Luis Ortiz, publisher of NonStop Press, has a problem. The booksellers don’t care for the cover of his upcoming anthology, Why New Yorkers Smoke, which features short stories by the likes of Paul Di Filippo, Carol Emshwiller, Barry Malzberg, Don Webb … and me.

So he wrote asking me which of three alternate covers I preferred, and now I’m asking you. Luis will randomly select 10 people who give their opinion a copy of the final book. That’s worth an email to nonstop@nonstop-press.com, don’t you think?

But before you look at the possible covers, check out how Luis describes the anthology, which will be released on September 11.

The stories in WHY NEW YORKERS SMOKE blend both the real and the fantastic in a topical mix that illuminates the full range of some of the best speculative writers working today: Paul Di Filippo, Scott Edelman, Carol Emshwiller, Gay Terry, Lawrence Greenberg, Barry Malzberg, Don Webb, Aligria Luna-Luz and others. From “Grey Area”, the story of a taxi driver who bears witness to 9/11 by becoming the Wandering Dutchman of lower Manhattan, to “Why We Talk to Ourselves”, where Osama is still alive, living in NYC, and getting into speed dating.

Got it? Good.

Here’s the cover that Luis had planned to use but which he now says the booksellers didn’t “get.” We’ll call this Cover D.

Now let’s take a look at the alternate covers, one of which you can have a voice is making the final cover.

First, Cover A.

Then Cover B.

And finally, Cover C.

I know which of the four covers I prefer, but I’ll keep mum for now so as not to bias you. Think about it for a bit, then drop Luis an email at nonstop@nonstop-press.com and let him know which you prefer. And who knows? You could be one of the lucky ones and end up with a free copy to thank you for taking the time.