In February I gave you the opportunity to vote for your preferred cover of my upcoming new edition of Soul Proprietor. And vote you did! Hundreds of you viewed the post and almost as many actually cast a ballot via your comments and e-mail messages to me. I heard MANY opinions.

Among my favorites were (paraphrased)

“You can’t go wrong! They’re both great.”

“Absolutely #1!”

“Absolutely #2!”

“Neither! Bring back the one with the egg on the cover.”

What’s an author to do? What most resonated with me was the desire to have my image looking right at the reader. My vanity actually preferred the photo in #2, but the marketer in me said, “Don’t turn them off by looking away.”

Years ago I brought two mock-ups of my first brochure to the owner of the Artists Market in Norwalk for her opinion. One sample piece was an artistic origami style design which opened in a clever and intricate way. The other was a standard folder with interchangeable pages for easy updating and image replacement.

I was in love with the intricate one for artistic reasons. I could see the trouble my evaluator was having even opening it and desperately wanted her to overcome her frustration in deference to its beauty. But this was a retail store owner, not a museum curator. She unhesitatingly selected the simpler version. “You’ll drive your buyers crazy with the other one, pretty as it is. Less is more.”

Bowing to the wisdom of the crowds, I’m opting for (drum roll, please) cover #1. I pooled all of the entries regardless of which you voted for and selected the winner: Lisa Braithwaite a valued reader and frequent commenter on my blog.

Please note that I was most interested in your thoughts on the photo. I’m working with my designer on taking the type out of my hair and other distractions.

Thank you, ALL, for your interest, your time and your valued opinions.