When I Came West (Part Twenty-Four)
Then I heard from OU Press again. This time they sent me the proposed cover for the book and I took that as a very good sign that they were indeed willing to move along and bring my book out (along with many others held back for some months).
At first glance, I wasn't sure about the cover. I loved the design and colors and font for the title, but the photograph troubled me. I wondered if the young girl I had been was an appropriate signal to garner the kind of audience I thought might be interested in my book.
I felt When I Came West was destined for more mature women readers, not young women. However, my concerns proved to be only my own skittishness about my photo being on the front of my book. Every other person who saw the cover loved it and found it inviting and interesting.
The design people and marketing people at OU Press were sold on it and so was Chuck Rankin. So I hushed and kept my peace and didn't make any kind of a fuss.
Later, when I reread the book again, I realized that everyone else was right: this was a book for women of all ages because it shows a young woman's adventuresome journey into full womanhood.
Now when I look at the book cover it makes me smile. Who was that enigmatic girl on the cover? Had she ever been me? Or had I really ever been her?
