So Many Books, So Few Donuts

wow...awsome...Why not a bear claw?

You have to shoot another donut? Sounds funny. At least we now know why there's a picture of a donut on the cover in the first place.

Clearly the new donut needs shooting. How else do you get the whole in the middle?

ah, the trouble with stock photography

there was soemthing on media watch about this recently
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1367739.htm

:]

maybe you can have a jam donut instead

sorry, max, but just seeing the two books side by side made me laugh...made my evening, really

cream filled! they're the best!

I got the chance to exchange e-mails with Stephen Graham Jones and we covered the topic of titles. 'The Fast Red Road: A Plainsong,' when I found a copy through the library, was 'Glory Dog: A Plainsong,' which was his doctoral discertation for his creative writing PhD.

While he was working on it, it'd also had the title 'For There Needed No Horse' (which is what SGJ thought he'd submitted it as), 'Dog Days,' and just 'Plainsong,' which got taken.

And 'All the Beautiful Sinners' was originally the title for his upcoming 'Demon Theory,' and 'ATBS' had orignally worn the title 'Subterranean Iron Horse Blues,' a title Jones evidently thinks is worse than I do.

As far as stock photos go, as a photos.com subscriber, I can totally see where an artist at a publisher clicked on a photo for a design to run up the flagpole. You can buy the photo outright, but you have to be the first to do so. And usually, if there's one photo, there's a dozen variations (or more) on the same theme. The same model, or subject, from different angles, against different backgrounds, etc. So if your publisher shoots their own doughnut, they're putting money in the pocket of a (probably hungry) photographer, and they'll probably get you a cooler doughnut image. Plus, the British guy will probably find his doughnut at slightly different angles/backgrounds in a dozen places in the next two years. And he'll feel cheap, and used. And like he should subscribe to Google News...

Soooo.... what kind of doughnut did you end up going with? ;)

"I e-mailed Bill, my editor—who, sadly lacking a “Max Barry” Google News topic, had no idea."

Hahaha, ah that was funny. Come on, don't we all have a "Max Barry" Google News topic?

that makes me mad, and it was such a good looking donut too. Guess I'll just have to settle for my homemade chocolate-double chocolate chip cookies. : )

While jam donuts are definately delicious, I don't know if they are as aesthetically appealing. There's something about that hole...

There's something inherently imposing about a chocolate-frosted chocolate donut... besides the imminent weight gain, even...

How do you call those little donut ball thingies? Munchkins? What about those?

So this is how liberty ends... glazed and with a bit bitten off...

a wu-tang song/old-dirty-bastard lyric comes to mind:
Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Wu-Tang Forever
Song: Dog S**t

She flew in like calm breeze
Tall brown skin her weave like palm trees
I went coconuts
Dipped my Dunkin' between your Donut
Don't want it if it ain't no s**t, b***h!
Fathership touch ground, like lionel snoop
Don't invite me I tear the **** down
White boys cut my toupee!
Seventh day rester, or scream play
I slump MC slay, it ain't nuttin to bust a*s
Bullet him, get him fast
B***h I don't break out, blast to the next rash
The dog piss on MC's like trees
Got meals but still grill that old good welfare cheese

(Ol Dirty sings again)
Hoeeeeee!
Yeah, hayyyy! Dedicated to all you b***h a** n****z
De, haaaaa And you b****h ass ni***ettes
B****h! Ho*e! M**********s!

Can I just say, what the fuck did that have to do with anything besides the fact that they said donut once?

I must urge you to choose a hundreds and thousands sprinkled doughnut. They Own all the other doughnuts.

And I agree with Robert. Wtf, mate?

Why a doughnut =[

How about a paper clip. a giant paper clip. a giant paperclip that can talk....

wait a minute..damn microsoft word

I agree with Kristen, the ominous nature of a chocolate donut might be better than a glazed.

Although glazed does reflect the emptiness of corporate existance, yet chocolate embodies the evil...

Dunno, quid pro quo.

Max...my condolences....I liked that cover....damn!....sucks big time....how about a briefcase for the cover? I dunno....hope whoever designs the cover comes up with something real cool that reflects the nature of the corporate lifestyle....

I can't stop thinking a powdered-sugar donut on an all black cover would look very pleasing.

Mmm... powdered-sugar donuts.

Well... You recall the high-speed photo of an apple being shot? Since your editor wants to "shoot [your] own donut" why not shoot it? Something similar to this photo: http://www.tonyrogers.com/weapons/images/high_speed_photos/

(second one from the top)

How cool would that be?

Aww man, can't you contact this other guy and ask him not to use said doughnut for his cover? I'm not sure another doughnut will suffice. Glazed is by and far, the most tasty of them all.

Well the donut is enough to induce hunger and craving for the item, but I dont see it as a "Company" thing. Now Im not certain what the novel is about, but based on your previous work, and the name, I would assume it has something to do with a company... ie: the business world, another satiristic view of corporate policies and procedures. But my ethnocentric view of the image, a donut, brings to mind cops/law enforcement.

