Baby Beards! Part 9: The Joy of Holding Your Book In Your Hands for the First Time!

The perfect baby shower gift!

ON SALE TODAY (7/9/14) - Only $7.25 for paperback + Kindle download for FREE!

Click Here!

This is post #9 in a blog series -- Did you miss any of the first 8 posts? Here are links to each -- (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8)

Baby Beards! Part 9: The Joy of Holding Your Book in Your Hands for the First Time:

The proof copy of Baby Beards! was to be delivered a day earlier than I expected! 

I waited all day and finally at 5pm the UPS truck pulled up in front of our house. The driver handed me the package after I met him at the end of the driveway. He noticed our Little Free Library in our front yard and told me how he read to his kids when they were little and suggested that I continue to read to my children because it is really important! He thanked me for having the Little Free Library available for the children of the neighbor too.  (What a cool guy!)

I can't tell you how happy I was when I held the copy of Baby Beards! in my hands.  All my anxiety disappeared after I paged through the book. All the hard work had paid off.  The cover has a matte finish that feels great in your hands! (Everyone who has held the book has commented on it!) The illustrations are bright and crisp! I was so happy with the printing quality from Createspace!

I was so excited I got in the car and drove over to a friend's house just to share!  (I had to show someone.) I knew my friend would be excited for me because she was at our house when I was uploading the book to Createspace at 3am!

That night, my son gave me the biggest compliment of all by choosing to read Baby Beards! for before bedtime reading.  My boys loved the pages in the back of the book that allow you to record food related memories -- kinda like a baby book. We reminisced about when they were babies and toddlers and what they liked to eat.

It took over a year for my vision for Baby Beards!  became a reality!

It began as an idea I had when I sat with my family at our dinner table.

First, it was words and doodles in my journal and...

sketches in a sketchbook.

I improved the sketches and added color on a storyboard which brought excitement and momentum to the project.

I painted babies and beards. I painted dogs and healthy food. I even painted on cardboard!

I watched as the pages of my book unfolded before my eyes on my basement wall.

The final artwork was ready for critique and suggestions.

Now, I have a book that I can read to my daughter.
And I hope you will share Baby Beards! with your friends and family too.

One more post to go! Tomorrow will be the last post in the series. I haven't written the post yet, because what I am going to write about hasn't happened yet! Stay Tuned!