Warming Cockles

 

There is nothing quite like hearing from someone that something you have done has been helpful to them.

I did a zoom presentation a few weeks ago and a couple of days ago I got a nice letter from someone who was in the audience.  They say (in part) "I personally certainly learned a thing or three, despite being a long-time weaver (for over 50 years - Yikes!)  And also as Guild librarian, I immediately went through your "Magic in the Water" book again and thank you for all the work it took to produce it."

Magic in the Water was published in 2002, making it 20 years old now.  The fact that people still use it, refer to it, and incorporate wet finishing into their designing, warms the cockles of my heart.

Because Magic was truly a 'labour of love'.  

Someone asked recently how long it took to produce.  I never actually gave them a number because I went off on a tangent, but years.  It took years and years.

First off I needed to have years of experience doing the processes involved, learning how to do them, what to expect when I did them, and when I'd done them 'too much' and 'ruined' something.  And how to tell people all of that.  Having the knowledge is not the same as explaining it.  Just saying.

Then there was all the weaving.  The original book came with 20 projects and had a generous sized loom state and finished sample so that people could see and *feel* the difference.  Because sometimes it's obvious and other times it's subtle.  I began weaving a 40 yard warp for each sample, but wound up having to do duplicate warps for some of the projects because of production issues.  20+ x 40 = 800+ yards of cloth to produce the book.  Then the taping (of the loom state samples) and cutting both of them apart, stapling them onto the pages.

The assembling also took years.  I essentially took over my brother's basement rec room from 2002 until 2008 when he died as the assembly station.  At one point I worried I was interfering or imposing on him too much, but he assured me that with his basement bedroom and rec room full of my book, he couldn't have a room mate.  It was all good.

Even so, I didn't sell the last copy until years later.  I would say the actual production of and sale of the original print run took at least 12 years.  

To know that years later it is still valued makes all of that effort worth it.

Now that I think about it, I must have sold the last copy in 2011 because that was the thing I did while I was having chemotherapy - I took the photos of the samples for the pdf.  When I was working on The Intentional Weaver, we used that pdf to 'test' blurb to see if it would be a good match for me.  I honestly didn't expect to sell many copies, but at least once a month (on average) someone will buy Magic, either pdf or printed 'magazine' format.

And now?  A third book.  A hat trick, as they say in hockey parlance?  But first I have to write it.

Better get back at it...

ps - if you've ever wondered if an author would like to hear how much you value their book, tell them.  Even if it IS 20 years since it was published.  That kind of feedback becomes even more precious - to know that your book remains relevant and valued years after you published it?  Priceless...