When I first excitedly announced that I was going to be published, I also braced myself, prepared to encounter a few naysayers and at least a couple of joy-killers. When one writes with nothing but total honesty, like I do, one is bound to ruffle a few feathers along the way. I am old enough to know that I cannot please everyone.
What I never imagined?
That my book would be judged by its cover.
That the cute photo I innocently had uploaded to Chat GPT to create that cover would become controversial.
That my book listing would only stay mere hours on my publisher’s social media page.
Release day, a day that marked the realization of a lifelong dream to become a published writer, a day that should have been one of the happiest of my life, fell flat because people decided to turn it into a debate on the evil of artificial intelligence, especially when used in the creative realm. No congratulations! No mention of the real, live, person whose work and words were being released into the world that day. No regards for the very human heart that throbbed with disappointment in the chest of the author.
I gave myself a few days to feel all the feelings: sadness, defensiveness, righteousness, anger… It didn’t take long however for my rational mind to come back to life. I decided to be grateful to the women who had voiced their opinion. They could have scrolled past and said nothing. They could have kept their feedback to themselves. In the short term, that would have spared my ego but, in the long term, it would have hurt me much more. The truth is I wasn’t aware how polarizing a.i had become. I didn’t know that by choosing to release my book with an a.i enhanced cover, I would be alienating a big portion of my potential reader base. Obviously, not something I would do by design- pun intended.
I fought the overwhelm that threatened to take over. I walked to my home office, sat down at my desk, opened Photoshop and went to work. It took me 20 to 30 hours but I managed to create something my publisher and I both liked.
Here it is. The new book cover for The Sink is Full and I am Not in the Hall of Fame Yet.
I imagined it.
I created it.
I am proud of it.
I am proud of myself.
For turning an obstacle into an opportunity.
For completing yet another lesson in that never ending life curriculum.
You can order my book The Sink is Full and I am Not in the Hall of Fame Yet directly from the publisher’s website here. If you have already purchased it, I would appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave a review. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page until you see “Add a review”. Every little bit helps. Thank you.
My book will be posted on Amazon as well soon.