How to judge a book

There’s only one foolproof way to do it, of course. And so, I thought I’d celebrate the end of the week (as well as getting 90% of the way towards the 2/3 mark of the finished manuscript… err, woo hoo!), by sharing…. rolling of drums…. the cover…!

As you may have seen here before, or on Flickr, this portrait was taken at Renmin Park in central Urumqi, where a great big Uyghur milonga takes place each afternoon. With spirited dancers, a super social atmosphere, and moustaches that I continue to try and cultivate myself, the afternoon I spent hanging round with them was a huge highlight of the journey – and his smile seems to reflect it for me.

This is the cover I’m using for my Authonomy excerpt and will most likely carry with me into the brave world of epublishing when the time comes. So, in advance, thoughts, suggestions, impressions are all welcome!

An Urumqi Fellow

This Uyghur dancer was one of dozens who visit Urumqi’s central Renmin Park each afternoon for a great big melonga of lively traditional music and beautiful dancing. With a tone and rhythm closer to Istanbul than to Beijing, China’s far-western province of Xinjiang is a universe unto itself.

This was one of my favourite photos from the Eurasia trip – and is one of my leading contenders to work as a cover of the forthcoming BOOK! (now having cracked my halfway point of 25,000 words, I feel able to refer to the travelogue as an actual “book in progress,” and not simply a “pile of meaningless notes, noise and fury, signifying nothing… nothing gaddamnit!”)

To mark the rough halfway-point in this booky project, I’ll soon be launching the cover….. a good session on Photoshop is always a great (and semi-productive) distraction from text, text, text and more text.