August 4, 2006 9:58 AM
my next book
Just received the cover art for my next book:
This is the book that's coming out in December - not the books I am working on right now for summer 2007. If you think you're confused. . . .
Comments
The cover is fabulous! Can't wait to get my hands on it!
Posted by: Shannon Miller | August 4, 2006 11:02 AM
I like the cover a lot. Boy doesn't everyone need this!
Posted by: Christina | August 4, 2006 4:18 PM
Wow, does the book include how to get those tan, toned, perfect legs shown on the cover?!
Posted by: Damselfly | August 4, 2006 4:51 PM
Well.... I'll be honest. I'm pretty sure I would really enjoy what is *inside* the book, because I loved the Mommy Manual and enjoy your blog a lot. However, the cover leaves me a bit cold. It's probably the bottle, tbh- I don't use bottles. While I respect that some mothers use bottles by choice or because they have adoptive children, etc., it irks me a bit that it is a "symbol" of motherhood. If I didn't know who you were, I wouldn't pick up that book and even check it out if I just saw it on the shelf at the bookstore.
I am just being honest here, I really hope I don't offend. *hugs* I understand it's intended to be humorous because of your writing style, though. :)
Posted by: Elizabeth | August 4, 2006 5:35 PM
Elizabeth - I never even thought about the bottle! and that's from a mom who breastfed eight babies (things didn't work out with Jonny because of his Down syndrome, hospitalizations, undiagnosed problems that caused failure to thrive and my exhaustion. But my family was thrilled with the opportunity to feed him themselves! I nursed Maddy, but not the three adopted sons).
Anyway - it's funny, I guess I just responded to the iconic meaning, which struck me as funny - drowning in motherhood.
Don't worry about offending me. It's just always interesting. When I sent the Mommy Manual cover to my mailing list, some people adored it and some people ripped into it. In the end, I don't really know anything except that I don't really have any choice at all in the matter. Authors have absolutely NO say about cover art.
I like this one - like the colors and the border and the simple iconic quality.
I am glad you told me what you think though - I value that kind of input.
Posted by: barbara | August 4, 2006 9:23 PM
I love it. I can't wait to read it! I bet this is so exciting - just seeing it all come together!!
Posted by: Faith | August 4, 2006 9:32 PM
I'm with Elizabeth on this one, although because it's you, I'll pick it up. ;-) It's just one more example of how much a bottle-feeding culture we are...to the point where you don't notice it until you notice it, and then you really notice it. On the other hand, I suppose you could see it also as an example of that. Meaning, drowning in the expectations put on mothers, to include how they're to feed their kids. (*hmmm.*)
All that aside, I'm excited for you! Looking forward to seeing Reaching the Left in a bookstore soon, too.
:-)
Posted by: Bonnie | August 5, 2006 12:19 AM
I laughed when I saw that! Too funny!
I am a breastfeeding mom also. Not sure how I feel about the bottle-but it's cute!
Posted by: millicent | August 5, 2006 8:41 AM
I LOVE your cover!! How awesome!! How do you go about picking your cover art? Do you hire someone to make it? I'm so interested in knowing how you make that happen! ~B
Posted by: B | August 5, 2006 11:40 AM
Like Elizabeth and Bonnie, I was sad to see a bottle on the cover since it is such a symbol of parenthood but our society freaks out about a nursing baby on a magazine cover (recent Babytalk cover.) I agree that it's a pretty cover, though, and it will draw people's eyes. And those legs are too darn gorgeous! :-)
Posted by: Amanda | August 5, 2006 2:15 PM
comment above said:
"Meaning, drowning in the expectations put on mothers, to include how they're to feed their kids. (*hmmm.*)"
From a mom who HAD to feed her special-needs kiddo and couldn't breastfeed, I couldn't agree more. While I will agree breast is best (my first child was breastfed) I highly doubt that using a bottle is a derogatory symbol of motherhood. Being a MOM should be the main thing.
I guess you can just count your blessings that you were never in a situation where you had a newborn that required tube feedings and couldn't nurse.
Posted by: Lindsey | August 5, 2006 10:06 PM
me again! now that I think about it, I don't like the bottle! but i'm sure that i'll LOVE the book!
Posted by: millicent | August 5, 2006 10:49 PM
That is one cute, appealing cover!!!!
Cool!
Posted by: Miz Booshay | August 6, 2006 8:27 AM
I really appreciate everyone's comments - and am hoping for more. I really like hearing the pros and cons on the bottle.
Again, though, I have absolutely no control over the cover art. Publishers use either in-house artists or subcontracted freelance artists for cover design. Once the author hands in a manuscript, the book becomes very much a team effort.
But do keep the comments coming. I will share them with my publisher.
Posted by: barbara | August 6, 2006 9:34 AM
I'm glad you weren't offended, Barbara. I thought my initial reaction might be helpful from a marketing perspective, I'm sure you want the broadest audience possible. I do look forward to reading it! I can appreciate its iconic meaning, though. ;)
Posted by: Elizabeth | August 6, 2006 10:30 AM
I was able to breastfeed both my kids. I have a theory about food--if God made it, it's probably better for you than if man made it. For example, potatoes, good for you, pringles, not as good for you.
That being said, it was hard with my first and I almost gave up and went to a bottle. So, I can relate to people who have to bottle feed. Also, some people turn breastfeeding into an icon. I have a friend with 3 adopted kids. When they were babies, often other women would give her a hard time for not breastfeeding them. She would reply, "Well, somehow God didn't give me the ability to breastfeed them when he gave me my beautiful adopted child!"
