I’m excited. DEERLAND: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness will soon be on its way to print, and I can now show you the final version of the cover. I love it. I think the designer did a great job.
The three images suggest much about certain aspects of the story I tell in DEERLAND. But that’s just the beginning. To me, the overall design feels just right. The green suggests that DEERLAND is at least in part an environmental story (it is), and yet it’s a dark green. That’s fitting; as much as we might love deer, they do have a darker side.
The whole scene feels vaguely menacing, and somehow reminds me of the movie poster for JAWS. That’s fitting, too. As I noted in my last post, car crashes make deer the deadliest animal in North America. So never mind grizzlies, wolves, rattlesnakes, or sharks. Instead, fear deer. (But do not, if I may slip in a brief PSA, veer for deer if one steps out in front of you when you’re driving down the road.)
Our subtitle was also the subject of careful thought and much deliberation. It needed to tell readers what the book was about, hint at even more, be short enough to remember, and trip lightly off an interviewer’s tongue when only seven seconds remain until the break. “The book is DEERLAND: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness.” I think it works.
© 2012 Al Cambronne
Cool ! Congrats, my friend. Good luck hunting this weekend. I’m deerless so far, so I’m going to hit it hard this last weekend of the general MN firearms season…
Why, thank you! And good luck to you, too.
Great cover but ecological balance? What’s that?
I see a deer drinking from a bird feeder and someone nocking an arrow, is this a storyline 😉
Elkless and for now deerless, two more days but still lots of meat in the freezer.
Balance? Good question! I guess that’s why it’s America’s HUNT for ecological balance. I just went back in and made that image larger so you can see more detail. I’m afraid it gets worse. That left-hand image actually shows deer slurping up corn. And yes, that middle image is part of the story, too.
Good luck hunting this weekend!
Al… I agree. The cover does invoke a sense of both wariness and optimism. I’m looking forward to getting hands on a copy and reading your work. If it’s like the blog, the book will be both interesting and informative.
Thank you for using the word, ‘Balance’ .. and not stooping to the improper and impossible scenario of sustainability.
Best success and keep up the fine writing work.
Thank you so much, and I hope you do enjoy DEERLAND. I think I’ve managed to tell some fun stories.