A bad Case of Proof Jitters

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A bad Case of Proof Jitters

August 26, 2016 by Danielle de Valera

I’m afraid to open the parcel containing the Amazon proof copy of my short story collection. I’ve had it since Tuesday, it’s now Saturday. When I got the proof of the 1st novel I put up on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0ORWQY, I fell on it like a famished wolf. Why this sudden turnaround? Perhaps it’s got something to do with the cover, which was unfinished when I sent off for this particular proof, and feels to me as if it will ever remain so.

Let me explain. You see, when I wrote my weird cat fantasy novel, which caused people to think I had finally lost the plot (though they were all too nice to say so), I had the image for the cover before I even wrote the book—a marvellous black & white drawing by US artist Marty Norman.

This time, I had chosen another of his works, a wonderful, hard-edged painting of a businessman on a tightrope, see below. (Sorry I’m too much of a luddite to know how to make the image bigger.)

But beta readers from here to Timbuktu all agreed that to use an image like that on the cover of my collection was to mislead people into expecting a book about the problems of Wall Street suits. And that, my little short story collection set in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales definitely was not.

What to do? I had no idea. In the end, I settled for a very ancient image (no, I’m not going to show it to you at this point), and hoped like hell it would work. To open the package from Amazon, even though I know the cover is unfinished and will make the necessary allowances, is to expose myself to immense disappointment if this cover idea hasn’t worked.

Now it’s all very well to say I’ve got time to think of another and still get the book out in October-November of this year, but you see, I can’t. Having been dragged from one fixation (which in my heart I still prefer) to another, something in me has said, This is it. Further than this, I’m not prepared to go. In other words, I’m stuck with this cover, no matter what. So the parcel feels very threatening to me and just sits there on the sofa, accusing me every time I walk past. Thank heavens I’m going out today. I’ll be out all day – so there, parcel!

This state of affairs could go on indefinitely if I don’t so something, so I’ve set myself a deadline of Monday morning. On Monday I must take a deep breath, rip open the parcel and take it on the chin, come what may.

Am I scared? You bet. But will I keep the deadline? Oh yeah; I’m a creature of deadlines. I’m not really happy unless I can see one looming somewhere on the horizon. So Monday it is. Meanwhile, I give the sofa a wide berth.

Posted in Amazon, anecdotes, Australian humour, book proofs, Far North Coast of NSW, Fiction, fiction authors, Humour, Indie publishing, Martin Norman, Marty Norman, new writing, proofing books | Tagged Amazon, anecdotes, Australian humour, Australian writers, book covers, book proofs, Danielle de Valera, far north coast of NSW, Fiction writers, Humour, indie authors, Marty Norman, north coast of nsw, self-publishing | 5 Comments

5 Responses

on August 27, 2016 at 4:07 am | Reply Louise

I wouldn’t be able to stand the suspense … There’d be nothing left of the box as I tore my way into it … Yeah, like a kid on Christmas morning 🙂 Fingers cross for you, Danielle that the cover looks superb!
on August 27, 2016 at 11:37 am | Reply Catana

Considering what you went through to get the cover, I can sympathize. But I’m eager to see what you finally went with. Open the durn thing!
on August 27, 2016 at 10:56 pm | Reply Danielle de Valera

Thanks for the good thoughts, Louise. I was like you with the first one, but then I was certain about the image I was using. This time is very different. But, as they say in the theatre, it’ll all be alright on the night.
on December 9, 2016 at 2:54 pm | Reply Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

I want to put my short story prequel to my novel up on Amazon, but can’t seem to make myself do the work on finishing the cover. Did anything help you get past that knot?

Oddly enough, the cover someone made for me on Wattpad is part of the problem. I don’t like it enough to use it on Amazon, and it probably has a billion copyright problems anyway, but it is there. It exists, if you know what I mean.

And I know what I want – a photo of a gate from my sister’s old house – but she has divorced the man she shared that house with, and there’s a tree in the middle of it I will have to remove with my limited graphics skills.

So I’m wondering if something in particular got you over the difficulty.
on December 9, 2016 at 10:15 pm | Reply Danielle de Valera

Thanks for the comment, Alicia. If you mean what finally allowed me to open the parcel, that was simply the deadline I gave myself. I could not open the parcel on an optimistic feeling as I had no optimism about the cover, so I just set myself a deadline. Deadlines are something I understand and will keep. I suspect they give me a bit of an adrenalin rush, and I can open the parcel on that.
If you mean the problem with the cover, well, I still prefer the image by Marty Norman, but I am resigned to the fact that it would have made a misleading cover, so I had to settle for the other image, as nothing else in my search rang any bells for me, and I had searched, long and hard. I’d offer to help you with that tree, but I know nothing about graphics. I’m fortunate in having a wonderful friend who helped me. Hope I’ve answered the question, I have a feeling that I haven’t. If so, my apologies, you’re welcome to try again.