No, not talking about something I’ve cooked up in the oven but rather a reference to the finished book. It is still too soon to say, it has been one minor glitch after another to constantly plague my days – often it has felt like groundhog day – but I sense the end is near. Today I met with Lorna, the printer, who continues to be a wealth of information and a sense of great comfort on this unfamiliar turf. She is really a light at the end of the tunnel.
To start my day off, I received this note:
From: Lorna Johnson [mailto:Lorna@globalinterprint.com]
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 10:41 AM
To: Gina von Esmarch
Subject: got the proofs!
hi Gina – I got the proofs and they are beautiful!
see you at 3!
Lorna
Phew, the first sign of relief in four weeks. This has been a full court press and to have that moment of hope back in my gaze was wonderful. I felt afraid, as I wondered what lay ahead of me at 3PM. Greeted by a big hug from Lorna, my newest email and phone buddy, put me at ease. You never really fully appreciate what is involved in a finished product unless you live it daily. The proofs did look great. I was finally excited and my fear was easing up.
That is not to say that after we met I didn’t sit in my car and make calls about one photo that was having a problem sending in higher resolution which continued to arrive corrupt. Or the other difficulties uploading my PDF to be copyright protected….trust me, every day is a list of things that I have yet to cross off of my list from the week before. Tonight I feel a bit lighter and almost optimistic. Maybe I should move onto the next phase of the adventure – sales and marketing. Time to start getting the word out! Dare I dream about a second book? Just can’t yet, feeling a bit exhausted from it all and need to see how this one goes, but I am jotting down which recipes I might consider including in the next one, IF I can get from A-Z on this one. As my husband has said to me many times over, “It’s good to have dreams.” I think this one is one I will cherish in years to come.
Mamma Mia!! How exciting- it’s finally off the ground! I’m excited to see the layout and how the book is organized…as far as Marketing/Advertising- I’m down to get in on a guerilla marketing plan when I come home. Congrats on the next step- you dared to dream and now it’s all coming into fruition. Very proud to have a cugina di cucina! Ugh- I’ll work on the Italian this summer for sure…