In addition to the acid green background and brassy text, the cover of Putting the Tarot to Work features “Mr. Big” — a grinning, cigar-smoking fellow surrounded by stacks of million-dollar bills. Mr. Big provokes extreme responses — people love him … or hate him.
Prior to publication, we held focus groups involving almost two hundred people. “Of these three possible covers, which do you prefer?” we asked.
No one ever liked Cover 1: a glossy black thing with a cogs and gears motif.
Members of the metaphysical community, however, (traditional buyers of Tarot books) absolutely loved Cover 2, which layered abstract images of office workers holding coffee mugs over a backdrop of muted autumnal colors. They described it with words like “calming” and “comforting.” This, they assured us, was the cover.
The same people hated Mr. Big.
“Revolting!” one woman said. Another woman in the same group almost refused to touch the cover art, for fear of being contaminated with Mr. Big’s capitalist vibes. “No,” she said. “No, no, no!”
On the other hand, corporate audiences — business people, sales reps, store owners, executives, retail managers, and other folks who said they’d never touch a Tarot book with a ten-foot pole — took a look at Cover 2 and yawned. “Nope!” they said. “No twinkle-ding-dong New Agey stuff for me today, thanks … there’s work to be done.’
This group, however, loved Mr. Big.
Sure, they thought he was “over the top” or even “a little crazed” — but they loved him, all the same. They saw his cigar as a symbol of success. They took his smirk as a badge of his confidence. And rather than see the stacks of money as filthy lucre, they saw the exaggerated number of 1’s and 0’s on the bills and burst out laughing: “Now this is the Tarot book for me!”
As the date drew near for the final cover decision, I held my breath. Llewellyn is the nation’s oldest publisher of New Age books. They’re focused — and rightly so — on the tastes of the metaphysical market.
On the other hand, I’ve spent more time in a corporate cube than in the Tarot community. And while I firmly believe this book has a lot to offer that community, I also wanted this book to appeal, at least a little, to folks in the business world.
In my heart of hearts … I knew Mr. Big was best equipped to make that happen.
There’s also the little matter of standing out in the crowd. Stop by any metaphysical shop or bookstore in America and see this for yourself: almost all the other books look alike. Among all those purple and gold books featuring pictures of incense burners or trump cards, a green and orange Tarot book with piles of money, a grinning man, and a fat cigar on the cover really catches the eye.
So I was, you see, delighted when Llewellyn went with Mr. Big.
Meanwhile: initial responses to the cover continue to be polarized in ways our focus groups led us to expect.
At least one metaphysically-inclined young woman on the west coast has posted a review on her website: “Male dominated bullshit,” she hisses. “This book should be called Putting the Kindling to Work.” (The most fascinating thing about her review? It’s actually a review of a picture of the cover … when the review was written, she had never even seen a copy of the book!)
Another metaphysical reviewer is very kind to the book … but brual to Mr. Big. “As a female, if I were to see this in a store, I would pass right on by … it is not amusing!”
A good friend and someone I much admire has recently written an enthusiastic and complimentary review of the book. Paragraph Two begins: “Once you get past the ghastly cover … Putting the Tarot to Work is one of a kind.” In personal correspondance, she mentions having to force folks to get past the cover in order to help them appreciate the book inside it. (A ministry I very much appreciate, by the way!)
The reviewers over at Tarot Passages don’t mention Mr. Big at all.
Meanwhile, I’ve recently spoken with several readers who aren’t involved in the Tarot community. The cover, they say, makes them grin. They take a look at Mr. Big and giggle … a few, in fact, squeal. They see him as a visual gag, a pun, a cartoon, a hand-drawn hyperbole. Almost universally, these folks are not offended by Mr. Big — in fact, they recognize in his leer a faint echo of their own desire for success.
Feel free to tell me what you think.
Oh, and by the way … just to clear up a particularly funny Internet rumor … the photo of Mr. Big is not a photo of me.
I like the cover. In my B&N, it’s with the other Tarot books in the New Age section. The bold color and flashy dazzle makes it stand out from a, to me, overly sober, earth-toned crowd. It looks like it has a sensa humah and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Which also makes me think I could absorb its lessons in less time than by perusing one of the other more weighty-looking tomes.
I’m just starting playing with Tarot and your book is simply not as intimidating to me; also, it doesn’t look like it discusses Qaballah or other things that, frankly, are just too beyond my understanding at this time.
Good luck with the book!
FWIW, I like it too…and I’m both a woman, and somewhat Newagey. It catches the eye, intrigues one into picking up the book…and that’s the point, right? Mr. Big amuses me. And if you had to alienate a market, for this book, I think it just might be better to alienate the newagey who already have every tarot book (many of whom will buy the book anyway, cause they know you!), than a potentially new market.
And I am flattered beyond belief by the mention of my name in the acknowledgments! It’s a terrific book, Mark; well worth the wait!
Janet
Mr. Big is fun! And his purple suit is a nice parody of the overwhelming purple-ness of a lot of published Tarot stuff. Good luck, Mr. Big, from the perpetrator of the infamous DOLLAR TAROT.