissioned the cover art first before the editing. I mean it\u2019s such a long process. Or I could have done those simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before I get too hard on myself, I have to give myself some grace \u2013 I\u2019m literally learning this as I go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, I also feel I need to pick up the pace. I feel like I could have had my book published by now. And I have other stories in my mind that I want to tell. That I need to start working on before they leave me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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There was a time when all I wanted was to have a choice. I even prayed for situations where options would be narrowed down by me. But for a long time that just wasn\u2019t the case\u2026at least not in the…<\/p>\n