Little Green with envy

For months, the team have tweeting about getting David Heatley to draw us. While there are many great artist that we work with, David is the least intimidating of the bunch. So we concocted a plan. We were going to bombard him with requests to draws us. David draws a parallel world that is warm, funny, magical, and honest. It's also awkward, painful, and full of color. We wanted be drawn into this world.

So today, I am helping my favorite publicist, V, with getting some files together for a magazine doing an article on David.

V says, "David emailed a strip he did for Amazon. "

I say, "Oh, really! That's great. What he did draw about?"

V says " Blah, Blah," (Okay, I was working on something while she was talking and missed most of the comment, but I hear this "...He drew me."

I looked up then. She had this coy little smile on her face and said "Yup, he drew me."

I say no fair. I spent months working with him and I didn't even get a measly stick figure. Ugh!

My indignation aside, the strip is funny. Look for it on the Amazon when the book pubs. V is the pink girl in the bubble. I still have hope...maybe he will read this post.

So I got a star in PW...

Like a good little publishing drone, I read Publisher's Weekly every Monday afternoon. As I flip through the pages, I read articles about the demise of publishing, what editors won auctions, stole which writer from which house, or signed new two-book deals. Then I purse the bestseller list. While reading the bestseller list, I search for one of the many titles that fly around the office. Right now, everyone could use a couple bestsellers to keep the Grinch's at bay. There are weeks, I find one or two and I get the warm fuzzes. There is sense of joy when you find that others want you spent months of your life diligently working on. Then there are weeks, not a peep of interest. These days that brings a sense of dread.

After experiencing the high and lows of the bestseller, I go on to the book reviews. For me, the book reviews are about being a reader. Each time I see little red star, I have hope that I will discover a little gem for my personal library. The little red stars means a great review and little extra publicity for months of work by diligent production manger. This week I had the pleasure to find the little red star next to two of the titles I have worked on. Two little red stars on two beautiful created books. One is a poetry collection and the other was graphic novel. Here another hint...One is by dead modern poet and other is book by very much alive master graphic ARTist. Guess the books!!

Batmanga arrives

So with unofficial end of summer, the fall books begin to the arrive at the office. I am always in state of complete awe when after tears, fears and down right teeth pulling, books arrive printed and bound. With graphic titles, there is an extra sense of victory. Today, that thrill came when I opened the box that held the finished copies of Chip Kidd's BAT-MANGA. We have produced two addition of this beautiful monograph of the 1960's vintage issues of Batman manga from Japan. While there were many productions challenges,(from weird dialogue to which way to open the book) the funniest one is how Chip agreed to sign the all copies of the limited edition hardcovers...We printed over 7,000 copies. So ladies and gentlemen, he spent two days signing tip in sheets. My hero! If you want to read about this adventure, please free to explore his blog: http://www.goodisdead.com/index.php?journal/entry/signing_my_life_away#more
(By the by, the tall, dapper man in the background is my boss and the brains behind this mad caper and all wonderful production madness in general. All my great production ideas I steal from him.) Until I open next box....later.