Hi guys, some good news and bad news. The bad news first. Andrew’s had some personal issues come up and can’t blog this week, so you’re in the hands of Claire Cameron alone. I’m sure she’ll take good care of you. The good news: here are your winners. As I mentioned earlier the spread between number one and two was very slim, but the masses have spoken. What surprised me most was that every single title got at least several votes. So you all did quite well. Winners after the jump. First, second and third place will each get a Bookninja shirt and coffee mug. Everyone else just gets bragging rights.

In first place, with a handicap of 10 points because she’s a professional designer, is Ingrid Paulson with a reimagining of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Voters cited the ironic relation to the text and the parody of the genre as their reason for voting.

In second place, is JPod by Evan Mundy. Voters couldn’t get over the audacity and the perfection of the parody.

Third place is going make you cry “FIX!”. It’s Fall on Your Knees by Claire Cameron. Um, what can I say. The people have spoken. And Anne-Marie MacDonald may consider the popularity of this cover as a vote of confidence for trying a bodice ripper.

Honourable mentions go to:

A Complicated Kindness also by Evan Munday.

A Handmaid’s Tale by Paul Gorbould.

A Confederacy of Dunces

Life of Pi by Nicole Dixon

And here are the design credits for all the other entries. As you’ll notice, a few of the final entries were done by the same designers. For those of you who entered and didn’t make it, take heart that more than a few of these were pros involved in the publishing industry who really just know how to use the tool (Photoshop) and how to play the game (rebranding). I could have populated the entire final list with just pro designers, so I bumped it up to over thirty to include people who weren’t pros. But in the end, you can see, it’s hard to NOT pick them. Ingrid (who designs for virtually everyone) won by your votes, Evan works at Coach House, and Claire is the amateur designer on the podium. But the honourable mentions are just the next three in line, in terms of vote points, so it was close between the pros and the semi-pros. And I have a confession. Yes, it was I, I who did the As For My and My House title. Mwaahhahahahahaha!

Thomas Pynchon as envisioned by Mark Cutler:

Beautiful Losers by Sean Stanley:

Mark Cutler again:

Paul Barker does Animal House… I mean, the Pest House:

Paul Vermeersch nails it with Fifth Business:

Jack Starbuck Kerouac as envisioned by Beth Martin:

Matt Cahill’s unspeakably evil puzzles:

Paul Gorbould could fix Jane Urqhart’s washer any day:

Winner, Ingrid Paulson also did this one:

David Gee know’s Leonard’s tendency to violate the two line pass:

Ingrid Paulson did the next two:

Mark Paterson gets positively prehistoric with Richler:

Matt Cahill again with the Blair Witch Laurence:

This was one of my favourites: Darren Hicks’ Ibsen:

Roland Brown’s graphic novel, Waugh:

Okay, yes, this was me:

Nathan Logan knows why:

Paul Vermeersch slipped in another entry. Want to know a secret? That’s the original head that came on the cover… it just LOOKS like The Dief. All he changed was the title. Minimalist brilliance!

Greg Erskine’s Woolf was only three points behind the honourable mentions. So I guess he’s an honourable unmentioned:

David Whitton’s Chekhov really creeps up on you. The jokes get better and better every time you see it:

Sean Stanley again with Atwood. I love that he added a big wad of tabaccy in her cheek:

Carlton Wilson is a grade-A designer, and in fact designed the cover of my latest book. I this this cover might have been one of the most genius in the pile. The sad bears are just too much. Bril:

Brandon Von knows what sells. You could wash your laundry on that, Cormac:

Paul Vermeersch again with Bok’s business book. I see a theme emerging: