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