Publish your book - taking questions!

December 9th is the official release date of my first craft book "100 applique motifs". I am very chuffed about it. How amazing would it be to walk into the bookstore and see my work there?
I know there are a lot of talented crafters out there who would like to share their skills and have their creations published. Today i'm here to answer questions.

I don't pretend to be an expert after my first book, but i have learned a lot through this whole experience.
So if there is anything you would like to know, just leave a comment. I will start here with a bit of my story and will add on to this post as questions come in.

Without wanting to discourage anyone to pursue their dream, i must be honest here. No matter how spiritually rewarding it is to have finished a whole book of crafts and have it published, it is a lot of hard work. And you won't be instantly rich & famous when you're done. You don't see alot of craftbooks (if any) on the New York Times Best Seller List. You will have to dive deep into your creativity and you will hit a couple of points where you are asking yourself why you are doing this and if you are able to ever get it done.
But when you persevere, you will get out on top and you will be extremely proud of yourself.

When you think you got the best idea ever for a new craft book, walk into a big bookstore and head to the craft section. See what is already out there and ask yourself the question if your book idea would be more of the same or would it bring something new to the bookshelf? These days it feels like there are amazing craftbooks published every day. You want your book to stand out and give the readers something that they won't find in all the other books.

Writing your own book is not only a lot of work, it also takes a lot of time. So be passionate about the subject. You will spend a lot of time working on it, and add a lot of waiting time to that.
To give you an idea, i first started talking with my publisher about the possibility of a book in July of 2007 (!). Soon after that i started writing my synopsis and setting up a presentation. Next followed a period of anticipation, waiting for the green light. I got the approval in November of 2007 and was able to sign my name on the dotted line! Then the actual work started. My publisher and i divided it in three batches, two with designs and projects and one with the actual writing. Early April most of the work was done and i flew to London (where my publisher is based) to shoot the step by step photos and a number of project shots. Back in NY i needed to finish and redo a couple of designs. Final stage was filled with proofreading and waiting. And more waiting. And some more. It wasn't until early October that i saw the first advance copies of the book.
Add distribution time and you'll get to the release date of December 9th, 2008. So all in all, almost a year and a half from start to finish.

I feel lucky that the people i worked with at my publisher are all extremely sweet and supportive of me and my work. I got a lot of artistic freedom as to what i wanted to put in the book. But i also loved it to have had a team of people that weren't only cheering me on, but were also thinking with me. When you are in such a big project, it's nice to have people who know the book business look at it and give you tips on things to add or take out.

So if there is anything you would like to know about getting your book out there in the world, ask away! I will try and answer any questions to the best of my knowledge from my experiences and if i don't know, i will say so and try to find the answer for you. Go ahead, shoot!

Will i do a booktour? - As it looks now, no i won't. Nowadays booktours are not very often done anymore. Especially not for craftbooks. What does sometimes happen is that authors go and give workshops, where they then also do booksignings. I might one day do something like that, maybe not. If so, this blog will be the first place i will announce it!