So yesterday, I found out my meticulously picked title, "Embers in the Wind," has been overshadowed before its time by the newly released "Embers ON the Wind" by a different African American female writer with a different premise (go get it, it looks excellent). Her title is everywhere and drowning out every other title even remotely close to it.
I know this sounds petty, but believe me: I am happy for the Sista. I'm of the mindset that all women of color deserve everything great that comes to them (seriously, go get her book). She's got a killer marketing team, and I'm not mad about it! But it means I'm stuck trying to find another clever title before I schedule a Kickstarter. I spent the entire night tossing and turning. Plus, I tossed and turned different titles in my head until I couldn't keep my eyes open. I'm pretty sure I know every variant of the word 'fire' in the English language.
I woke this morning with a thesaurus in hand, pacing up and down my staircase. Flame, Blaze, Combust. I called my friends and started brainstorming, explaining my entire premise to people who don't read in an attempt to get more ideas. I became against all names. I believed we should all become nameless blobs and fashion a language of grunts to avoid language altogether.
Then finally, it hit me. It hits my entire little brainstorming team. We have a new name. (which will be revealed soon)
Now we need a new cover.
Another thing I've been beating my head over. Even though I've spent most of my adult life designing stuff for the internet, I am not a fan of any project that takes more than an hour. Designing a book cover takes many hours.
I created the first few from Canva, one of my favorite editing tools. Even though I own Photoshop and Illustrator like the next Graphic Designer, Canva has a pretty easy engine to use if you know what you're doing, so I transfer many PNGs in progress for easily searchable and accessible elements. No, they are not paying me to talk about them. But they should.
Anyway, I've decided to hire someone to create my cover. I've spoken to an artist (bring_design) and sent them some specific references, so we'll see what happens. I'm excited because it's the first time I've ever commissioned something and had to be on the other side of the design transaction.
Wish me luck, everyone!