With the holidays behind me, things are going full steam ahead on the project. FINALLY, I have secured an illustrator. This turned out to be a much bigger hurdle than I expected, but it was worth the wait. She is AMAZING. Far beyond her ability to illustrate my characters, she “gets it.” She is on board with my vision and totally sees it. She is an amazing professional artist and having her on board is so exciting.

I’ve been stuck around the house this weekend thanks to some minor surgery and I’ve used the time to work on the next book in the series. I am meeting with Katie next week to finalize the details on our contract and I expect she will begin illustrating the first book shortly.

I also have a fantastic editor for the books and I am meeting with my mentor on the project in the next few weeks to get some more guidance as we inch closer to publication. I secured the domain name for the project and hopefully by June I will begin work on the Web site and supporting graphics for the project. It is looking like things will be ready for a fall release. Not as early as I was originally aiming for, but doing it right is far more important to me than doing it quick. I came up with this character over 10 years ago, so a few more months won’t kill me.

We are working on refining the original character sketches but once I have a final print, I will probably post it on here. Most importantly, my two toughest critics–Zoey and Ollie think the main characters are cute and they love the first book.

It has been an educational few weeks working on the project. I went shopping (virtually of course) for the software to layout the books and got quite a shock.

I knew software was expensive and was expecting to pay maybe $300 for what I needed. Little did I know $300 wouldn’t get me in the door!I found the software I need ranging between $500 and $700. A bit of a cut into an already slim profit margin. The worst part is, my computer at work has the exact software I need sitting right on my desktop…alas I can’t use it.
I am thinking of exploring paying someone to lay the book out. If the price ic comparable, I’ll just buy the software, but if I can save a bunch for the first printing, I’ll probably do it that way.
On a much happier note I have gotten some excellent sample characters back from the illustrators I have interviewed. Narrowing things down and hoping to have someone on board SOON. I was hoping to before now, but that hasn’t happened.
Anyway, good progress, still optimistically planning to have all three books out in May! Stay tuned. I’ll be posting a sample of the main character once I pick the final illustrator and then I expect things to pick up speed!

I’ve been busy emailing and interviewing illustrators over the last week and it has been a lot of fun. I’ve got a lunchtime interview in the city tomorrow and soon I hope to start drilling down to the person who I am going to work with on this project.

I have met some amazing artists, but some that were honestly too good and some that had the look in their eyes that said “This idea is never going to fly but I’ll take his money.” I’m looking for someone who not only can capture my characters, but who buys into my vision of what this can be. I want someone who can visualize seeing their artwork in every bookstore and can see themselves walking down the mall and seeing a kid wearing a shirt with the character they illustrated on it.

So far I’ve got some promising possibilities and I am excited as I move forward to take this to the next level. Even though I have had Larry in my mind for so long, I feel like an expectant father waiting to see that final drawing of him, putting a face to my vision.

As a side note, I had a great lunch with the managing editor of my paper yesterday. He has written over 60 children’s books and done a ton of freelance work and he gave me a lot of good advice, some leads, and lit the fire a bit more for me to stay on top of things, write more and sleep less
Also traded emails today with the guy who I am using as my unofficial mentor on his project. It was exciting to be able to reply back and tell him the amount of progress I’ve made since last we spoke. It will be tough to sleep tonight…visions of signing for the first UPS shipment of the books on a warm spring day next May, slicing open the box and taking out the first unread copy of my first book…good stuff!

Off to pack for North Carolina.

FINALLY, after nearly a decade of talking about writing my book(s) I am taking action. As Tony Robbins would say, massive action.

I first developed a character for a children’s book series around 2000 when I was a sales merchandiser for Anderson Merchandisers. It was a tedious awful job, but it gave me the chance to see literally thousands of books through the years, which ones sold, which ones bombed, and most importantly, what the successful ones had in common.

During that time, I developed my character, who shall for now remain nameless because those of you who know me, know I am as cynical and paranoid as they come. Once the work is done and the copyrights are in place, you’ll hear all about it.

In any event, marriage, work, more work, house buying, kids, something always kept the book idea on the back burner. Truthfully, it was just my lack of motivation to get the project started coupled with lots of people telling me why it wouldn’t work.

Rewind several months. I met with a lawyer for an article I was writing for Business First. He has written a series of children’s books, developed, published and was marketing them on his own. To make it even better, he was an intellectual property lawyer by trade. We hit it off, and I found myself taking as many notes about how he did what he did as I did notes for the article.

As I left, we agreed to meet for lunch and discuss my idea further–he wanted to share what he had learned. Bottom line, his approach, his attitude was so polar opposite from everyone I had dealt with it was amazing. He was so dynamic, so positive, and so upbeat, it was contagious. I won’t go into everything he shared or all of his nuggets of wisdom, but suffice to say it lit the fire and I have been consistently working on the book(s) since then. I have a concrete plan and I am working daily to meet that plan.

Since I am trying to defy the odds as well as the customary route to publishing a book, I thought it would be interesting to chronicle this project online. If nothing else, I want to have it all as a memnto when this is all done.

As for the project. In a nutshell, here is what I am doing:

• Publishing three books simultaneously (scheduled for May, 2010)

• Hiring and overseeing the artist.

• Writing the books.

• Doing the layout for the books.

• Working with the publisher overseas to make the books.

• Handling all press, pr and marketing of the books.

• Planning and executing school and library visits to read to the kids and sell books (One part of a larger marketing effort).
• Working with the graphic designer to create a kid-friendly Web site to promote the books.
• Ultimately getting a distributor to take the books nationwide.
• Getting the books on the shelves of every local bookstore in Western New York by September 2010.
• Develop several merchandising items to compliment the books (This story lends itself heavily to merchandising).
• Reinvesting the capital to then write and publish the next three books.
• Taking everything I have learned along the way and mentoring another aspiring writer to do the same.

A lot is already underway, but there is a lot more to do. I look forward to sharing my experiences aling the way and hopefully inspiring someone out there in the way that Tom Colson inspired me.By the way, his Web site is www.agirlnamedpants.com check it out!

As for me, I am more excited for this than anything I have ever done. Stay tuned.