For me, a better striking image that relates to 'company', corporate idealism, or day-to-day office functionings would be a water cooler, a cubicle, or even a cup of coffee.

If there is a donut on the cover, I would expect to see some sort of running theme in the book about donuts. Things such as conversations held in the breakroom, while eating their daily donut... or donuts in the breakroom being a sign that bad news is about to hit the department or something.

If no such running theme is present in the story, I would be baffled by the cover choice.

I really like your donut better. It's golden and appetizing. The other one is orange. Blech.

In what I would hope is a tidy response to Kestral Lei, considering the fact that Max said, "The book opens with a donut-related crisis," I would say that, at the very least, donuts are there, which is more than can be said for some book covers.

In the context of the situation, I would go so far as to say the predicament is...delicious.

In my opinion, shooting (taking a picture) a donut by your self is the way to go. But to personalize the cover just a wee bit more, maybe you should be the one taking the bite from the donut. That'd add the personal touch, and you'll be absolutely sure that no one will have a donot that you've taken a bite out of on their cover. Unless some freak finds you when you've just taken a bite out of a donut and chases you away, and doing so, you obviously drop your donut in al the fear, just to have the psycho take the donut, shooting it himself and using it for his own cover. ;)

And by the way... It'd be totally cool to know what your bite mark looks like, and I promise you, I won't use the photo of your bitemark to iether incriminate you or suing you for biting me (althought I just had an idea... hehehe...).

;) Have fun!

Well, as I've said.. I dont know what the book will be about. Ive not kept fully up-to-date on all the information about the book that has already been released. That little tidbit had managed to slip my mind. But seeing that donut, nor donuts in general do not bring corporate/office to mind. It reminds me of cops. That long-running joke about cops and donuts has impacted me in that manner.

How much does Michael Windsor make?
Stock Photography? Pffff...

Next thing will be that the face in Jennifer Goverment is somewhere else as well, minus the barcode (hopefully).

This sounds like chapter one of your upcoming book "Publisher":

"There I was rejoicing about my little work of making fun of a greedy company, when I find that my book cover is made with cheap stock photography that someone else had it first. I guess it never ends."

http://bahahs.blogspot.com/2005/06/you-can-thank-my-friend-seldi-for-this.html
hey guys:
tomorrow is "National Doughnut Day." Krispy Kreme's giving away free doughnuts!!

The irony of this of course is that the cover is a marketing problem. Who buys a book for the cover alone? I certainly don't, the text is what really matters. On the other hand, for people who have never heard of Max or his prior books, it will likely be the cover and title that inspires them to look more closely at the book in the shop, and possibly towards buying it.

You know, I'm actually a total sucker for covers. Not when I'm buying them, of course because the bills in my back pocket are really special and everything. But in libraries I totally judge books by their covers. I really love the Company cover right now. I wouldn't want to see it change.

Can we get Jennifer Nation T-Shirts??? My son and I are addicted and want to show off :)

Sat. 4 June 2005

I have just arrived at my house on a long bus ride back from Washington, D.C. The bus driver got lost on the way home. They got Cleveland, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio mixed up and we went the wrong way. I almost cried, but I didn't because real men never cry.

In other news, Max Barry should write a terrible review about the other book that stole Company's cover just out of spite. Even if they had the cover first, the book that Max Barry wrote is obviously better than another diet book that probably doesn't even help you lose weight. It probably just tells you that you are fat which leads to depression which leads to more eating which leads to another diet book. As that guy in the Austin Powers movie says, "It's a vicious cycle."

Also, I agree with Amy, you should get T-shirts for your novels and nationstates because merchindising is the only way to get rich.

Once again,

Adam

Why not a jam donut with the bite taken, and jam oozing out like blood?
Failing that I think the extreme close up of the paperclip is a good idea... without the annoying, animated face.
Maybe a pie, cut to look like a pie chart?
Gotta go, I'm getting hungry... heheheh.

Oh and yeah, merchandising will make you rich. I'd buy one of those T-shirts. I'd even wear it. Free advertising. Can't beat that for value!

A much better t-shirt would be the Max mini-me stick man with "Max Barry - Fear My Vigilantes!" as the caption. Imagine the the scandal, the obscurity of the joke, everyone wanting to know what the hell it means and thus coming to the site... lol

I am a photographer and will do a photo for free as long as I get credit

Re: Hobbie's comment up there about about book covers, if the cover to Jennifer Government hadn't caught my eye a couple years ago, I'd still be clueless.

A little late, but perhaps the donut could be chomped through, to make a 'C'.

Chocolate donut with sprinkles please, yum, thanks! ;)

Yes, chocolate frosted with sprinkles. All the darkness of chocolate as Luckdragon said... with the little bits of insanity and joy that sprinkles represent.