Have to say the money thing is making me a little grumpy. I know that people are slack at paying their bills for their own reasons but y'know we have school for three kids with new uniforms and activities and, and, and Matthew sold his bike. He seems okay about it... the guy who brought it said it was going to be his treehouse...Mathew no longer has a treehouse because people aren't honouring their word...Here ends the moan. Good things come to those who wait and work, we will continue to do both.
I had an idea last night about how we can expand on the book from Auckland and do the North and the South Island, with the kids and in a way that gets us and the book more exposure. Planning now and going to call in all friends in high and low places to help. Will let you know when there is more to tell....Niki
24 January 2010
Boring - followed with great elation
The printer bill is due and we haven’t got all the money yet. I decide to sell my bike, we hardly ever go riding on it and the cost of getting it registered is going up. Luckily a cool musician buys it, and I know he will look after her. These are the boring bits that I don’t like, the money side of it, but heck without it the choices around life become limited. We start to think of ways to try and promote the book, but we can’t afford advertising and it’s not too long before I become disillusioned with the whole book journey. Why did we print so many, how the hell will we sell them… this is all too hard.
Of course life has a flow and when you least expect it just what you need turns up. Rhiannon from the Central Leader and wants to do a story on us this week. I am enthusiastic, but cautious as well. It will probably be small, and won’t make much difference. We meet at a café and the interview goes well, they take a number of photos of me and I love the attention.
Five days later the article is in the Central Leader and its on page 2 and half a page long. Niki and I are impressed, cool…. a really good write up about us, thanks Rhiannon. Friends ring to congratulate us and a bookstore we never heard of orders some books. Things are on a roll again…. Matthew
Of course life has a flow and when you least expect it just what you need turns up. Rhiannon from the Central Leader and wants to do a story on us this week. I am enthusiastic, but cautious as well. It will probably be small, and won’t make much difference. We meet at a café and the interview goes well, they take a number of photos of me and I love the attention.
Five days later the article is in the Central Leader and its on page 2 and half a page long. Niki and I are impressed, cool…. a really good write up about us, thanks Rhiannon. Friends ring to congratulate us and a bookstore we never heard of orders some books. Things are on a roll again…. Matthew
21 January 2010
Niki's Fawlty Moment
I on the other hand found it hard to breathe while watching. After years in hospitality I could see the potential for recovery slipping away with each moment. It may have seemed arrogant to offer help but I couldn’t bear to watch people paying money in good faith oblivious to what was coming…or not coming…next. A well known Auckland comedian was one of the patient ones, although his sense of humour was increasingly absent as was the fabric on his dining companions shorts (I’m just jealous, she had fantastic legs). We’ll go back soon and see if anything has changed or if the un-named establishment is still in operation. Keep you posted………Niki
The Fawlty Towers of Ponsonby
On New Years we didn’t have the children so we decided to go for coffee. We strolled along Ponsonby road and not much was open. We ended up at what used to be an old favourite, and where we recently had good coffee. There were a few people inside with a good vibe. We ordered our soy flat white and watched the Fawlty Towers episode unfold. There some grumblings of complaints about the coffee delay, more people came in and the delays got longer. There were three people working, the guy sort of in the kitchen, but just in the background, chewing gum and for the life of us we couldn’t figure what he was supposed to be doing. Then there was the woman who wondered around dazed from the night before.
But the piece de resistance was the Barista. He was a young Japanese man, very talkative, and paid great attention to the detail of making the coffee. This proved to be a bad combination because when someone talked to him he stopped making coffee and started a chat session. If they complained he sympathised and tried to fix it. While this happened the list of coffees got longer. Oh, he had to deliver them as well. . It wasn’t long before we started to cringe. I told Niki “it can’t be too long”. She replied “see those women sitting outside, they are still waiting from before we went down the road for sushi. It got worse, customers came and told the barista they would never come back, and he started another conversation. Niki offered to help, but they just looked at us blankly.
I enjoyed the 40 minute show, but luckily the coffee was good. If it hadn’t been I would be naming the café… but I can forgive one mistake ……..Matthew
But the piece de resistance was the Barista. He was a young Japanese man, very talkative, and paid great attention to the detail of making the coffee. This proved to be a bad combination because when someone talked to him he stopped making coffee and started a chat session. If they complained he sympathised and tried to fix it. While this happened the list of coffees got longer. Oh, he had to deliver them as well. . It wasn’t long before we started to cringe. I told Niki “it can’t be too long”. She replied “see those women sitting outside, they are still waiting from before we went down the road for sushi. It got worse, customers came and told the barista they would never come back, and he started another conversation. Niki offered to help, but they just looked at us blankly.
I enjoyed the 40 minute show, but luckily the coffee was good. If it hadn’t been I would be naming the café… but I can forgive one mistake ……..Matthew
20 January 2010
The first write up - Vivettes
Everyone says that the place to be seen for the cool things around Auckland is the Heralds Viva on Wednesdays. Where do I want to be….in Viva. So among the other media releases is the one to Amanda the Viva editor. Sent off with a bit of a blessing, this is the one I want. Next thing I know I have Amanda on the phone looking for photos to put with a blurb about the book. She loves it and is ‘hoping to have it in the next couple of weeks’. Those who know me know that my ability to stay in the moment is not so crash hot.
