Copyright © 2011 by Nina Hamberg. All rights reserved.
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Most memoirists use a personal portrait on their cover and I liked the intimacy a picture gave. But when I started hunting for an old photo, all I could find were brooding shots (which you’ll see here) taken with a self-timer for a photography class assignment.
Next I played with cover designs using stock images. The heart-shaped boxing glove
was my favorite. It seemed ironic and witty. But seeing it, people who hadn’t read
the manuscript assumed that Grip was a story about boxing. My second choice was the
sheet knotted into a heart but my designer hated it, saying the image was too soft
for the narrative, and she was right.
Ultimately I remembered a picture of Paul
and me in the bathtub of our NY apartment. When cropped tightly, that shot worked.
I
Here are some that were considered and rejected:
- Courting Danger
- The Safest Place
- The Lion’s Den
- Block and Counter
- In My Father’s Place
- Intimate Forces
- Breaking & Entering
Even after all the deliberations, the design used for the cover on the copy sent to reviewers didn’t end up as the the final version. After gaining some feedback and a little distance we modified it again before publication.
REVIEW COPY