Designing for Leisure Arts

So after you have made it through the hurdle of the design submission for Leisure Arts, what happens? Other than fame and fortune as a craft/cross stitch/paint/sewing/quilt designer, of course. (OK so you probably won't find either fame or fortune, but your family will be so proud and that counts for a lot, right? Plus, you'll have one of those book-things out there in the world. And I don't have one of those so I'll be pretty impressed with you too.) What happens after we say "Yes, we agree, that is a fabulous idea. We'd like to make a book about it"? Most of the time, you send us completed models and instructions (unless it's cross stitch...we seem to complete those ourselves), and one of these characters takes it from there.

These are technical writers/pirates who technically edit instructions and guide the concept through photography and art and then on out the door to the printer. They put dates on a schedule to make it happen on time. They draw patterns when patterns don't match. They draw figs and diagrams as needed. They find the missing pieces in  instructions. They have incentive...they also get to answer phone calls from consumers. They work hard. Sometimes they dress up for Halloween (and win).

Me, there in the middle-ish, I go to meetings (although, now that I have actually spoken at a guild meeting, I may limit myself as to types I'll appear at. And that's too bad. I hate to disappoint the fans of my oratorial excellence). I meet designers at tradeshows either to say "Have you ever thought about publishing a book?" or to say "Hey, we're hard at work on your book right now. It's nice to meet you." The technical writers and the people you don't see...the graphic artists, photostylists, photographers, and more...they make the book-part of the book. You send in projects and instructions and we send a book out into the world...like magic.