Here’s my latest book! It’s a fat one: Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-In-One Desktop Reference For Dummies. Sometimes even I don’t get the entire title correct. In fact, this is probably the first time I actually did get the title correct.
The book is something. It took a long time to write, plus I had to produce and star in a series of videos that appear on the DVD. That was kinda fun, but one fun thing that didn’t make it in the book, or more precisely on the book, was my favorite cover.
If you look at the cover, above, you’ll see a typical and boring picture of a computer. Actually, it looks like cheesy placeholder art. I mean, for a publisher that prides itself in books “for the rest of us” and books written with an edgy personality, they couldn’t have come up with a more dull cover image.
It’s not that the publisher didn’t have a chance to do a good cover. They had me going for a while: They wanted me to take a picture of myself for the cover image. Here is the image I submitted:
Well, actually, that’s one of four images I submitted, but it was the one they liked best. They liked it, except for one small item, which you’ll discover in a moment.
The image didn’t make the cover, though it does appear on the Amazon web page for the book. Here is the modified version, which the publisher approved:
Can you see the difference? Yes, the “approved” photo is cropped. What’s cropped out is a bottle of Jack Daniels, which I feel is one of the vital components of a PC troubleshooter’s arsenal. Still, according to my editor, the For Dummies line and Wiley (the publisher) does not condone putting alcoholic beverages on the covers of their book.
At least that’s what they told me.
I have often said that my kitchen sink should have three taps – hot, cold, and Jack Daniels. I wholehartedly agree that Jack Daniels is vital. Back when I used to write custom WAD files for Doom 2, I would go into a sort of WAD composition mode, and in this mode I practically lived on a diet of whiskey. Two years ago my brother and I decided to design electronic detonators in order to use computer software to control fireworks displays. I doubt we would have gotten very far without distilled inspiration. The cropping of your picture is exactly the kind of thing that makes me cringe every time I hear the words “family friendly”.
Comment by sean bernard — March 9, 2009 @ 5:21 pm
There was another reason that they didn’t go with my picture. That would open the floodgates for every other author — including some very whiny ones I’d love to mention here but fear getting sued — to beg and throw tantrums so that they, too, could get their pictures on the cover. So I can see the publisher’s point.
The anti-Jack attitude is just silly. If PC’s needed a lubricant, Jack Daniels would be it! 🙂
Comment by admin — March 10, 2009 @ 10:31 pm