The book cover for Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go Away appeared on Amazon.com yesterday, so I guess that’s a sign that it’s time to unveil it on the blog:

Please, resist the urge to lick your screen. I hear computers are dirtier than public restrooms because people rarely clean their monitors. I would hate for you to catch an infection because my book cover looked so delectable. Mmmmm, cupcake. Chocolate cupcake. With pills!

I first saw the cover concept for Chocolate & Vicodin at the end of March 2010, long before the final text of the book was completed, which is sort of odd and slightly scary since it’s like taking your wedding photos before you’ve met your groom. However, the cover is needed for placement in the sales catalog the publisher puts together each season to pitch their books to booksellers. Thus, it’s usually created before the book is complete to give booksellers enough lead time to place their orders.

I immediately loved the cover because, really, what formerly morbidly obese woman doesn’t love cupcakes? It’s also a great excuse to serve chocolate frosted cupcakes at any book events. I feel very fortunate that I’ve loved the initial cover concepts for both of my books. Sometimes authors and marketing departments have differing visions of what the cover should look like, but I’ve been lucky to avoid that type of battle so far. I hope you guys love it as much as I do!

Also, as you might have figured out from the link, the book is available for pre-order at Amazon.com in paperback and on the Kindle. It’s also listed for pre-order at other online retailers like Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Indiebound. If/when it becomes available for pre-order on any other e-readers or sites, I’ll let you know.

My birthday request
And since tomorrow is my birthday (my 30th birthday, oh my!), I would consider it a personal early birthday present if anyone who intends to pre-order the book on Amazon does it today. How high can we push that sales rank? Can we make it one of the biggest gainers in books today? I don’t know, but I thought it was worth the awkwardness I feel about any type of self-promotion to ask you to try! (In case this might affect your purchasing decision, I don’t think I’m going to sell autographed copies of the book directly this time like I did with Half-Assed. It was a lot of work, and I don’t really have the time for it now that I freelance full-time. And if I do, you can cancel your Amazon order any time before it ships.)

Thanks again for all your support, guys! I noticed that CHOCOLATE & VICODIN was assigned an Amazon book rank a few weeks ago, which means some of you have already pre-ordered it. I really appreciate that and hope you’ll enjoy the book this February!