I’m thrilled to be able to unveil my book cover for Blooming into Mindfulness: How the Universe Used a Garden, Cancer, and Carpools to Teach Me That Calm Is the New Happy.
What do you think?
My Facebook friends will be saying right now, “Wait a minute…that’s not the cover you posted several weeks ago asking for input. Where did that one go?”
Yes, I had put a cover up on my personal Facebook page with a request for comments. It was a bright, bold cover that was the result of many months of back and forth with a designer I had contacted back in January.
There was a big debate among my friends about how the title was laid out, and I asked the designer to revise the cover based on those comments.
The designer wasn’t fully happy with the finished product; I wasn’t fully happy with the finished product. I was worn down, though, and the designer was out of ideas, so I thought it would be good enough.
But when I sent it to the marketing person with whom I’ve been working and to the folks doing the interior layout, I got the same response: “It looks self-published.”
I had prioritized readability on a thumbnail image and hoped to have one of my photos incorporated into the design. The first cover met those criteria, but any version larger than a thumbnail made a heavy, clunky impression. The color scheme was also a little risky for a full-sized hard copy book.
And though that first design did technically use a photograph I had taken myself (the font is comprised of dahlias at a farmer’s market), it didn’t reflect the style and essence of my garden photography, which has become an integral aspect of my mindfulness practice.
I am a person who connects deeply with a beautiful book in my hands. Having worked so hard on the content of my manuscript, it would kill me to be disappointed with the cover once I was holding the finished product.
In fact, having final say over the cover design was one of the many reasons I decided at the outset to self-publish my book. I liked the idea of “artisinal” book publishing described by Guy Kawasaki in APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur (affiliate). Having embraced my creative side after being trapped for so many years as an economist, I loved the idea of being able to craft each and every aspect of the my book.
I am well suited to being an indie author and publisher. I like making decisions. I’m detail-oriented. I have enjoyed hand-picking the team helping me along the way. The business side of the process has been interesting rather than intimidating. And I’m even looking forward to this next phase of marketing, understanding the uphill battle for indies when it comes to distribution and discoverability.
But that first cover created a knot in my stomach. As soon as the marketing expert said, “It looks self-published,” I knew she was right. The interior designer’s seconding of that opinion reconfirmed it.
It’s one thing to want to have creative control, but another thing to recognize when to respect the opinions of experienced professionals in the field.
Mindfulness practice has taught me to pay very close attention to signals from my body. My head might be telling me something like, “You’ve spent enough time on the cover, and plenty of people liked it. You’ve already showed it to them so you’ll look stupid and indecisive if you change course. Plus, you will have wasted their time since you already asked for their opinion on the first one.”
But that knot in my stomach told me I wouldn’t be happy with the cover. That knot in my stomach told me that I would regret not being brave enough to hire a new designer.
My body never lies. If what my body is telling me is out of alignment with what my head is telling me, my body’s opinion is always the one to be trusted. As soon as I let go of the old design, I was flooded with a deep sense of relief and an overall lightness of being. There was no question that I had made the right decision.
The new team, 1106 Design based in Phoenix, Arizona, did exactly what I had hoped they could do. The designer went to my website and, without any guidance from me, pulled three images from my photography gallery and created three very different cover concepts.
One was a classic mindfulness-themed cover, serene and contemplative. One was playful, busy, and bright, but a little too girlie for me. The third one is the one you see here, with a few tweaks added to make the “calm is the new happy” tagline of the subtitle stand out on a thumbnail.
It was important to me that the cover be appealing to a younger demographic (young moms, in particular), since I wasted so many years when my kids were small just waiting for time to pass rather than being present with my life in real time. I also wanted it to reflect my writing style, which is more energetic than what you’ll usually find in books about mindfulness.
And though my friends who already understood the benefits of mindfulness preferred the most serene cover, younger people thought it looked too serious, if not a little dull. With so little time to read books, one young mother told me, she wouldn’t choose one that looked serious, heavy, or boring.
So you tell me…does this book cover grab your attention and peak your interest? I do hope so! Let me know what you think in the comments!
You can read the full introduction to Blooming into Mindfulness here!
One last housekeeping note: If you’re in the Washington, DC, area and are free this Saturday, November 14, come visit me at Robinson Secondary School’s “Marketplace” indoor holiday market, 10 am – 4 pm, 5035 Sideburn Rd, Fairfax. My notecards are perfect hostess gifts and my signature metal prints are suited for both indoor and outdoor living spaces. Hope to see you there! If you can’t make the show, you can always place orders on my website!
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Bill Apablasa says
Love the book cover! It’s perfect…and having the touch of green in the top right and bottom corners is the perfect accent! Slam Dunk! I can hardly wait until it’s released. I’m going to be at the head of the line!
Martha Brettschneider says
Bill, Bill, Bill…thank you for always pushing me to go with my instincts. Since you saw many of the covers I rejected, I couldn’t be happier that you like the final product! Couldn’t have gotten to this point without your support. So grateful for your friendship. ~ Martha
Ingrid McAuliffe says
LOVE LOVE the new design and my eye went right to “Calm is the New Happy”, which would be the key to me picking up this book had I not already known you! I’m glad you went with your gut instincts Martha. It’s truly a wonderful thing when we begin to finally listen to our souls and what they have to say, which is most often not the voice of the people-pleasing perfectionists we’ve always been listening to! Perspective changes everything. Thanks for sharing the Introduction teaser. I’m so excited for the book to come out and for the rest of the world to met you Martha! Congratulations on all of your hard work, efforts and passion…
Martha Brettschneider says
Thank you, Ingrid! It’s been a total game changer for me learning to listen to the voice of my soul. It takes so much less energy and is so much more gratifying than being a slave to what society might think. Your support and encouragement means the world to me. Big hugs to you, dear friend! ~ Martha
Carole Borda says
Great choice, colorful but not overwhelming. The tagline interested me immediately. Although far (far) removed from the young mother age bracket, recent issues have made calm the exact description of what I am working toward.
I continue to follow your and newsletter, and of course the G+ posts.
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Good advice for all age groups. Never too old to change your own path.
Martha Brettschneider says
I’m thrilled you like the cover and title, Carole! I don’t think there’s an age limit on the need for calm contentment. And “Never too old to change your own path” could be my motto as well! I just just have to borrow that some time! Thank you, my friend. ~ Martha