FAILURE

Let’s talk about failure.

Failure is one of our biggest fears, probably up there with drowning, or talking to a cute girl. This fear is so strong that we pass up great opportunities for relationships, jobs, life experiences, and friends. And it’s a shame.

What many people don’t realize is that failure is the greatest teacher we will ever have. It has been teaching us since we could burp, and it will follow us for the rest of our lives. It will be there each time we fall, and it will be there each time we succeed, just waiting for its chance to offer us another lesson. 

My advice to people out there is to not shy away from their failures. Embrace your mistakes. Take the time to examine and learn from what you lack, then come back stronger and determined as hell to succeed next time.

Now, I want to share with you some of my failures; believe me, there are MANY. It took me well over a year to design my first book cover (See the book cover here!), and in that time I made A LOT of mistakes. Like, a lot. And in the spirit of owning up to my mistakes, I’d like to share with you some of these atrocities.

This was one of my earliest designs, and it
depicts a fictitious character in the book-
The Bear Dragon

I tried crossing out words to make it seem more mysterious

This was one of my favorite covers
because it so well depicts a scene
that Charlie imagines in his head
late in the book.

My very first cover design for the book.
Oh, the nostalgia...

Thanks for checking out some of my failures. I have dozens more just like them, possibly more. And while these covers were not good enough to be the face of my published book, they represent a significant part of my education in design. I'm grateful for the time I invested in them, and they have definitely helped to make my newer book covers MUCH better. You can check out the cover that I eventually DID use for this book here, and you can also see the cover for my newest book here.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Check out JDBenabides.com for all my work!