at ys, we do our publishing interaction (within the publishing team and with the authors and freelancers) on basecamp, an online project management space. it’s great for a few reasons. first, because the four staff in our publishing team are geographically dispersed — one here in san diego, one in chicago, one in grand rapids, and one in princeton, nj. add to that that our freelance designers, editors and proofreaders are all over the place, and having an online space for work really makes sense. the other reason basecamp is cool is that it creates a totally transparent process for the authors — they see all the discussion and can chime in on any aspect where they so desire.
so… to this story. the comps for my youth ministry 3.0 book were posted to basecamp a week or so ago. i didn’t like any of ‘em, and no one else really seemed to either. we all gave input, and a second round was created. the art director, in grand rapids, posted the new cover, with the comment that they had taken my desire for something bolder into account. one of the marketing peeps, and the publisher of ys both posted affirmative comments immediately, before i even had a chance to digest the whole thing. they affirmed the choice of the large, bold one-name-only MARKO across the top. and i bought it hook, line, and sinker. that’s not to say that i liked it. i thought it didn’t work at all; but tried to be really tactful and kind in my hesitant response. then the truth was revealed, and i was shown as the gullible idiot. here’s that “fake” cover:
a few more tweaks later, and with the byline in the always-intended, post-punk’d style, here’s the final cover:
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I do like the “rewind, play, FAST FORWARD” images. Simple, yet they connect with where we’ve been, where we are, and where we can be going. Nice touch.
Looking forward to the release! Just a question…what’s the deal with forewords? I may actually be one of the few people that actually read the foreword, but whats the point of them other than “this is good stuff”?
dj — yeah, forewords are, in many ways, like an extended endorsement. but, of course, with the extra page real-estate (usually an endorsement is only a paragraph long, while a foreword is 2 – 10 pages), the foreword author gets to develop a line of thought, not just say “i liked this book.” it’s a nice addition in many books, because you get an extra perspective as a little appetizer at the beginning.
Definitely grabs attention to itself; very cool. I forget if you’ve said it before – when will it be out?
matt — we’ll have it out for the conventions, but it won’t hit bookstores until january.
Actually, I liked the punk’d out one. It wouldn’t work practically, but I liked it. Since I had to miss that final talk at the convention, I’m looking forward to the book, too.
Nice cover. Not a fan of the diamond you’ve used for the period in ’3.0′ (if you are asking for feedback, which you weren’t, but I’m giving *grin*)
What peaks my curiosity is what the 2.0 is/was? Also wondering if you tip your hat back to the ‘The Coming Revolution in Youth Ministry’ that came out way back in the 90′s. Anyway, looking forward to it.
::danKing::
thanks, dan — here’s my post about youth ministry 2.0. it’s what we’ve been doing since the 70s, and, in most cases, are still doing.
http://www.ysmarko.com/?p=2658
Cool; I’ll be grabbing one in Pittsburgh, then. : )
i am looking forward to it. great cover.
sounds like a good book for to use as a freebie (hint, hint)
McNutt! You’ve got to come to Sac-Town, baby! I’ll even buy you a 49ers ticket!
Hey- I’m a fan of singular names like “Bono” “Madonna” “Marko” I’d just go for it :)
A manifesto, you gotta love it, everything is a manifesto these days. Interested to see where the book is headed.