Title and author
Title
Defusing American anger: A guide to understanding our fellow citizens and reducing our us-versus-them divides
Author
Zachary Elwood
Photo of the author
Author biography
[Note: Don't worry about the photo of me; I don't want that on there.]
Description
Genre
Non-fiction
Book description
Very rough, will change later, but:
America is in trouble. We are, as they say, highly polarized. We don't just disagree on the issues; we are increasingly disgusted and angry with each other. We increasingly see "the other side" as moral failures and monsters. And our immense anger feeds into the stances we take on issues, making us more extreme and hardened and less willing to negotiate. And there's a chance our problems will get significantly worse before they get better.
To avoid worst case outcomes, we have to be willing to collectively think more about and work towards solutions. This book examines the roots of our anger, showing that many of our reasons for being disgusted with "the other side" are based on distorted views and misperceptions. The more Americans can understand each other and see how most of us are not the monsters we often imagine in our minds, the less angry we'll be, the more we'll be able to accomplish, and the happier we'll all be.
Target audience
Americans. People interested in politics. People interested in healing our divides.
Physical book details
Book cover type
Paperback
Front cover
- Title
- Author’s name
- Subtitle
Front cover details
The title and subtitle (Defusing American anger: A common sense guide to healing our divides) and my name.
Back cover
- Blurb
- Publisher’s details
- Price
- Barcode/ISBN
Back cover details
Testimonial at top. Can just put in a placeholder for now.
Blurb after that (that will also change)
Publisher: Via Regia Publishing. Price: $9.99.
Spine
- Title
- Author’s name
Spine details
Just 'Defusing American anger' and 'Zachary Elwood' would be fine.
Book publisher
Lightning Source / IngramSpark
Visual style
Design inspiration
Colors to explore
Other color requirements
Creative vision
Style attributes
Design needs
I'm open to ideas, but here are two major potential ones:
1. an image combining a bomb & fuse, and either an American map or an American flag, with maybe hands attempting to defuse the bomb. The wires could be red and blue. Something along those lines. Something that communicates quickly: America is about to blow and we need to defuse it.
2. something reminiscent of military/government-issue manual covers, very practical and minimal, that communicates: use this in case of emergency. One idea I had was some sort of tactical-looking diagram that resembled a bomb-defusing diagram but that showed icons of people with angry faces and lines, something to imply: in this book you'll learn how to defuse the anger of large crowds.
No matter what, the main title (Defusing American Anger) should be quite easy to read at a distance and thus easy to read on Amazon thumbnail.
What to avoid
Ideally, I think the design wouldn't be too complex/complicated/busy and would be easy to parse at a distance. So simpler might be better.
Files
Stock images
Client allowed the use of stock for this contest.
Stock images are licensed photos and vector files. Please declare stock when you submit designs so that clients can pay for licenses.
Attachments
Contest deliverables
1 x Physical book cover
Final files
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