What do you think of the cover itself? Is it "true" to the main character?

Colleen,

Yes, it's weak. And owning accountability is rare in all industries. One step at a time. The girl is light-skinned and pretty but do we ever have average on any marketing piece?

It's weak. They know it's weak, but it's what they could do and still save face.

They heard us and they responded. We aren't going anywhere. In fact, I know there are some of us who are more than willing to hold feet to the fire when folks are wrong- again. lol

The new cover model is very pretty. Isn't the main character mistaken for a guy sometimes? But I must admit that I am still very relieved and happy about the change! :)

She is certainly prettier than the description but that is common on covers - girls with weight issues are always depicted on the cover as skinny, plain girls hoping to get the guy are always knockouts, so the cover model doesn't surprise me much. I will say though that from the article they had not decided on a final cover yet, so I'm not sure why PW captioned that as the new cover.

And yeah Susan - I know what they are doing but I just don't want to throw them a lot of love for this. It's a weak excuse and I'm calling them on it. The nice bit though is that we showed you can do something on the internet (and honestly I'm a cynic and never expected this); so now we move forward to the next battle.

More on that later.

Ms. Larbalestier says that is the final cover... ?

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/08/06/the-new-cover/

I think Bloomsbury got to have its cake and eat it, too...now it gets lauded for being "sensitive" to the needs of its consumers, and for "having the courage" to right a wrong...plus, they simply replaced one pretty girl with another--another who looks nothing like the character described in the book. Hurray for consumers mobilizing to effect change, but alas, REAL change is still a long ways away...

Exactly, Zetta.