Second printing of "Lucky!"

I know you can't tell from the photos, but the book is a much better quality that the print on demand books from Lulu. And they are ONLY available from my website or from the author Adam London when you see his show on the strip, or special event. To follow Adam you can start from his website: http://www.quackmagic.com

I am very impressed with the sturdiness of the new cover, and the thickness of the interior pages. We've dropped the price to $7.95 (+$2.50 shipping) and added an update to the publication page. This is the first book I did and I still love it! If you don't have a copy yet, what are you waiting for? It's so cheap! Get it here:

AthertonCustoms / Publishing

Lucky update

I have a few new images and even a video from the printer showing Lucky's progress. It is supposed to be shipped via DHL today. I'll let you know when I have a more firm date. In the meantime, enjoy these previews! It looks really good!

The new and improved "Lucky the Rubber Ducky"!

The video from the printer. Kind of cool!

It's HERE!!!

Hot off the press!

That's right! You are looking at the newest in the AthertonCustoms catalog: Sammy's Dentist Dilemma.
Available now at B&N, Amazon and direct from the publisher's website (www.athertoncustoms.com). List price from online retailers is $17.95, the publisher (me) offers it at significant discount, and can be signed/dedicated on request.
I give my very biased opinion that it is truly a masterpiece. The story is out of this world and and a much needed update to the world of children visiting the dentist for the first time. I have to give credit to Wendy Briggs without whom this book would NOT have been possible. Everyone I have met with has been very excited to hear about the book, for various reasons. I continue to be excited for the future success I know it will achieve.
I am in the process of filling the Amazon pre-orders and B&N will be requesting a copy soon as well. If you're reading this and can't wait to get a copy for yourself or child you know or have, don't wait! You can probably get it in time for Christmas!
On another note, I have been working with my printer to get a reprint of Lucky the Rubber Ducky done at a much lower price so we can pass along that savings to the public. The new price will be $7.95 instead of $15.00. A new edition will be available in a few weeks. I'll keep you posted when it becomes available.
Great day, many more to come! Thanks for your support.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. It was another memorable one for our family. A lot of baking, and eating, good times.
I wanted to drop a quick note to share some fun news. I had an ACTUAL pre-order from Amazon Advantage for Sammy! Bought and paid for at the $17.95 price! That's a first, before the book is even off the boat someone already wants one! It's flattering for sure. I had to cancel the order due to the book not being available, and since this is a first, I hope that once the book becomes available I can open the order back up and fulfill it. It's all uncharted territory so I don't know. Pretty cool though, I have no doubt that it will be a very successful book, I am looking forward to sharing it with the Dental world!

on Amazon!

It is officially on Amazon as a pre-order!
Just a quick blog post today, don't have time for anything more!
Amazon has requested a few Giovanni books over the past couple of weeks, so even though it's not in huge quantities, I do continue to sell them! I'm stoked about that.
Have a great Thanksgiving, I really do hope the best for each person reading my blogs!

PS. The shipment is due to arrive in Long Beach on Dec 7th! A few days after that the Pleasant Grove office will have the entire shipment. Soon after, I will have one to review for you here.

2nd glimpse of printed book!

As I am coordinating the next step of the process, I am encouraged by the printer "cell phone photos" of the finished book! Don't they look great?! It will only be a few weeks more until we have them in hand.
I had a lengthy conversation about the cost of the shipping being considerably less than to/from Hawaii. I guess it makes sense, and in this case it will make cents! Nice! I don't have a total final cost of shipping yet, but it was comforting to know that it won't be as much as in times past. Let me know what you think of the new books! Stay tuned!

The cover front

Dedication/personalization page

The celebrity endorsement

Saying goodbye!

The first glimpse at the printed book!

I really have a great printer!
He is so efficient and a nice guy. He certainly does not have to take pictures of the progress along the way, but I asked him to and he did. He always has!
I had 3 photos sitting in my e-mail inbox this morning. It's been one week since the funds were transferred to him, and here is the progress he has made thus far:

 

Even though the photos are small, I can still tell that the colors look good, and the trimming is exactly what was intended. Just one more step closer to having the book in our hands! FUN!

Layout approved!

I've been debating sharing this next process with you. It's not something that I've ever seen anyone actually divulge. Not that it's all that big of a deal, it's just not something I've seen anyone do! For me, as a publisher, and a creative type I find every step along the way of publishing a book very exciting.
I've done it 4 times now from start to finish. Maybe my next one will be a "how-to" book! If I can find a way to illustrate it, I'll do it!
So, back to the point. After I have sent funds to the printer, they then provide me with a digital "proof" and that's what I want to share here. It won't be a full quality proof, obviously, but it is very interesting to look at and approve. It's a little confusing, because the pages are rotated and flipped and appear to be all out of order. Once I have studied the proof and made sure everything is in the right place, I give the go-ahead and the book goes to press. I have checked the proofs and everything is ready to go.
The hard part is the waiting! The book is printed and bound within a few days, but the shipping takes about a month! So, enough teaser, here is the digital proof, kind of cool huh?

