Books, Photoproducts & Publishing Help
here are the individual authors who have published with Wood Islands Prints
It is almost done and the pictures are again awesome. He paints them himself…acrylic on hardboard, I think…and then adds story to create a hypothetical journey reminiscent of the mid 1800s.
I’ll have more to say when it is all done, but I thought I would show you a few of his pictures now.
Loman Bell is just about to release his new children’s historical/marine picture book entitled Old Glory. In it we are treated to a voyage on a sailing ship of the 1800s. The great part of the book is the illustrations…Loman has developed a dramatic bold painting style which sets his book…the first in a planned series..apart. There is no way to describe it except as a COLOUR book…COLOR to you people in the states. I include a couple pictures just to give you a feel for the work. It will be available directly from Loman as well as through Amazon.
I was dismayed to realize I haven’t posted here for almost 3 weeks. It isn’t that nothing is happening…actually I have been finishing up two books…Leslie’s and a revision of Tom Rath’s first Donkey book (he wanted a second printing and wanted the pictures to be enlarged to bleed off the edges). He is nearly done with the second donkey book, having persuaded Greg’s brother Ian to do the illustrations–what a talented family!
Still, that doesn’t account for it. I have been teaching photography and photo-manipulation for Seniors College as well as a very basic computer introduction for the 50+ club in Montague.
Also, I need to get the wood gathered and stacked so Randall Larson can come and split it for me…a great bargain he has been providing for many years. I stack only the wood big enough to need splitting and he comes and does up a whole year’s worth in about 3 hours…his splitter and his labor…a great bargain especially for one like myself who finds that much work a bit much.
Oh, I am trying to finish the summer guest quarters over the garage since cousins (and families) may be coming next Summer and it gets too cold to have the plaster set or the paint to dry if I wait too long into the Fall.
And, of course I am chipping away at the Revisiting Scripture book.
Now I can begin to see why I haven’t done so much posting recently!
Leslie continues to write poems and interesting short accounts about life on Prince Edward Island. His latest , he claims, empties the barrel, but in the next breath he begins an account of a new poem he wrote based on his childhood, and how the inspiration refused to take him in the direction he intended. Having been short-listed for the Island book award in poetry, this newest collection should take him to the top.
Among the classic pieces is one where folks at a Halloween party decide to recruit the Wood Islands Ferry to serve as a bridge to bypass a long delayed highway department bridge repair…Ferry Bridge. Another prose piece recounts the hilarious efforts to get a piano out of the basement and deliver it to a friend’s house…Piano Movers.
Then there’s a poem about using a bundle of insulation as a sled because it is padded and slippery…Insulated Sleigh. His newest book is longer than usual…200 pages…and a bargain at $17. If he doesn’t corner you first, give Leslie a call about getting a copy in a couple of weeks.
Having just gotten the copies of his revised KittenCat book, Tom has just sent me a draft of his next children’s book (or series, perhaps) about a donkey. In the first one the donkey (I believe his name is Don-key Oatie, groan) wants to be a cow but discovers he has a very useful role protecting the young calves in the pasture from coyotes.
An outstanding feature of this new book is the illustration work by Gregory MacAdam…a student at UPEI, I believe. He has used pen and ink line drawings filled in with water color and has captured the nuances of the story with great clarity and appeal.
As a publisher I face the usual questions about format and layout. Tom would like landscape format but none of my small-batch or POD printers seem to support that except for a one-at-a-time photo-book printer (Photo Book Press) who begins at a price of about $56 per book…not a price to capture the children’s book market. I hope I can talk Tom into the 8.5 x 8.5″ square format from Lightning Source or else a severe post-printing trim on vertical height from Instant Publisher.
As the final test of the potential market, seeing the draft, my wife says we will have to buy a copy to take to the grandchildren.