Well, hey there! I feel like I’ve been away forever, which is so funny to me. I’m still in awe of The Experiment.
Let’s see…what have I been up to? The biggest news is that Kim and I have a fully laid-out version of our book, Dog Photography For Dummies. Apparently, when our editor, Vicki, told us last month that it was our last chance to make edits, it was only half true. This month was our last LAST chance. And I actually believe her. We were only allowed to make edits that were absolutely necessary (like when we called a Mastiff a Great Dane, after switching a photo but not the description, for example). It all looks really good, if I do say so myself. All of us did a bang-up job on it. Super duper, team! It’s a pretty neato book, and here’s how I know: despite having spent 7 months with these words and nearly another 5 in the process before that (we’re coming up on the year anniversary of when Wiley contacted us), as I went through our pages, I:
- Immediately flipped to all the photos first to see how everyone looked–before I even started reading. Who cares about the words anyway? Bohhhhh-ring. It has pictures! It’s the coolest canine yearbook ever. I just hope we can get a lot of pawtographs–I’m pretty sure you don’t need opposable thumbs to sign “K.I.T.” or “LYLAS!”
- Literally laughed out loud once I actually started reading. I had forgotten how amazingly clever and quick-witted we are. Oh, we are so hilarious. And by “hilarious,” I mean “I think we might’ve been drunk when we wrote a few parts.” To get the full effect, I read some aloud to Kim. Indeed. Yep. We are definitely funny. Or drunk.
*(does anyone know why WP is cutting off this panel? I gave up fighting with it after 20 minutes) - Didn’t mark it up with edits–and I was looking for them. There’s an epidemic spreading across this country, people, and it’s called “I don’t care about know spelling I never learnt grammar either LOL but I still get job’s . People take there life’s too seriosly.” Really? I can overlook most of the daily assaults on the English language in casual settings like Facebook and parties (cuz let’s face it–English DOES kind of ask for it with its impossible rules and sassy mouth), but seeing it in PRINT is just tragic. It happens all the time…and it never gets easier; I’m always totally shocked and angry. And then I light the book on fire and throw it across the room. I really hope I don’t have to set my own book alight.
So after reading our book in all of its official layout glory with the proper font, colors, and photos and figures in the right places (and mechanical errors silenced), I was pretty stoked. And then I got nervous.
“What if this doesn’t sell?”
All along, I’ve hedged my bets, which I think is perfectly realistic. While my dad is already planning visits to his famous author daughter’s Malibu estate, I’m measuring my income in Ramen noodles and fending off the nightmare that this little blip on the radar won’t even make it to the radar.
Did you know Amazon lists over 8 million books? 8 million. According to some remedial Googling I just did, getting below 10,000 in the ranking (we’re at #400,000 something at the moment) is considered successful. One of the things we’ll be asking our fans to do is help us achieve that by providing positive reviews on our Amazon listing. Of course, we want honesty. You don’t blatantly lie…but don’t worry too much about that; I don’t think you’ll have to.
All I can say is the book is done, and I’m proud of it. Not only because it’s well-written (at least, I hope it is), but because we managed to create something we think will really help others. Whether it’s an individual dog guardian, a slew of rescue volunteers, or an aspiring entrepreneur reading through our pages, I really believe this book has the power to add something positive to their lives (as well as their dogs’). Throughout the book, we do our best to tie it into what matters–the love, celebration, and welfare of dogs. And in the end, that’s worth way more than an Amazon ranking.
sarahsypniewski