Mark your calendars

I sent off the final printer files to the printer in Shenzhen TODAY! I have already arranged for everything to ensure another smooth print job and delivery.
I can't spend a lot of time blogging about it, I have to get some work on another job in at some point. I just thought I would share the news with those of you following me. I will post more info as it comes in from the printer and of course the shipper. EXCITING news! This is my 4th published book, I will continue to fight the fight of being an independent because of the flexibility it does offer me. I could not have done this one without Wendy Briggs, and will be forever grateful for her skills and talents.
It all started one evening in late July of 2010, the day before the Young family reunion where we talked about a possible need for a children's book in the dental field. And here we are now with a book being printed and on it's way. I have no doubt that this book will see much success. It fills a desperate need in it's genre, it is the best book in 30 years to cover the subject matter of a child's first visit to the dentist.
We are very excited!
Sammy's Dentist Dilemma

www.athertoncustoms.com

I finished up yesterday giving my website an update. I changed the welcome page by adding all of my published titles with links to their respective previews and links to their online residencies B&N or amazon.
I added a pre-order link for Sammy as well as a FULL-PREVIEW including text. You won't see all of that at B&N nor Amazon (once it becomes available)!
I noticed that B&N has a "LIKE" facebook style link on the Sammy page, I'd love to see that number go through the roof, so if/when you visit the page on B&N.com, please hit the like button.
I updated the sketches and illustrations collections.
I added a coloring page section full of a few pages from each publication.
It's worth a quick look and of course, feel free to print off some coloring pages and give to your kids, or kids you know. Once of these days I will want to do some sort of coloring contest where the winner will get a free, autographed book of their choice! What do you think of that?
If you have a few minutes, go check it out! I guarantee it'll be worth your while.
AthertonCustoms publishing

Illustrations DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read that right! I just finished the last illustration! Page 32 is officially done. All I have left to do is some finishing touches with the book design, and then to design the title and dedication pages. Once that is done, I work with my collaborative partner (aka Wendy Briggs) to fine tune the message to the desired demographic and then off to print! Book should be available by end of November. So exciting!! I'll keep you updated all along the way. Love this last one:

The end!

So exciting!!!

I just finished pages 30-31 which means, I've only got one more illustration to go! Things just got really busy in general, and these illustrations really take a lot of time and commitment. For instance, I haven't sketched in my sketchbook for at least a month. Perhaps tomorrow, Sunday, I will be able to take a few hours to just draw and sketch.
In the meantime, here is the latest finished creation!

Until next time...

Sammy pages 28-29 DONE!

Only 2 more illustrations until I'm done! I am really getting anxious about finishing it. I absolutely love how this illustration turned out with the glow and light rays emanating from the treasure chest! I kind of got the feeling that the illustrations seem to be getting better as the book progresses, but the "waiting room of doom" illustrations are pretty fun to look at too. I'd love to hear what you think about this latest one!

Insert choir singing here...

36 book sales in one day!

Saturday the 16th of October, our local elementary school hosted their annual "yard sale". The community was invited to participate and of course to attend. The premise of the event is for a community of families would donate a small fee to the school and receive in return a space in the parking lot to sell whatever they wanted. Old junk, new junk, homemade goodies, freshly cooked goodies, if you want to sell it, you can. My wife Alisa has quite a following in our community for her gourmet caramel apples and some other goodies that she makes. This seemed like a good opportunity to also sell the AthertonCustoms catalog of publications to the people at the event. Since this was the first time attempting book sales in this environment, I had no expectations as to sales.
The community definitely attended. There were definitely less than in years past, but it was still well attended. In preparation for the event I brainstormed and left some comments in other forums about what some good ideas might be to help get noticed at an event like this. It turned out, that I did bring an airbrushed background of an underwater/sea life scene that helped to draw attention and set the mood for inside the booth. I brought a little ipod and speaker set to play some of my favorite Hawaiian music, because that is what I anticipated selling the most were my 2 hawaiian titles, and I did!
36 total sales for the day!
There were less than a handful of people who I spoke with that didn't end up buying one or both of the books. I know that if I had stock of "Lucky the Rubber Ducky" that I would have sold plenty of those too. It was very fun to hear and see the feedback from the community for Alisa's book "Sammy's Dentist Dilemma". I was able to build a nice little e-mail list for people interested in future titles, including Sammy.
On one table I had laid out my bookmarks and 6 different coloring sheets, 2 from each book title. I guess I should make some for "Lucky". The coloring sheets were a BIG hit, bookmarks not so much.
The photos were taken in between the busy spells, I had 2 and 3 people listening and interested almost the whole morning. It was really a lot of fun.
This is how it's done. In the "trenches" selling one book at a time, this is the only way to get a book out there. There is no magic marketing plan, the author/publisher must have a passionate drive for sharing his book with the buying public. Barnes and Noble, and Amazon are happy to trade money for a book, but the real selling of the book is the author's responsibility. Enough of my soap box, here are a few photos of the booth and event! I can't wait to try it again!

The booth set up

Jim at the table

9 out of 10 Doctors approve...

