For the past six months, some of you may remember seeing a rather blah grey square, a poor excuse for the cover of the novel, 'Never Play Leapfrog w/a Unicorn', on my Bio & post pages.  At the time of pubbing, being a 'thrifty' (not broke, but badly bent) POD author, I thought, 'You can't tell a book by its cover, the public will embrace the content.'  Well, I was not entirely wrong, but in truth, I was far from right.

I knew I had to do something to enrich, to liven up the product, but with shallow pockets, without the means of hiring a costly cover illustrator...the impossible answer to 'How?' plaqued me to distraction.

Nine months back the answer, the now simple obvious answer, hit me...host a contest!

I contacted the Art Instructor at the local High School, told her my idea for the contest & what I envisioned for the cover, she put the word out & three students signed on.  Two months later I was invited to look at what they had come up w/so far & made my suggestions...one month later I went back to view & choose a 'winner'. 

Oh, what did it cost me?  Ninety-five dollars to my Pub for the cover change, one hundred dollars to the winning student, fifty dollars each to the two others.  $295.00!  The three student illustrators were very happy, the Art Instructor more than gracious & I, well, I am thrilled no end at the final product.

Simple?  Yes, sometimes 'impossible' is as simple as that.

Best to all,
FWB