BEFORE 2010

It was apparently during my 2006 visit to the UK, less than a year after the initial publication of the archive in late 2005, when I was staying with Clive, that we came up with the idea of a book and made notes about its scope and presentation. We visited bookshops and wrote down the dimensions of illustrated volumes with a likely-looking format. In 2008, Clive produced a Preliminary Draft Synopsis, which I still have, together with a list of natural history publishers I gleaned from a visit to Waterstone’s in Leeds.

2010

The year was pivotal. Angela McKinstry, a graphic artist who designed the DVD covers and locations map for the 2005 published archive, designed and printed a mock-up of the book in 2010. The title was ‘One small place on earth …’. There was no subtitle. Later that year Jan Watson, the book’s designer, produced a design template which has been followed for the published book. By then there was a subtitle – ‘Celebrating biodiversity where you are’. At some point thereafter, Clive came up with the transformative improvement ‘discovering’ biodiversity.

2017

In 2012 Steve and his wife Paulina, dumbfounded… Read Complete Text

Four months to the day after the books were delivered to the storage unit, we shifted another 24 boxes to my hall cupboard this afternoon. It is gratifying when things go according to plan. We each made 8 trips from car to cupboard. Handyman Brian carrying two boxes at a time to my one. I’m just off to replace the book I borrowed from the post office at North Tamborine.

I got an email from a resident who wants a book which she would like me to sign, as a present for her partner, agreeing to meet me in the library tomorrow morning. Normally I would have dropped the book off at her home. Because I have temporarily run out of books, I dashed into the post office at North Tamborine and ‘borrowed’ one of the books I delivered yesterday, vowing to replace it on Friday, all being well.

When the books arrived on the mountain from China, I was relieved to discover that I could store 24 boxes of 10 books, in my hall cupboard. Today, I delivered the last box, containing six books, to a mountain customer. I am now, unexpectedly, left with no books for sale. The plan is for a handyman I know, who is as strong as an ox, to help bring another 24 boxes from the storage unit, on Friday. He doesn’t get here from Tasmania until Wednesday.

At a housewarming today, I caught up with a delightful Cornish man I have not seen for many years since he left the mountain. He had been shown my book by our hosts and wanted to buy two copies. One copy was for his sister’s two-year old grandson Miles, who lives in Cornwall. This is the second copy I know of, which was bought for a child. A third copy was bought with children in mind. These purchases echo a point I made in the introduction. “The book’s illustrations are ideal for children to explore or be shown, in short, they are for people of all ages to savour”. It is extremely gratifying to have this point borne out.

As expected, local sales, though not necessarily to tourists visiting the mountain, are the mainstay of my book sales. However, sales to libraries are clocking up, helped by the fact that their remit includes supporting Australian authors. I have contacted libraries along the Queensland coast – as a local author in South East Queensland and as a South East Queensland author elsewhere in the state. The library in Mount Isa, which is close to the Northern Territory border, has ordered a copy. Subsequently, I have contacted libraries in New South Wales to whom I describe myself as an Australian author, and today I received my first order from over the border. An advantage in selling my book to libraries is the multiple readership per copy.

Darryl Jones well and truly launched my book at the mountain’s Zamia Theatre in front of close to 60 people this afternoon. He recounted how his research into brush turkeys led him to the mountain over 30 years ago and that close observation of their mounds revealed previously unknown aspects of their mating behaviour. He exhorted people who buy the book to closely study its images before reading it, precisely because the images are the result of sustained observation. He spoke with a generosity of spirit about my work. The event was expertly compered by Janene Gardner, owner of Under the Greenwood Tree bookshop, who has officiated at innumerable book launches. She too had lovely things to say about the book and my project.

For me, the most important aspect of the launch was the atmosphere in the room, which, based on what I was told by those who were there, was exactly what I was after. I saw the launch of the book as an opportunity to have as many people as possible who contributed to it, attend and be acknowledged by the gathering. First and foremost was Jan Watson, the designer. Amanda Klaer read the book… Read Complete Text

An order, received today, for a book from Toowoomba City Library brought the number of books sold since I took delivery of the shipment from China on August 5, to exactly 100. One box was severely damaged on arrival, two slightly damaged – resulting in 10 books unfit for sale and 5 held in reserve. I have ‘presented’ 21  complimentary copies, of which five were posted overseas. One of the reasons I was so loath to self-publish, apart from having to sell the book myself, was the absence of review copies – although people have told me how impressive the book is when first handled. Jan’s design is much appreciated. It is always pleasing to have one’s work acknowledged.

This evening, a week after I submitted my application form, I got a phone call from the lady who is in charge of booking the Zamia Theatre. She confirmed that I have the venue for my book launch, from 3 to 5 pm, on Sunday October 6.