So immediately, in opposition to what I know is most sensible, I tell just a couple of people that we are likely to be in Viva this week. Up at six on Wednesday as the rest of the house snores I head down to the supermarket to see our lovely write up. I don’t even make it out of the shop before I am trawling the pages looking for a photo and a full page spread…….or not. By the time I talk to Matthew I have worked myself into full blown depression (not clinical), with a large dollap of ‘I wish I’d kept my mouth shut’. The ‘couple’ of people I told let me know they looked and didn’t find in Viva. Where is that large rock to crawl under.
The lesson here is to stay in the moment and let go of expectation and attachment to certain outcomes. I moved on and lo and behold the following week Andrew at Dymocks in Ponsonby (my favourite bookselling man) is ringing for more books as the write up in Viva has driven some sales. Hold the world with an open palm; it leaves room for what you want to land.
Niki
So immediately, in opposition to what I know is most sensible, I tell just a couple of people that we are likely to be in Viva this week. Up at six on Wednesday as the rest of the house snores I head down to the supermarket to see our lovely write up. I don’t even make it out of the shop before I am trawling the pages looking for a photo and a full page spread…….or not. By the time I talk to Matthew I have worked myself into full blown depression (not clinical), with a large dollap of ‘I wish I’d kept my mouth shut’. The ‘couple’ of people I told let me know they looked and didn’t find in Viva. Where is that large rock to crawl under.
The lesson here is to stay in the moment and let go of expectation and attachment to certain outcomes. I moved on and lo and behold the following week Andrew at Dymocks in Ponsonby (my favourite bookselling man) is ringing for more books as the write up in Viva has driven some sales. Hold the world with an open palm; it leaves room for what you want to land.
Niki
The first book days - and fun
So we have a book. My kids are used to seeing me do the A dance. This is a particularly stylish move that takes place on the odd occasion one of my assignments gets an A. The new book dance takes us to a whole different level of excitement. We did it. Broke through the drama of learning new software, taking photos, editing, writing, deciding on numbers and we have it, the fantastic culmination of all our work. The dance is a sight to behold!
Now all my friends and family join the excitement with my mum being the number one fan encouraging all the people she comes into contact with to buy the book. We have it in the bookshops and in the cafes for sale. People are commenting on loving it. The media hype begins and we ride the wave of people loving our work. It really is a buzz!
Heading for Christmas and chasing the payments, the bubble shrinks but not bursts. Now I have to get organised for the family Christmas at my place. The kids are making plans for holidays and other parent time. For a while the book takes a back seat. So it should the kids have had to put up with unavailable adults for the last couple of months and I have missed my friends. The key to happiness is balance and here is mine. Niki putting psycho babble in to practice…
Niki
Now all my friends and family join the excitement with my mum being the number one fan encouraging all the people she comes into contact with to buy the book. We have it in the bookshops and in the cafes for sale. People are commenting on loving it. The media hype begins and we ride the wave of people loving our work. It really is a buzz!
Heading for Christmas and chasing the payments, the bubble shrinks but not bursts. Now I have to get organised for the family Christmas at my place. The kids are making plans for holidays and other parent time. For a while the book takes a back seat. So it should the kids have had to put up with unavailable adults for the last couple of months and I have missed my friends. The key to happiness is balance and here is mine. Niki putting psycho babble in to practice…
Niki
19 January 2010
The excitement of publishing
So we have spent six months going around Aucklands cafe scene. Followed barista recommendations and had a fun journey. We have finally finshed the lsit of cafes and signed off the proofs, the waiting for the actual pritned books begins....
It’s Friday and Niki and I are hoping to have some copies of the book by the end of today. We want to start showing them to people over the weekend. We have spent a week lamenting over the layout, are the photos good enough, have we missed any spelling mistakes. Eventually we have to let go of it and leave it with the printer.
The printer sends it to the binder and the binder takes the cover and glues it with the pages, viola a book. But by five o’clock we haven’t heard anything so we figure it wont happen today. At five fifteen there is a call from Paul, our printing man. The binders have just rung him and want the job to be signed off before they start to run off thousands of copies.
We agree to go and have a look. Niki and I, along with Niki’s daughter Ruby, pile in the car and head to Manukau. Off on the back streets we find a little factory tucked away in an area I have never been to before. A middle aged couple greet us and take us to a room full of conveyers and the smell of glue. They show us the book.
Niki and I both say to ourselves, “thank God its okay”. We give the go ahead and for the next half hour watch all these conveyers produce our book. We collect boxes of books and fill the back of the car.
Yahoo we have our book
Next step – see if we can sell them - Matthew
It’s Friday and Niki and I are hoping to have some copies of the book by the end of today. We want to start showing them to people over the weekend. We have spent a week lamenting over the layout, are the photos good enough, have we missed any spelling mistakes. Eventually we have to let go of it and leave it with the printer.
The printer sends it to the binder and the binder takes the cover and glues it with the pages, viola a book. But by five o’clock we haven’t heard anything so we figure it wont happen today. At five fifteen there is a call from Paul, our printing man. The binders have just rung him and want the job to be signed off before they start to run off thousands of copies.
We agree to go and have a look. Niki and I, along with Niki’s daughter Ruby, pile in the car and head to Manukau. Off on the back streets we find a little factory tucked away in an area I have never been to before. A middle aged couple greet us and take us to a room full of conveyers and the smell of glue. They show us the book.
Niki and I both say to ourselves, “thank God its okay”. We give the go ahead and for the next half hour watch all these conveyers produce our book. We collect boxes of books and fill the back of the car.
Yahoo we have our book
Next step – see if we can sell them - Matthew
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)