It's true. 9 out of 10 surveyed approved of this illustration. (The 10th couldn't be reached for comment)

Zero cavities!

Not a slacker!

In spite of my regular publishing-tech art workload, I have opted to bury myself if Sammy's illustration efforts. My self imposed deadline of October 1st wasn't very realistic. Sorry to all who may be looking forward to the November 1st release date. I'm just not sure we can have the printed book in hand by then. I am sure that they will be printed, it's just that the shipping to get them here is the great unknown. We are at the mercy of the high seas! (The Pacific specifically). Ok, my self-imposed break is over, I really have to get back to work! Enjoy these latest illustrations! I'd love to hear from you, drop me a note!

 

Take my hand

Miss Sue

Not the alien machine...

Illustration machine!

I've thought about doing a time lapse of how I create one of these illustrations, but for more than one reason I haven't done so. Every time I explain to some interested party how I go about doing these illustrations, I always get the feeling that they assume the computer somehow "automatically" creates the color version, like scanning in my sketch and it then creates a masterpiece on it's own. My fellow vectorians out there are right now laughing hysterically, as am I. If only...
Here is the next illustration:

Hey, this isn't so bad!

On a P.S. type note, there is a "Hygiene Diamonds" logo on the poster by the receptionist, and the blonde could be my sister...

Entering the office

This next illustration is when the storyline takes a new route. Instead of the dark medieval themes, the illustrations now change to the reality of an actual dentist office. Little Sammy gets to see just how wrong his brother is. I threw the little known dental Caduceus symbol on the door just to add a little mystery, and even an inside bit of information for the reader. Having fun! I've really got to get these done! Over half-way there... Enjoy!

At the dentist's office door

Deadline looming...

My goal of the 1st of October is closely approaching and I don't want to have to rush the illustrations. At the same time, I have to juggle the other work I have, and the occasional trip to the skate park. Got this one done, Another great one, I think. I love the emotion I was able to illustrate, a lot going on. This is the last of the illustrations I wanted to get done for a sample "video" or pdf file, it's kind of the pivotal illustration of the story, where we get to see what Sammy's actual experience will be, no thanks to his older brother! I hope you enjoy it. I had to throw the skateboard in there, you know it!

 

And this is what happened then...

Next illustration done!

I am almost halfway there! My goal is still to have the illustrations done and the book laid out by October 1st. This will make the available date of Nov 1st possible! Of course there are some variables that are out of my control, but it will still be close! Thanks for looking. Enjoy the next series:

The scariest thing...

P.S. Don't forget to look for the hidden tooth, in all of these illustrations...

The work does not stop!

I just finished up the next illustration for "Sammy" and am posting it here. It's really shaping up good, I'm excited to keep it going. I do an occasional design/art element for a local radio station here in town, and over this last week as I was working with one of the owners he commented on how much potential this book has. He was able to see how the marketing plan at a bare minimum would be to market to dentist's offices, even just here in LV, which is a HUGE market would be a very successful plan. I love to hear that!
Sammy is also as current as it can be on Barnes & Noble with a nice cover illustration finally, pretty cool.
On another note, I was contacted by the Clark County Library representative about being in their book fair with other authors, publishers and writer's groups. Of course, I agreed and am planning on taking Adam London (author of Lucky the Rubber Ducky) with me to the event! We are allowed to sell our book to the public attending the event. Now how to get them there...
Here is my latest sketch and illustration:

I'd love to hear from anyone reading this, either from a comment in this forum or some other way! Thanks for taking time to follow all this.

Really busy week!

So, here's the scoop. It has been a really busy, crazy week! I've been working on 3-4 projects simultaneously all culminating on a deadline Friday. In addition to that work I've had the next illustration on my mind and finally finished it. I imagine that the next illustration will follow shortly, as I intend to dedicate some time to it today.
On a related note, we met with the author of "Lucky the Rubber Ducky" last night over dinner at Buca di Beppo's, and we are all anxious to go to a 2nd printing as soon as we can get our finances lined up. B&N still has them in stock, what we want is a 2nd printing so Adam, the author can continue to sell them at his gigs. He's currently at The Improv @ Harrah's here in Las Vegas. If you're in town, don't miss him, he's great and makes the show no matter who else is performing. He sells out of his books when doing the show, so it's time for us to get another round of books for him to sell.
Enough talk, here is the sketch and finished illustration to match, enjoy!

Let's Begin!

Sammy update!

Just finished pages 6-7 this morning! I'm so excited with how they turned out, very rich color palette. I figured I'd post the sketch again for reference, then the finished color version! Let me know what you think!

The waiting room of doom sketch

The finished waiting room of doom!

Sammy's cover decided!

The official cover of the book!

Wendy needed a cover image to begin promoting the book, so I took a few hours out of my crazy schedule right now and put this one together. I love it! I've already submitted the art and price change to B&N, oh yeah, it's available for pre-order on B&N! Get it while it's cheap!
Sammy's Dentist Dilemma
Due out in November now, had to push it back a month due to other scheduling conflicts. More to come...