So You Want to Write a Quilt Book? Part 2

Sadly, I haven't spent much quality time with my computer for a while (as you can see by how long it's been since I last blogged), but on a happy note that means I've been sewing like a crazy woman. 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a week end quilt retreat and "officially" started making projects for my new book -- the modern one -- with Kansas City Star.  Of course the book won't come out until 2016 but time flies so I know that it's really right around the corner.  I can proudly say that I have one top completed and two more in the works out of the 14+ projects.  Not a bad start.  Of course, ow that we're headed into the holiday season, I probably won't have much time to work on it until after CHristmas, but at least I can say that I have started.

I wanted to talk more about how this new book project is so very different from the first two book experiences.  So grab a cup of coffee and keep reading!

After my book proposal was accepted this time, I began brainstorming how I could get this book out into the world more when it was published.  At the same time I was thinking about how expensive it is to put a book together and decided that I wanted to try to defray some of the costs associated with writing a book (you know like fabric, batting, backing, notions -- did I mention fabric?). 

Over the past four years, I've met a lot of people in the industry and I've developed some important contacts.  One of my best contacts was a magazine editor who'd been in the business a long time so she knew lots of people so I contacted her to see if I could pick her brain for contacts for my book.  She was very gracious and gave me several names to get me started.  In the past, she had helped me make connections with Connecting Threads and Fairfield.  Not only did she give me some of her contacts, she also made suggestions as to other companies to contact.

If you actually knew me, you would find the thought of me actually asking for stuff from companies to be a very odd notion, because I'm not usually so forward.  But in the last four years, I have learned something very important that I am going to share with you:

IF YOU ASK FOR SOMETHING, YOU MIGHT JUST GET IT.  BUT IF YOU DON'T ASK, YOU CERTAINLY WON'T GET IT.

Basically what I mean by this is that you shouldn't be afraid to try something because worst case scenario is that what you're asking just won't happen.  You aren't losing anything by trying, and you just might get what you want. 

When it comes to the quilt industry, I've learned that most people are kind and respectful.  They are not going to call you names or ridicule you, so go ahead and ask.  Of course, you have to remember that these kind and respectful people are also busy, overworked, and stressed so it may take several tries to get their attention.  Also keep in mind that right before, during, and right after Quilt Market is not the time to make any requests or inquiries because pretty much everything grinds to a halt as companies prepare for, do, and then recover from Quilt Market.  But beyond that, go ahead and try, you might be pleasantly surprised how easy it really is.

So....you're designing a quilt to submit to a magazine and you want to use a specific fabric collection -- well, go ahead and contact the company and see if they'd be interested in supplying the fabric to you.  Doing a blog giveaway?  Contact some companies to see if they'd be interested in donating items for the blog giveaway.

I know this sounds pretty incredible, but it happens.  AND IT HAPPENS A LOT IN THE QUILT WORLD.  Why?  you want to know.  It's simple, really.  Let's say a fabric company gives you fabric to make a quilt for a magazine.  You make the quilt and include the company's name in your instructions as providing XYZ collection.  Once the magazine comes out and 50,000 quilters see the company's name in your instructions as well as the finished product, then a certain number of those quilters are going to either want the fabric for another project or else they want to make your quilt design exactly as you have.  So you got free fabric and the company gets great advertising.

For my current book project, the companies that have generously provided supplies for the book will get their names in the book and I will of course promote them on my blog, Facebook, etc.  And when the book comes out in 2016, I hope that the companies will promote the book to their customers because their products were used in the book.

Stay tuned for the next blog in this mini-series to see the goodies that I've received for my book so far.  :)

Thinking About Writing a Quilt Book?

Now that I'm getting ready to write my third quilt book, I am just amazed at how different the experience is this time around -- already -- and I haven't even begun making any quilts yet or writing any directions.  Why is that? you might ask.

Let me tell you about my experiences with my first book, ORPHAN BLOCK QUILTS.  I was really lucky with this book.  I just happened to be at a friend's going away party (yes, she was a quilter).  At the party was another sewist/quilter, Cheryl, who just so happened to have a copy of her very first book with her.  I knew Cheryl from working in the quilt shop, but I didn't know her well at that point.  Since I'd been thinking a lot about writing a book on using my orphan quilt blocks, I screwed up my courage and asked her how she got published.  Cheryl was an incredible source of information AND was willing to share.  Thank you, Cheryl!  At some point that evening, I told her about my book idea using orphan quilt blocks to make new quilts.  I made sure to mention that no other book had been done on that topic before that I knew of.  Cheryl thought the idea sounded good and said that she'd mention it to her editor.  Whoah!

