Idea: Nerdiness sells
I'm not sure what my idea was here, beyond noting the cultural trend set by Wrox books featuring their nerdy authors on the cover. (My favorite is the duo on the Javascript Objects cover, top center.)At first I thought: That's nice... they want to make the authors celebrities, to help improve their social lives.
But the covers probably communicate "trust" to the target audience: "See, I am just like you -- a technocrat responsible for the software infrastructure of the world -- and I take my job so seriously that I have no time for appearances!"
(I am of course a nerd myself, and jealous that no book company has seen fit to put me on a cover. If and when they do, I hope they use this picture... )
* IN ORDER POSTED
5 Comments:
Love it. Two of those covers are actually fakes, though, created by the groupies of one of the Wrox authors. Yes, Wally McClure has groupies.
Another factoid: one of the Oracle authors was featured in the 2006 Men of Wrox calendar. Seriously.
Thanks for the facts David -- I had no idea I was peddling fakes, or that Wally was such a magnetic personality.
Your view is pretty much accurate. The original Wrox insisted that authors were on the covers, saying "you wrote it, you should get recognition". And I do mean insisted - we had no choice. Many times I tried top subvert it, by submitting pictures of Brad Pitt and Bugs Bunny, but they never got through.
I feel for you Dave -- I would hate to walk into a bookstore and see my old passport photo staring back at me.
But it is interesting to see the changes that come with some celebrity, like the more "Woody Harrelson" Wally on the left in "...with Wally & some guys."
My contribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samjudson/15753190/
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