Well it's finally happened! I had a quick look at C&T Publishings website the other day and got the shock of my life. There, staring back at me, was my book for pre order, out 17th November! Blimey Riley!
About 15 months ago I received an email asking if i'd like to write a book. The publishing company - C&T Publishing had had a good look at my work/blog/Fb page etc and thought I'd be a good match with their company. Well, my initial reaction was - is this a joke? - followed quickly by - of course I can't write a book, I don't know how. I wouldn't have the time and I wouldn't be good enough! My husband had a good look at the email and once he could see that it was the real deal said it's an amazing opportunity, I'd be mad to say no. But I was still really worried that I wouldn't have the time. I had my first trade show coming up and later that year I signed up to do the Art of Business and Surface Pattern Course. Life was busy enough as it was.
In all honesty I was just plain scared silly. I'd never done anything like this before and I was just worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. I mean, if you have trouble with your website, you call someone to help. If you have trouble with how to print your cards, you call a printer. With this it was all down to me. If I struggled and had problems, I had no one to help me. Gulp! But as hubby said, opportunities like this don't come along every day. So with that in mind I boldly stepped into the world of book publishing. I knew it would be hard work, but didn't quite know how hard it would be.
I procrastinated for quite a while. I do this a lot when I'm nervous. In fact every time I'm about to design, I procrastinate, thinking I won't be as good as my last design. I know- silly, but that's just me! We went away for a few days and I decided to write my introduction. This was the easy part for me. I like to write and when I'm in the mood, it comes quite naturally. So in those few days I got a lot of the "written" work done. Next came the "how to's" which was a lot harder. Not only do you have to write in a way that will be understood and enjoyed by your audience, but you have to stick to a strict word count rule and a very strict format. So no waffling for me......which was HARD. As you know, I do tend to waffle a fair bit!
The hardest bit by far was making all the "how to's" So when you see a book like this, the projects are written in steps - First cut a piece of card - second step trace around the owl template. Well each of those steps I had to make, label and package and then photograph and label each photo. The amount of work I had to do was mind blowing. I look back now and wonder how I did it all, alongside packaging all my trade show orders and starting my journey in the surface pattern design world.
Then when you think you are done....you're not! Not by a long shot. Next all the "how to's" have to be individually labelled and packaged and sent off. Then comes the editing, and the editing and then more editing!
So as you can imagine, I am really, really looking forward to seeing my book, physically in my hands. It was a long and tough journey, but I did it and no one can ever take that away from me :) Am I glad I did it?
YES! Absolutely!
You can pre order a copy here. I think it would make a lovely Christmas/Birthday present for a young girl aged 8 - 14.
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