1. We’re doing a (12,500-copy) reprint of Tiny Homes. It will arrive at the Publishers Group West warehouse in Tennessee on April 4. First printing was 15,000 and we’re just about out of stock. It sold over 4,000 copies in the first 8 days of February.

2. We’re printing 5,000 copies of the (2″ x 2-1/4″) mini tiny homes book. We’ve just about gone through the first 2,000. I tell you, I’ve never had an object that is so much fun to give out. People just love it. (As I’m sure I’ve said), 95% of the people I hand it to laugh out loud. Not a smile, an audible laugh.

   I’ve been going around to shops in San Francisco, giving it out. Surf or skate shops, barista locales, bike shops, gardening stores. We’re going to look for people in different cities to do the same. My friend Shelter Serra took a bunch to NYC a few weeks ago and just emailed “Everyone loves the book!!”

   We’re setting up book signings for me. Will post places and dates later. We’re hoping for word-of-mouth to keep this book rolling. If you love it, email yr. friends.

3. We just reprinted Shelter with Paramount Printers in Hong Kong and does it look good! We’d done recent reprints in Colombia, and the printers were not on the ball like Paramount. This is by far the best printing in 39 years of printing Shelter; photos look snappy. (The first 160,000 copies were done on a web offset (newspaper) press; these are on sheet-fed (better quality) presses.

4. We’re reprinting both Home Work and Builders of the Pacific Coast.

5. Shameless Commerce Dept: 30% discount on 3 or more of our building books: https://www.shelterpub.com/_ad/TH-sale.html

This is the single most useful site/blog on the web for me. I can’t say how many useful things this blog has turned me on to. It’s like the electronic Whole Earth Catalog, but what’s better is that it uses no paper, and it’s daily.

Kevin Kelly, ex-Whole Earth Review editor, founding editor at Wired mag, author, photographer, explorer, runs this operation, with daily reviews of useful stuff.

“Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We only post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted. Tell us what you love.”

Easiest way to get there is to go to kk.org, then click on “Cool Tools” at the left.

When it came time to do our first e-book — Marathon: You Can Do It!, by Jeff Galloway — we couldn’t find anyone we thought would do a good enough job in converting print book to ebook. So Rick Gordon did the book “in-house,” as they say — for the iPad and the Kindle. It came out really well: typography, color, graphics, and perhaps most importantly, smooth flowing of the many training charts in the book. I compared it with all the other iPad e-books on running, and it looks way better.

   We entered it in the non-fiction category of the Publishing Innovation Awards this year and although it didn’t win, it was awarded the QED (Quality-Excellence-Design) Seal. Here’s what the judges said about Rick’s work:

   “Marathon: You Can Do It displays a creative design that does not distract from the text, making the pages visually appealing as well as informative. Tables contain a lot of structure, yet even rendered as art are easy to read. The ‘Tips on Using This Book’ for the iPad demonstrates a thoughtfulness and sensitivity to the reader’s experience of this digital title.”

Sunset at Stinson Beach, California

GIMME SHELTER is an email newsletter I send out to about 600 people every few months. It used to be my main form of communication with people in the book trade and friends until I started blogging. We also post them on the Shelter website. Here’s the latest, from mid-January: https://www.shelterpub.com/_gimme/_2012-01-19/gimme_shelter-2012-01-19.html

One of the rewarding things about this blog is running across so many kindred spirits, especially Irene Tukuafu. She and I and my wife Lesley have emailed back and forth for a year or two. Totally in tune. A few days ago, Irene sent out the below email to her list of about 200 people. Not only kind words, but the sort of thing that helps get the word out about Tiny Homes.

“Family and Folks, okay, sooooooooooooo here’s a book I’ve waited for over a year to read for my self. I’ve followed this guys books for over 30 years and it’s pretty much Lloyd Kahn that I got ideas on building a round house. oh yes, it evolved, but he was the start of it. I’ve just spent 2 hours just “glancing” at the photos…..many photos of this book. I can say that ALL OF YOU would benefit by either getting to a library or just… buy it. There is so much in here that you will learn by just looking at the photos….let alone reading it. yep, gonna read it next and it will keep me SUPER BUSY….for a long time. You will find simple ways to build CREATIVELY. a little green house, a little cabin, a house boat, a camper something. AND you’ll be a knowing what other folks are doing that are NOT paying a big mortgage payment. They’s doing it themselves in these tiny houses. You might not agree with the tiny house way of doing things, but you’ll see things YOU CAN DO that would help you in adding onto a room or whatever you’ve been thinking about but just NEED SOME INSPIRATION. over 1,300 photos.

Nope, I don’t work for him. Just telling you that living a creative live is a JOY and I’m grateful that I became acquainted with his books 30 years ago and I’m still thinking CREATIVELY. I’m not done building creatively and got wayyyyyyyyy too many ideas to even get to sleep tonight. ZOWIE.…”

https://irenetukuafu.blogspot.com/

https://harp4you.blogspot.com/