Proofs, publicity, and creative challenges

I got the proofs back from the publisher yesterday! This is the fully designed, laid-out version of the book. In theory, this is exactly how the book will look when it’s published. In practice, though, I have a few corrections…

Fortunately, most of these corrections are easy fixes: italics missing here, a page or two shuffled into the wrong position there, and so on. But there are also a lot of places where photo placement needs to be switched around, and fixing page layout is more complicated than swapping pages. But I have faith in Schiffer Publishing’s design department; they’ve done a good job so far.

At this point it’s time to get serious about marketing efforts. At the moment, I’m looking for contacts with well-known people in the craft world – specifically, editors of major craft magazines: woodworking, jewelrymaking/metalworking, all the textile arts (quilting, surface design, knitting, tapestry, etc.), polymer clay, ceramics/pottery, and so forth. If any of you have have editorial contacts and would be willing to provide introductions, please let me know! (My contact form is in the sidebar of this post, near the bottom of the page. Or email me at tien@tienchiu.com.)

I’d also love to connect with professors who are teaching craft at universities or major craft schools – I think Master Your Craft would be a great addition to a syllabus, or for university bookstores. If you know any university professors or department heads who might be good to contact, please drop me a line.

Finally, I’m beginning to develop some online classes around the creative process. I’d love to hear from you about your creative challenges – what problems are you grappling with? What can I offer to help solve them? Please let me know.

Many thanks to all of you!