LAUGHS
I have, for years, been telling the story of asking my then-editor Betsy Mitchell whether my upcoming book could have a woman with a HEAD on it, because the fashion of book covers at the time was for them to not. I knew the logic was that readers can identify better with women they can kinda sorta imagine themselves to look like (Betsy also added “at least on their best day, back in high school, while wearing an unnoticeable all-body girdle and just having come from the best hairdresser and colorist in town. Yeah.”)
So the way I’ve been telling the story is:
Me: ooh, ooh, could she have a HEAD this time?
Betsy: We’ll see, but marketing research suggests that women readers identify better with models whose faces they can’t see
Me: MY marketing research suggests women readers identify better with people who have HEADS!
What I had COMPLETELY forgotten, and what FB memories has just reminded me of, was Betsy’s response to that:
Betsy: Perhaps she has just decapitated herself and that’s what we’re showing on the cover.
cries laughing