Picking up the new book

Tom Kerber, Chief Publishing Executive from Beaver's Pond Press, called me Friday with good news: CG Book Printers in Mankato was ready for us to pick up our new book, What I Saw on the Farm.
This was great news for Nancy and me because we have been anxiously awaiting its completion.

Sure, everything was on-schedule, thanks to everyone involved in the process, but time goes slow when an event is anticipated. For example, when I was a boy, I remember when the week before Christmas Eve seemed like months.

And for me, getting a new book I've written from the printer is a bit like Christmas Eve, only we get twenty-one boxes of books, though we only open one to check it out before we back up to the dock and begin loading.

A helpful dock worker hands the books to our contact at the warehouse, Ruth Davis, and myself as Nancy snaps a photo of us loading the truck.

Although a mixture of glue, new cardboard, ink, and new paper, doesn't sound like it would have an appealing odor, I must admit that I love it. For me it is the lovely smell of completion and accomplishment, signaling a finality to a process that allows me to begin to focus on the next steps, which are (1)marketing and selling this book and (2) continuing to work on the next book, A Farm Country Harvest.

Ruth Davis takes a moment from her busy schedule to chat with us after helping us load the books.

Her help and her smile made us feel like an important customer, 

Although this is my eighth book printed by CG Books, this is the first time we have picked up our book at their facility. Usually we have them shipped to a warehouse in Minneapolis, but now that we've discovered how easy it is for us to get them directly from CG, we will be picking up any future books directly from them too.

 On the way home Nancy reads through the book again as I try to keep my eyes on the road. As you can see by the cover, it is nothing like my other books because it has a strong element of fantasy.

But as every child in the story expresses his or her imagination by describing the "alarming" thing they saw on the farm, a photograph of the real farm animal is shown on the facing page, giving every reader a clear image of reality alongside of the imaginative illustrations, which were done by Bradley Simon when he was just twelve. Brad is thirteen now and will be starting the eighth grade next fall.

For more information on this book and my other books, including how to order, go to www.gordonfredrickson.com.  or call 952-797-6169.