Happy New Year! We hope this finds you enjoying the first days of 2015, with memories of Christmas lingering pleasantly.
Our heads are still spinning from the whirlwind of October, November and December, when our books finally arrived and we were able to share the beautiful result of so many months of hard work. We thought you might enjoy these “out-takes.”
They may not be the most professional photos... but they definitely capture the joyful, independent, bootstrapped nature of our family endeavor!
October 18th: Betsy tentatively opens the advance copy, just received from the printer. A scary and thrilling moment!
October 27th: Jim gets his first look at the book. Overcome with pride. Martini at the ready!
November 3rd: The shipment arrives in San Francisco. And goes straight into our warehouse... um... garage.
(Wish we had photos of Chuck and Betsy—about a month later—hurriedly toting about 40 of those boxes
upstairs into the flat, to save them from potential flash flooding predicted due to #stormageddon 2014!)
Throughout November: Friends pitch in and we at last begin fulfilling orders to our dear Kickstarter backers!
Throughout December: We're excited to see Mr. Dog popping up at some of our favorite stores
in San Francisco and Mendocino. He's such a looker!
December 18th: A spectacular article appears in the San Francisco Chronicle and sales of the book go bonkers. Betsy’s parents drive from Mendocino in the middle of the night, in torrential rain, to help with packaging orders. We’re sold out within 48 hours.
December 18th-21st: Our Mission District flat becomes a full-fledged fulfillment center.
And we get to use some really big carts at the post office.
December 21st: And finally, Mr. Dog and family enjoy a much deserved toast and dinner out on the town.
Cheers to all of you who brought Mr. Dog into your homes in 2014! Thanks for helping to make our first year such an exciting and rewarding adventure. We're so happy to be sharing this story with you and hope you'll continue to share your photos and impressions of the book with us.
All the best to you and yours in 2015!
Arf arf!!! Big congratulations on such a successful launch! We read it aloud on Christmas Eve to our extended family of eight. Gave a copy to my 11-month old nephew in hopes he will one day read it to his kids…
Thank you so much, Kathy!
Superb account of a magnificent family endeavour! Congratulations to you all!
Aw! Thanks so much for letting us know, Annette! We hope it becomes a fun tradition for all of you.