What comes to mind when you think of "perfection"?

• The moment of glory when you present a beautiful finished product to the world?
• The feeling of satisfaction when you impress your friends with your incredible baking skills?
• The flawless swirl of pink icing on a fluffy golden cupcake?

Often, the culprit behind perfectionism isn't the legitimate desire to put your best effort out there. It's the insatiable need to never mess up or "look bad"—that inner urge to situate a cupcake dead center on the plate and never, ever let the frosting get smudged before your Bible study group or MOPS friends see it.

But that striving for perfection is a disease that eats at you, with side effects that include insomnia, nausea, and severe stress.

Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory present the cure in their new release, The Cure for the "Perfect" Life.

For the book's cover, we didn't automatically alight on a cupcake as the "perfect" metaphor for perfectionism. Some of the original concepts included spilled coffee, broken high-heels, and dropped grocery bags. Here's what one of our in-house designers, Nicole Johnson, has to say about the change in approach:

Initially, the imagery we were finding for this cover was falling short of the mark. They had the humor and the "failing" aspect, but none of the "it's going to be okay" vibe. The cover couldn't look like a mess—after all, this book is offering a cure for life's messes. It needed to look "perfect," but with one element slightly off.

The tipped cupcake—a small package of perfection that's been "ruined"—captured the feel of little things gone awry, while suggesting that there's nothing inherently wrong in that sort of imperfection.

Johnson, the designer for this cover, adds,

The cupcake is relatable. How many times have you worked so hard to make every detail just right, only to lose your cool and feel like the world has fallen to pieces, like that beautiful cupcake?

The cupcake featured on the cover was made by one of Harvest House's own, Georgia Varozza. And the Harvest House marketing services team attests to the fact that they were delicious. 

Could it be that a cupcake on its side would taste as sweet?