Monday, April 7, 2014

Act As If


Here's the cover of my new book, Act As If. It was designed by John Sandel. Tell me what you think.

When will the book be published? When will everything else be done? I don't know. Soon!

"Soon" is a relative term. I thought I could predict things with Camelot & Vine, but among the many lessons I learned during that process was the new old adage: "Everything takes longer than you think it will."

Act As If is a book of essays about my experiences as a journeyman actor in Hollywood, based on the column I wrote for several years for NowCasting.com.

jour·ney·man      
'jərnēmən 


noun: journeyman; plural noun: journeymen, a trained worker who is employed by someone else.


Because it's a book of essays, Act As If is excellent toilet reading. I think of that as a marketing strong point. I get a lot of reading done when I'm on the toilet. Mostly magazines and journals. I read Who Moved My Cheese? on the toilet (true story), but that's a different post.

30 comments:

Kalei's Best Friend said...

I like the look of the font as well as the placement of the title...
I just got through reading Orringer's "How to Breathe Underwater" which is a series of short stories of females of all different ages, backgrounds, etc... I enjoyed it and no, it wasn't toilet reading....:-)

dive said...

Squee!
I want one!

Petrea Burchard said...

Yay! So far, so good. I like it, too, I like the simplicity and the color. But I welcome dissenting opinions. We can still make changes if necessary.

KBF, I'm glad to read your recommendation for the Orringer. I'm almost finished with Nora Ephron's "I Feel Bad About My Neck." I was so excited to read it, and the title essay is great. After that, though, meh. One of those books/writers that assumes the world revolves around New York City.

William Kendall said...

I like the look of it!

LOLfromPasa said...

You have made my day!!! Love the cover and can't wait for it to be published. It sounds fantastic!

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, all. The cover is very important! Next time you're in a bookstore, notice what attracts you. Sometimes we pick up a book just because we like the look of it.

Diana said...

You had me at "excellent toilet reading!" Very cool cover, too.

from Madrid said...

The public appeal certainly is the outside of the book and ...
clear!, the title is very important.

Tomás.

from Madrid said...

The public appeal certainly is the outside of the book and ...
clear!, the title is very important.

Tomás.

Petrea Burchard said...

Diana, I might need to get a blurb for the cover that says, "Excellent toilet reading!" Do you know anybody famous?

Gracias, Tomás. I think you're right!

Unknown said...

Love the cover, Petrea!

Petrea Burchard said...

Great, thanks!

Bellis said...

Love the cover! You were very lucky to hire such a good designer. How did you find him? I had to think what headshot meant, but I guess any actor or wannabee actor (your target audience) will know.

Petrea Burchard said...

It's definitely a niche market, Bellis!

What would you call a headshot? Maybe there's a more universal word I can use.

Petrea Burchard said...

Oh and Bellis, I looked for that designer for nigh on 40 years.

sonia a. mascaro said...

Love the cover, Petrea!
Just great to write another book!

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Sonia!

Margaret said...

Looks good. Not sure I love that green though. Hmmm. I'm excited it's all coming together. Fun.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Margaret. Do you think you'd like it if it were a different green? We've talked about variations on this one.

Susan Campisi said...

I love it! Very clever design and blurb. Is that a blurb or a sub-title?

I wouldn't have thought twice about the color but after Margaret's comment, I'm re-considering... I feel neutral about the green and wonder how it'd look with a different color. Purple might be interesting.

Petrea Burchard said...

I like purple a lot. It doesn't matter what I like, though, it matters what buyers like. So your opinions are very helpful here, everyone. Thanks.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I once read an article about what those doing forced penitence (guys in orange picking up litter on the side of the freeways) would find and head shots were common. I think you should take advantage of John's photographic skills and put in an image related to that. It could be your face instead of the usual author in back of jacket. Freeway and guys in orange kind of blurred - Flip the green fidgety typeface into a white overlay.

or not

Petrea Burchard said...

I sat and pictured it for a minute and I like the idea. I need to get some inmates to pose.

Ms M said...

Great cover!
I'll look forward to reading it in the future!

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Ms. M. I've been working on the formatting.

Peter Spenser said...

WAY T.M.I.!

Petrea Burchard said...

Ha, yeah, Peter, you're not the first person who made that protest. Too late to edit the post, as it would render some of the comments a little odd.

Banjo52 said...

I'm too late to comment the cover, which I think is fine as is, or with some of the recommended changes. But someone must applaud your honesty, modesty, and wit for this: "I read Who Moved My Cheese? on the toilet (true story), but that's a different post."

I keep meaning to visit here regularly because I always like your comments elsewhere. Maybe this visit will be a start.

Banjo52 said...

I almost forgot: Thomas Lux's Collected Poems always jumps at me from a crowded book shelf, and, not an artist or psychologist, I assume that's because of the solid and bold red, black and yellow color scheme. For what it's worth.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Banjo. Thanks for visiting. I know the best of us will at least look at a book for of its cover. Pulling it off the shelf is the first step toward buying it, so it's important to make the right choice. The great thing about print on demand is that I can change it if it's not working.

The "Who Moved My Cheese" joke looks a little icky at this remove! I used to stop at my agent's office between auditions, and it was always on the back of the toilet seat. Through many visits, I read the whole thing. A good book, if I recall.