You don't have to change anything. That wasn't the point I was trying to make. You just have to accept that if you write anything provocative at all (or use provocative artwork or marketing), you will inevitably get some negative feedback. You can't please everyone. I just think authors shouldn't try to have it both ways. An author can either tone down the work to appeal to as many readers as possible (trying not to offend anyone), or they can write with conviction and accept that their work won't appeal to everyone.Spartan_Warrior wrote:I'm glad the discussion has turned back to the Book 1 cover, because I've pretty much decided I'm "re-releasing" Book 1, primarily to change the cover (and to make exactly two small typographical/typesetting corrections that bother me when I read the paperback). I think CreateSpace will allow me to do this without a whole new ISBN, but we'll see. Either way, the eBook now features the new cover (see below).
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My one concession toward making it less "offensive" was to make the woman's image more of a silhouette. Going for something reminiscent of a James Bond movie intro. (Though the lack of contrast now makes me concerned about the clarity of the image in thumbnail. It's always something.)
I wouldn't have used that concept if I didn't think it's appropriate for the story (I mean--spoiler alert--the scene is pretty much pulled from the book). I also think it's mostly inoffensive to the intended audience*, but the fact is I don't know. I haven't gotten substantive feedback on the cover. No one has actually told me that it's offensive, nor has anyone told me that it's amazing or swayed their decision to buy. IMO, when an author has conflicting input on something (or no input), the tie should go to the author--and I do it the way I like it.
I can't find the clip, but I remember a great interview with Quentin Tarantino where he talks about this. He said he's always surprised that people are offended by his work because he only makes violent movies that are designed to offend. Why do people expect something different?
@jacob--Would you be happier if Amazon referred to them as "comments" instead of "reviews"?
I don't get what you mean by "whatever motivation suits their fancy." Reviews are subjective, not objective. We all see things through our own lens based upon personal experience. Why are some motivations legitimate and others not, assuming they read the book? I chose not to mention your language choices because my motivation at the time was to promote your ideas and the book. If I didn't have a personal interest, I would definitely have pointed out the language in my review as a caveat to women who are easily offended by such language. Would you really consider that trolling? Isn't it better if women who would be turned off by terms like "renaissance man" didn't buy the book?
We should stop. We're derailing Spartan's journal and we've been down this road before.