Marci Johnson, of WordFarm Press, sent me fiction and poetry books to review. The covers are stunning and use stock photography from Istockphoto and Getty Images. Those two stock photo companies have allowed smaller companies and presses to use impressive images on their books and in their marketing materials. No longer must someone hire a photographer or use terrible clip art. Beauty can be had by all. Ah, I love the internet and its distribution ability!

Naturally when I saw these lovely covers, I thought of my own book. The 2009 publication date is still a long way off, yet I have not come to a conclusion regarding the cover. I know that WordTech will do a lovely job if I don’t come up with an idea that grabs me. At the same time, it’s important to me to have some input and WordTech is open to that.

Since the book is entitled Midnight Voices, we searched for photos related to dark, midnight, clocks, women and so on. We found lovely photos, yet none of them seemed quite right.

If you are a poet with a published book, what was your involvement with the cover? What led you to decide on a certain idea for a cover? How involved were you in the process?