However, my first instance of plummeting mandible occurred when I turned on Fox & Friends earlier Sunday morning. Former NFL tight end Mark Bavaro was being interviewed about a book he has just written, Rough and Tumble. Football + Fiction? That’s worth delaying a shower for.
The jaw droppage happened when I saw the cover of the book. It was the exact cover of Blown Coverage, Jason Elam's and my upcoming January 2009 release. I’m not talking similar or bearing a very close likeness. Minus the writing, it was identical! Not believing my eyes, I quickly confirmed the bad news on Amazon. Un-stinkin’-believable!
Not content to let the news ruin just my morning at church, I immediately shot off an email to our publisher. Soon, I received the answer, “Not great news. We’ll get our heads together first thing on Monday.” When Monday rolled around, Tyndale House decided to pull the cover. However, they still will have to send out the already-printed advanced reader copies, but with stickers saying "Not Final Cover". Good quick fix – three cheers for Tyndale.
Not really knowing the publishing industry, I shot off a griping email to my agent. His reply? No big deal – “Covers get changed all the time.” Yeah, I suppose. But, dang, I really loved that cover.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish Bavaro nothing but the best on his book. In fact, I went out and picked it up this morning, and am looking forward to the read. He’s got great endorsements and a fantastic cover – a really fantastic cover; a really cool fantastic makes-you-want-to-pick-the-book-up-and-read-what’s-inside cover – our cover. But as the Stones have oft reminded us, “You can’t always get what you want.” Okay, Mick, I hear you. And I’ll just have to trust that you’re right, and, instead of having the cover we wanted, we just might find that we got what we needed.
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