-That’s what my publisher/editor/coordinator/catalyst/friend Deborah Drake called my very first book, A Bridgetender’s View: Notes on Gratitude, when she announced that it was finally available for order on Amazon.com.
“Huh?” I said.
What she meant was, the gestational period for an elephant is about 22 months. That’s a long, hard, heavy load for a mama elephant to carry. But in the end… ah, in the end, what she gets is a beautiful baby elephant. And who doesn’t love a baby elephant?
We had been working hard on this book for a long time. We work really well together, but sometimes the process can be stressful. I learned a lot from Deborah along the way.
I will never look at books the same way again. I have mad respect for all publishers. There’s so much more involved than you might imagine. There’s determining content, writing, editing, layout, artwork and graphic design, cover design, formatting, website design, accounting, determining price point, promotion… all of it takes special skills.
I have to say that when my baby book was finally born, I was incredibly proud. It really is a beautiful elephant, indeed. Now I’m going to make a point of using that phrase at the end of all major projects. You have to love a new tradition.
The View from a Drawbridge 