It truly is the "who you know" that gets your foot in the door, but it's the "what you know" that gets you the job....or the book, in this case.

Interestingly enough, I believe the party was on a Thursday or Friday evening and for some reason I had a three day week end with Monday off.  Amazingly enough, Monday morning I received a call from Cheryl's editor!!!!  After a discussion, she invited me to submit a book proposal. 

Could it really be that easy?

NO!  Of course not.  I submitted my book proposal and waited.....and waited......months passed by.  Then eventually I received a rejected email -- they were sorry but they had already accepted a similar-type book.  I was crushed.  Totally crushed. I had always wanted to be a "writer" and now on my first try, I had failed.  Then one day while driving home from work, I had a great idea that changed my original book idea.  So I emailed the editor again.  She liked the revised idea and we resubmitted the new and improved book proposal, which was eventually accepted.  It took about two years from the submittal of my first proposal to the actual acceptance.  Apparently in the middle of this, the company underwent a reorganization which really put a lot of things on hold. 

Have heart, don't give up if you want to write a quilt book, too -- I'm pretty sure that the two years to acceptance is definitely NOT the norm.  So, keep reading, please.

After my first book came out in 2010, I began thinking about a second book idea.  I had several thoughts, but one of my ideas definitely shone above the rest, so I began talking to my editor.  She took my ideas to the board and, although they liked the idea, they didn't want to commit to another project until they could see how the first book did.  Please keep in mind what was happening with the economy at this time -- the recession.  My first book did so-so, but was definitely not anything spectacular.  I did have several great reviews and a lot of new opportunities surfaced because of my first book, even if the book never made the best seller list (LOL!).

I kept pestering my editor from time to time about writing a second book, and eventually the board decided that they did not want to work with me on a second project, no matter how good the idea was.

One of my new opportunities led me to International Quilt Market in 2011 (my second Market).  I had a goal in mind when I went -- I was on the lookout for a new publisher. 

You may wonder how I decided which ones to approach?  I LOOKED AT MY COLLECTION OF QUILT BOOKS, OF COURSE!  I looked at my favorite books and I saw who published them.  Then I looked at the publishers' websites to see what else they published.  I narrowed my list down to three or four good possibilities with Kansas City Star at the top.

To prepare for Market, I wrote short descriptions of my favorite two or three ideas along with some sample designs and a short bio of myself.  I also included my contact information.  I took four or five of these packets with me (thinking positively).

I stopped by Martingale and a few others and mostly I was able to get some information and saw the books that they were currently offering, but the right people weren't available to pitch my idea to.  Eventually, I worked up enough courage and walked into the Kansas City Star Booth.  I took a deep breath and found a KCS employee and asked about the process of submitting a book proposal.  Edie (who I found out later was one of the main editors at KCS), was very kind and I took the chance to pitch my book.  We must have talked for a half hour!  At the end of our conversation, she invited me to submit my proposal.  She even gave me some hand outs.   I was really hyped!

But scared, of course.  It took me about a month to actually sit down and get down to the business of writing a book proposal for my top book idea.  Finally it was done, and I submitted my first proposal to KCS.  Two weeks later, I had an acceptance email!  After my first book experience, this was incredible!!!!!

Now let's fast forward a bit.  When I went to International Market in Fall 2013 to promote my first book with Kansas City Star, A RUSSIAN JOURNEY IN QUILTS, which was timed nicely with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, The KCS people were very supportive and asked several times if I was thinking of my next book.  After the experience with my first publisher, I was so surprised that they would even ask since my book had just come out.  Their nonchalant answer was that they didn't make their authors wait a certain period of time between books.  This made me super excited, but I wasn't quite ready yet -- I wanted to concentrate on a Russian Journey in Quilts for a while.

Then I went to Market in May 2014 in Pittsburgh, and everything changed.  I was there promoting my book to a more local crowd (since a good portion of the story takes place in northwestern PA).  The book seemed to generate a lot of interest in Pittsburgh so I started thinking about writing another book.  There was so much inspiration, every direction that I turned, and I made the decision that my next book was going to be a modern quilt book that didn't include loads of research and writing like my first two books.

After some discussions back and forth with the editor of my Russian Journey book, Kent, and some suggestions from Jenifer Dick who works with the new My Stars section of KCS (which features the new modern quilt books), I submitted my new proposal.  Jenifer called me a few days later to clarify a couple things, and within a week of actually submitting the proposal, I had an acceptance!  Holy Cow!

Sorry this was so much writing, but I really wanted to explain how the process worked for me.  Maybe my experiences will help another would-be quilt author.