Posted by: Elizabeth B | August 6, 2006 1:38 PM
Please take off the bottle! As a certified nurse midwife , we don't need any more symbols of bottlefeeding symbloic with motherhood in our culture Please just trust me - is bad and will cost you sales among the committed Christian who are wise about breastfeeding issues
Posted by: Rita Ledbetter | August 6, 2006 5:20 PM
I'm feeling a little like a broken record here. For the third or fourth time - I have no control over the cover art. If I hated it, there is absolutely nothing I could do about it.
Again, I breastfed eight kids and I was not offended by the cover. My oldest daughter - 36 - who's breastfed five so far said the mothers most likely to be so turned off they wouldn't pick it up are the moms who've got everything figured out and don't think they need advice anyway.
I guess I'll just have to trust God on this one. Again - it's not my call!!!!!
Posted by: barbara | August 6, 2006 8:11 PM
I'm very sorry to hear that you have so little influence on the cover art! That's a bit depressing! I'd be the first to say that I don't have it all figured out -- but I was also very disappointed by the bottle on the cover, and if I didn't already know you as an author, I wouldn't pick up a book with a cover like that! For one thing, it's yet another example of the perceived normalcy of bottlefeeding -- nothing wrong with doing it when you have to, but breastfeeding should be the norm. For another thing, it pictures an age group that I really don't struggle with, rather than the one I do struggle with and turn to your books for advice on. I can deal with infancy -- when it comes to infants, I do feel like I can deal with whatever comes my way. I know what to do with an infant. Toddlers and preschoolers are the age group that really stretch me, that try my patience, that send me searching for new ideas to try, and that make me appreciate writing like yours. When I see this book cover, I expect advice on how to deal with all the trappings of normal infancy, most of which won't apply to my parenting style anyway, rather than advice on enjoying the little ones that are running around, feeding themselves (or not, depending on the day), and demanding that I pay attention to the thousand little details of their lives! Even without the breast/bottle issue, that disconnect between the help the cover implies and the help I've come to expect from you would disappoint me.
Thanks for listening to all the feedback, even when there isn't much you can do with it!
Newt
Posted by: Newt Sherwin | August 7, 2006 7:21 PM
Okay, am I the only one who ever gives their child expressed breast milk in a bottle?
My exact thoughts were "cute cover but the lactivists are going to be ticked". lol.
Posted by: paigeu | August 7, 2006 8:13 PM
omg, i LURVE it! fantastic!!!
Posted by: kristy | August 8, 2006 5:03 AM
I have a friend who gives expressed breast milk in a bottle in public... but I am honestly too lazy to do something like that. Pump in addition to everything else I have to do, and stimulate my oversupply to boot? No thanks! lol I'm doing good to take a shower every day, I'd never add something else to my to-do list. ;)
Also- Barbara, I'm so impressed that you've breastfed 8 kids. I just wanted to say that is awesome! I'm only on #2 myself. :)
Posted by: Elizabeth | August 8, 2006 2:31 PM
Wow, people are taking things way too literally. This is obviously a symbol, people associate bottles with babies, that's all it means! And yes, I breastfeed exclusively but their are times I put breastmilk in a bottle out of neccesity. I never, ever would have thought the book was promoting bottle or breast or anything like that. People really need to lighten up here. Plus, what were they supposed to do, put a big breast on the cover? I love the cover and think it's adorable and definitely would have caught my attention!
Posted by: erexroth | September 26, 2006 8:47 PM
Ok...so aside from all that....is there a meaning behind the little white "plus" sign in the pink circle in the white box in upper right corner??? Just wondering.... is that a positive pregnancy test symbol???
Posted by: Tara | September 26, 2006 11:23 PM
I've reallly enjoyed the discussion re: the cover of this book. It's enlightening to see the other side to the production of a book. As the designer for the insides of this book, I was involved and had some input on the cover. I ardently pushed for this concept from the choices that were first considered.
I am a mother of three grown children with 3 years of BF experience while working full-time for most of that. The concept had nothing to do with feeding methods and everything to do with being overwhelmed by the motherhood experience.
As an artist, we don't often get to know the reaction to our work. It is helpful to know how people respond so that we can do our job better.
Personally, I think anything that doesn't generate controversy is either so bad that people don't even bother, or so boring they don't even notice. Not everyone will like the cover, but not everyone will need the content. If it grabs the attention of those who need the book, then we've all done our job.
Posted by: Sharon | September 27, 2006 4:45 PM
I get so tired of this endless debate over bottle vs. breast, esp. when it's ignited over something as (sorry, Barbara) menial as the cover of a book. Yes, breastfeeding is best, but do you ever think about the fact that formula and bottles are often a BLESSING to those mommies out there who, for whatever reason, can't breastfeed? Instead of having to have someone else nurse your child or whatever else was done before decent formula was invented, a mother and even a father can lovingly hold their infant and feed him or her. I THANK GOD that someone invented formula. Seriously - can you walk down the street and pick out the adults who had formula or the ones that had breastmilk? Can you go into a kindergarten classroom and pick out the formula-fed ones? The bigger factor in life is the love and attention you feed your child, not the ingredients of what they're fed for their first year.
That aside, the cover is great, although I was half-expecting something modeled after an actual military-style survival guide or those books that have come out recently... the Worst Case Scenario books?
Posted by: Nancy | September 29, 2006 1:05 AM
