Cover Art and Chapbooks

I've had a good poetry writing morning. For almost a month, I've had vague ideas for poems, but I haven't been very good at sitting down and actually writing them. So far, I haven't been one of those poets who can't think of anything to write. No, I'm the person who scribbles down ideas on scraps of paper and sticky notes, and then, months later, I wonder what those scribbles mean or where I planned to go with that idea.

I still haven't heard back from Finishing Line Press, so I don't have a sense of my timeline. I'm proceeding as if everything will be due very soon. This afternoon, I plan to play with the camera to see if I can create some art for the cover. Perhaps I'll post the possibilities here and let people vote.

When I first got the e-mail from Finishing Line Press, I panicked about the idea of cover art. Then I did a Google Images search on the phrase working women and came up with some interesting vintage stuff, 19th century woodcuts and drawings of women at looms, women doing housework. The thought of securing permission to use that art made me decide to play with the camera. Plus, I'm not sure that a 19th century woman at a loom (which fits with the overall theme in many ways) would attract the widest number of readers.

Or does anyone really choose to buy/read a chapbook based on cover art? For me, good cover art is just a bonus. I'm usually buying the chapbook because I love the author or because I've read a poem and want more or because the chapbook has a really good title.

Even if I go with a different option for the cover, it will still be fun to play with the camera. I spend far too many leisure hours on the sofa. I need to do more art. And we finally have a working desktop computer, so I can actually see the photos I take--and I have Photoshop, so I could manipulate those images, if I wanted.

Fun!