Tuesday, April 19, 2011

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE cover

I'm determined to be a better social networker.  Part of me is intimidated by this whole world, partly because I feel so late to the party, and partly because I'm not sure I have quite the "voice" for it.  Also, I hate the sense that I'm being nothing more than a used car salesman up to one of his gimmicky tricks, or a politician vainly trying to disguise self-promotion.  All the above . . . eeck.

But I'm going to plunge into this anyway and I'll be using the Roecker sisters and Nathan Bransford as role models.

  • The Roecker sisters: I really like the light and amusing feel of the Lisa and Laura Roecker's blog.  It's funny, informative, and just this side of educational.  I've already committed to memory their blogging manifesto.



  • Nathan Bransford: he said somewhere (a tweet, a blog post?) that the purpose of social networking isn't to promote or self-promote or accrue a fan base or look impressive, but . . . (drum roll) to be social.  Ahh...the light switches on...


So having said that, let's get a move on.  I will now be more social by . . .

Talking about Beth Revis' Across the Universe.

Or more specifically, about the cover.

Although I've heard great things about the book, I've resisted buying it for the silliest of reasons.  The cover.  Actually, it's not even the cover.  It's what I thought was on the cover.  My problem is that I've only seen the cover in thumbprint size on blogs and whatnot. And for whatever reason, it looked to me like a really odd image: two pink amoeba, facing each other, one on the right, the other on the left, kissing each other with puckering snouts. It just looked freaky. And once that image became impressed into my mind, it became difficult to dislodge.  Like the old hag/pretty young woman illusion - once you see the old hag, the pretty lady vanishes. And every time I saw the Across the Universe cover,  all I could see were the two pink amoeba with snouts, puckering each other in a kiss.  You tell me you don't see the kissing pink amoeba:



Only yesterday, at the library, I finally saw the hardcover. And boy, was I wrong. The cover, actually, is not bad at all.  And I was way off. Because it's not two pink amoeba on the cover.  In fact, there's no amoeba at all. Just a really cool picture of a young-looking William Shatner.



Awesomeness.

I was a fool to misjudge the cover so badly.

5 comments:

  1. LOL DUDE I totally saw the pink amoeba, and that's what I LOVED about the cover! Then I got to stores and saw it was two PEOPLE kissing, and I was like, Wth? Where'd my amoeba go?! Sad face.

    But have you flipped that cover inside out and seen the "boy cover" on the other side? Because that one is pretty sweet.

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  2. Glad I'm not the only one who saw the pink amoebas (amoebii?)!

    As for the inside out "boy cover" - pretty interesting concept, but for that cover to really make an impact, they'll need to start displaying it with that cover in bookstores and online as well. I know some books have a YA- and an adult-cover (and are sold in bookstores with their respective covers) but have yet to see both a boy- and a girl-covered book in stores.

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  3. I must confess, I also saw/see the pink amoebas. And only now saw the kissing after reading Kristan's comment. Aha.

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  4. Hi Andrew!

    1. Why am I not surprised that you are a fellow Drayton-ite? CONGRATULATIONS on all the buzz about THE HUNT! It sounds absolutely fascinating! Can't wait to read! CROSSING sounds incredible as well. We'll be picking that one up ASAP.

    2. THANK YOU for the huge compliment about our blog! We're still sort of shocked that people read the damn thing, so seeing you reference our little manifesto made our night.

    Good luck navigating the murky waters of social networking and please let us know if you need anything! We're more than happy to help!

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  5. Hi Lisa and Laura, my fellow Drayton-ites. Catherine had such great things to say about the two of you and also about your book!

    And also - a quick thank you. When I was doing a lot of research about agents and Catherine in particular a few months ago, I read carefully about your own journey to Catherine in your blog post. So... much thanks!

    Andy

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