See previous post. https://is.gd/trhs2

Things are poppin around here now. We’re approaching the finish line with the tiny homes book. pieces falling into place. It’s been a long haul, and still 6 months to go (Feb 2012) until books are in stores. This sure ain’t no instant book. Every day here is exciting right now. From our little recycled wood studio in the middle of a vegetable garden we’re in touch with the world via our many Macs and the web. Yesterday for example:

I did about a dozen emails preparatory to going to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. It’s a huge event, been going on since the 1500s, the super bowl of the publishing world. I stay in a small hotel in the elegant spa town of Bad Homburg, about 20 miles north of Frankfurt,and usually use my 3-wheel K4 scooter to go the mile or so to the train station from the hotel; thinking of taking my new Bhangra long skateboard this year. So far I have appointments with publishers or agents from Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Russia, mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, and South Africa.

We’ve been having repeated problems with our DSL connection, and may have, knock on the pine desk here, solved it yesterday when we talked AT&T into replacing the fiber optic card down the road. We’re really crippled when off-line. Thanks to Steve, our tech guy…

I feel like a juggler each day. Sometimes it feels as if things are skidding out of control. Permissions requests (mostly to reproduce drawings from Stretching), reprinting books when inventories get low, marketing, watching sales, trying to get the $$ to update our stretching software for Lion, and the big one: trying to figure out how to use the web to maximize publicity and sales.

Someone once said, at a publishing conference, that no one was in this business for the money. It’s true, and my publishing brothers and sisters know this: we’re doing this because we love books. We’re readers! And communicators. For some 40 years, Shelter has been tiptoeing through the publishing game, trying to get the money from bookstores in time enough to pay printers. We’ve always seemed to squeak by. In the old days, Random House would advance us money, Lately we’ve been making it on our own, but we’re approaching a very lean period, with sales down and the tiny homes book taking forever. We’re betting the farm on this new book.

Read More …

Jack Smith is starting a new magazine, The Skateboarders Journal. Looks like it will be similar to Surfers’ Journal — high quality photos, old and classic along with new and rad, very few ads, classy:

“…The Skateboarder’s Journal will delve into all dimensions of skateboarding – culture, history, art, travel, technology and the future. We will also bring you photography from the world’s best skate photographers.Content is foremost. It will be presented in a clean, classic format that focuses your attention on what’s important, not on indulgent graphic design.

Readers will be able to access TSJ from their iPad, iPhone, other Internet-enabled mobile device, laptop, or desktop computer. Our goal is to make TSJ available to you no matter where you are, or where you may be going.…”

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/703076877/be-a-founder-of-the-skateboarders-journal-magazine

On Thursday, it was a coyote crossing the road in front of my truck. As I went by, he turned and seemed to look me right in the eye. That look of wisdom and humor — the joker of the animal kingdom. Then the next day an immense blue heron fluttered down to check out our pond. Woe was me, my camera was out in the office, and I couldn’t get to it without him seeing me. So I settled into watching him through the window. He circled the house, I believe looking for gophers. Seeing him so close up was unusual, because they are ultra-spooky birds (like the wild pigeons). It was such a thrill, this magnificent bird. He was almost 4′ tall. And thirdly, a friend spotted a mountain lion on the edge of town. A vicarious thrill here; if I had to choose one animal to catch even a glimpse of, this is the one. (I’ve seen two.) It’s a blessing to have creatures like these around.

In the 2011 Van Isle 360 international yacht race in the waters of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

I was on the swimming team in high school (Lowell, San Francisco, class of ’52) and a teammate, Mike Barnato, said he wished he would be incarnated as a seal. Funny how you remember some things, isn’t it?

Sent by Godfrey Stephens