Topic: Science and Faith
Cover Illustration Finished For My Upcoming Novel, The Money Suckers As I continue to put the finishing touches on my upcoming novel, I want to share with you a sneak peek of what the cover will look like!by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
As I described last month, I continue to work on my soon-to-be-published novel about the fiat monetary system under which we currently struggle to survive. Entitled The Money Suckers, it breaks down the complex topic of monetary policy, central banking, and fractional reserve banking into a few very simple concepts, teaching those concepts in the context of an action/adventure story.
Since I plan to self-publish the book as the first offering of Nolan Chart Books, I also must concern myself with all other aspects of the book besides the story itself, including the cover, layout, financing, marketing, publicity, etc. So I recently hired a very skilled illustrator from Ohio named Greg LaFever to do the cover illustration for me. Check it out and leave comments as to what you think of it in the reader comment section at the bottom of this article.
I came up with the concept for the cover, enhanced by the suggestions from my "mastermind" team of editors and advisors helping me to move the book forward. Greg took our verbal descriptions of what we had in mind and turned them into a work of art. I selected Greg to do the cover despite the fact that he has a very limited portfolio (compared to his competitors), simply because what I saw in that portfolio made crystal clear to us the outstanding artistic ability he possesses. His sense of proportion and scope are tremendous, and his attention to detail exceeded that of all the other illustrators (about a dozen and a half) whose portfolios I examined before I selected Greg.
So if you know anyone who needs a good illustrator, click the Contact button at the top of the page and tell us about the project you have in mind. I'll happily pass your contact information along to him.
As we approach the press date of the book (tentatively scheduled for July of this year), I will publish additional articles to keep you abreast of the latest developments in the saga of the book's development. My next article will likely focus on a unique approach I've taken to raising seed money to finance the printing and publicity costs. It's too early to report on the results of this new approach, but as soon as the final results are in, I plan to share them with you. Stay tuned!
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Walt Thiessen only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Walt Thiessen is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Michael Murphy
Date: 2009-05-22 06:57:06
Walt, Honestly, I feel it too "campy" for a serious work, as you've described intended to educate through fiction. I think it misses the mark in that regard! Mike
Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2009-05-23 03:55:50
Thanks for the input, Michael. Actually, the illustration is intended to be humorous and frightening at the same time. The counterpoint is intentional.
Frankly, treating topics like this "seriously" has gotten us nowhere, in case you hadn't noticed. I went with this approach because I think it's very important that we remove the torper from the issue, the very same torper which leads Americans who don't understand the system to not want to understand, preferring to have the politicians "solve" the problem for them, leading of course to disastrous consequences.
Making the illustration humorous is consistent with my plan to "entertain" the reader as a way to get non-financial types to sit down long enough to read and understand simplified concepts in the course of being entertained.
A book cover is a marketing tool. It's purpose is to get the potential reader browsing in a bookshop or chatting with a friend who has the book with him to want to pick it up and leaf through it. If I wanted to treat the book as seriously as you suggest, I suppose I should put a picture of the Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC on the cover, or perhaps pictures of Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner. That would certainly treat the topic more seriously, but no one would want to pick it up other than people like you and me who are already interested in the topic and have already studied it enough to have at least some basic understanding of the issues involved. That amounts to preaching to the choir. I prefer to teach the unconverted, uneducated masses who know little or nothing about the subject.
Posted By: Michael Murphy
Date: 2009-05-23 05:58:36
I see your point Walt and do think there are many out there now that are beginning to realize how much this subject threatens their future and well being! I'm hopeful your strategy inspires many into action! I've learned a lot on the subject from you and the contributors here at this site and appreciate the information published here and also the opportunity to contribute. I would think Nolan Chart will be well referenced in your novel. Good luck and I look forward to reading the book.
BTW, maybe you should have added Godzilla in with the bankers at the top of the illustration... copyright cost aside!:)
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