After writing, illustrating and publishing my first children’s book, I suddenly find myself with a whole lot to say on the matter.
What better place to pen these thoughts (and evolve them as I grow and learn) than on the companion website for that very book? I therefore give you my latest venture: a blog about creating children’s books. I’m still tweaking the styles for the blog template (please let me know when you find something wonky—and there will be wonkiness!), but basically this is it. We’re away!
First, an update: the final proofs of Charlie Weatherburn and the Flying Machine are still at the printers. The status in my account on Lulu is “fulfilling,” so they are at least a week away. I’ve had a lot of enquiries about when the paperback will be available for sale, and all I can say is that I’m checking the status every day for it to change to “shipped,” and the moment those proofs arrive, I’ll be poring over them to verify that there are no errors or further changes required. Assuming everything is hunky dory, I’ll be flipping the switch and begin taking orders straight away—that will probably be just over a week away.
Hang tight!
The interest in the book is heartwarming, and I appreciate your patience. In the mean time, I do have a single proof that looks very close to the final product, so here are some photos. The only paperback copy of the book in existence!
A few notes about this proof:
- The book will be slightly larger than the proof shown in these photos. What you see is a 7.5 x 7.5 inch square paperback book, but the final product will be 8.5 x.8.5 inches. The reason for the change is a long and convoluted one, which I’ll save for another post. But the upshot is that the illustrations will look bigger, and that’s only a good thing!
- The illustrations have printed even better than I could have hoped—the characters really leap from the page. The stock is standard publishing grade paper, but I’m delighted that the colours are so vivid. Hooray!
- The binding is “saddle stitch,” which is just a couple of staples along the spine. I decided this would be the best choice for such a thin book, although I know that some kids can be brutal, even with robust board books. While far from flimsy, it’s definitely one for parents to read to the littlies — not one to be left alone with a toddler!
Secondly, I’ve set up a CafePress store to sell Charlie Weatherburn merchandise. I don’t make a huge amount of money from each sale, but if you’d like to wear Charlie on a t-shirt (or a baby’s bib!) then now you can. Check it out!
Finally, I have a ton of exciting news, which I’ll talk about in a future post, including details of a book launch party and an awesome giveaway that I’ll be running, with seriously cool prizes.
Watch this space!
