Father Knows Best

This cover to the left, is the cover that I wanted to use for AIJAN, but at the last minute we realized that no one had gotten copyright clearance … Arghhhhh. So the cover the the right was used.

You see this image is a composition of the following two images, plus a bit extra drawing. Although the image was so pixilated that Deborah had to practically redraw the entire thing, credit still needed to be attributed where due.

Ah the dilemma of desire vs integrity!

Although everything in me wanted soooo badly to use the above image. I’ve realized that when God interrupts what appears to be a perfect plan, idea, or thought... it's for a purpose and it behooves me to heed said interruption.

That said, I showed both covers to some of the trusted folks at the office (all Caucasian) and all of them preferred the actual cover.

Once I thought about it, I chuckled to myself, because I realized where God was coming from. I was choosing my cover with my usual target audience in mind: Late Teen to middle-age African Americans, but the contest judges are middle-age Caucasians--it helps to properly target your audience.

And not only that… once I stepped away from it a bit and really examined the cover, it’s really more of a cover for a novel, which AIJAN is not--Creative Non-Fiction, maybe, but not a novel. I’d hate for someone to purchase based on the cover expecting a novel and walk away disappointed. I hate when that happens to me.

So all I can say once again is, "Thank You God!"