EUREKA! and JABBERWOCKY

I went to the Newburyport store which is actually two stores, Jabberwocky Bookshop and Eureka (toy store). Cool stores with lots of toys and books. The books are now in Jabberwocky!!! The store is located at 50 Water Street in downtown Newburyport in the Tannery Mill Mall.

OH DARN IT, NOT YET

Okay, so yes I got the book in Newburyport, but I haven't gotten the copies up to them yet. I was going to yesterday but I was taking pictures of the teachers at Witchcraft Heights ES for the PTO and it took longer than anticipated. And I couldn't today because my Kindergartener had a field trip to the Children's Museum of Boston and I had volunteered to chaperon. That means the books don't get there till tomorrow.

So is the life of a stay-at-home-dad who actually tries to do some work.

NOW AVAILABLE IN NEWBURYPORT

I finally was able to contact ONE (Eureka/Jabberwocky Bookshop) of the three stores in Newburyport to agree to carry the book! Happy Day!

ARTICLE IN NEWSPAPER

Okay. So I have yet to get press releases out to the media about the second edition. Still trying to get the books into a few new stores, and even just IN Newburyport.


But the Salem Evening News (which also prints the Newburyport paper, The Gloucester Times, and the Lynn paper) teased an article on Saturday for their Monday edition about "Playground Ratings on the North Shore." COOL! Although no one contacted me, maybe they just took it upon themselves to do an article about the best playgrounds using my book as a reference.

Well, if they did I did not get any mention for it. I am so sad.

The article was great and they chose: Lynch Park, Beverly; Ross Memorial, Peabody; Touch the Sky, Beverly; Forest River, Salem; and Endicott Park, Danvers. I'll kind of agree with that. But I sure wish they could have contacted me about some input or assistance. They have quoted my book several times already. WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST MENTION MY BOOK!!!!

HAPPY PLACE HAPPPPPPYYYYYYY PLLLAAAAACCE

AWW MAN. I MISSED ONE A BIG ONE

After the printing of the first edition, someone told me of this really great playground in Newburyport called ACTION PARK. Well, working on this second edition which includes Newburyport, I looked for this Action Park. I couldn't find it and Newburyport Park and Rec had no idea what I was talking about. But Newburyport has a couple of FANTASTIC playgrounds, Moseley Woods, and Cashman Park, so I thought that maybe one of these was Action Park and the locals call it such but not the city.

Well, I now found out the Action Park is in West Newbury. I haven't gone to it, but it is suppose to be phenomenal. Dagnabbit. Lest you think I did not do my job, I called West Newbury about their playgrounds and they said that the one I have listed (Page School) is the only one in the city. Well, apparently not.

Pictures to come.

It's okay. It's okay. Happy place happy place.

REORDERS ARE COMING IN

YEA! A few stores are already reordering books. Thank goodness because I was afraid the price of the book was going to slow the sale of the books. This is about right. Thanks everybody!

PLANS FOR JACKSON PARK, SWAMPSCOTT

Tentative plans have been drawn up for redesigned playground on the site of the Machon Elementary School Playground at Jackson Park in Swampscott. They include two separate playgrounds for both preschool and elementary school children, a dog park, and basketball hoops. No start date has been planned yet. They will tear down the current playground and rebuild the site.

http://www.townonline.com/swampscott/news/x1623296093


A view of the current playground with Essex Street way in the back

A SAD LOSS

It pains me to say, but one of the independent toy stores that carried my books last year is closing. Fun Among Us, Gloucester, is closing its doors at this end of June, says the store manager. This is a sad loss not just to the Gloucester community but to all communities. The loss of a small independent toy store is a sad loss.

Please, keep supporting the local, independent stores. If you can, buy your toys and books at these shops that I have the books in. The list is basically all the independent toy stores and book stores on the North Shore (minus a few here and there). They are great stores and they try their best to support the communities they are in.

REALLY NOW AVAILABLE!

All books are in the stores from last year happy day!

Check out the list!

NOW AVAILABLE

Finally, my list of stores that carry my book is up to date. As of now, all the stores that carried my first edition, are carrying the second edition. Alright, not ALL. I still have to get some books to Banbury Cross (Hamilton/Wenham), but they have ordered them. . . I just ran out of books and have to hassle the printer for my next set of 50.

BOOKS ARE GOING OUT!

A couple more stores are carrying the books now. Now the list is:
Crunchy Granola Baby, Salem
Cornerstorne Books, Salem
Learning Tree Store, Danvers
Marblehead Toy Store, Marblehead
Spirit of '76 Bookstore, Marblehead
Zak's Handcrafts and gifts , Manchester-by-the-sea

BINDING

First, I am not bitter. Second, the binding was done wrong on the 30 books and I had to send them back to get fixed. Didn't I tell you? 50% of the time it never works right. But I'm not bitter.

30 MORE BOOKS DONE

This is slightly ridiculous. I'm suppose to have 500 total from the printer. At this rate, I'm going to be getting 50 books every week from the printer for the rest of the summer. One thing about the business of graphic design which I have FINALLY realized is five out of ten jobs goes through without a hitch. The other five are usually a big mess: Paper isn't available; it's going to cost more; CEO's name is spelled wrong on the entire run of 10,000 brochures; wrong cover on the books; etc. When a job does go right, in the back of my mind I think, "That was too easy. There must be something wrong."

But I am not a pessimist. Really . . . i'm not. . . maybe i am . . . maybe I'm a bitter, look for bad, glass is half empty, light bulb could be brighter, it's too hot, it's too cold, pessimist. . . oh no . . .where's my happy place?

On a happy note, I have kept a few of the last 30 copies so I can sell them through the web site. That's good. . . or is it? . . .happy place happy place.

#1 RATED PLAYGROUND

I thought maybe you would like to see the #1 rated playground in the book in glaring full color. The photos just don't do it justice though. But here they are. Stage Fort Park, Gloucester.

A view towards the visitor center (on the left) and the gazebo.


This is a view from the top of the hill looking towards the ocean. It's about January when some of these photos were taken. Stage Fort is still being redone and is only about halfway done. You can see the lighthouse structure way in the background. The boat and truck structure are in the middle left background.


Here's a closer view of the play structure.


The boat and lighthouse structures.

This is a view of Half Moon Beach taken from atop a rocky outcrop over looking the beach.

THE FIRST 50

After a 6 hour delay (the printer put the wrong cover on the books), the first 50 books are in stores. The next 50 will be done, I hope, on Tuesday . . . not that I'm a pessimist, but I'm going to think to myself that they will be done on Wednesday, not that I'm a pessimist. So far they are in:

Crunchy Granola Baby, Salem
Cornerstorne Books, Salem
Learning Tree Store, Danvers
Marblehead Toy Store, Marblehead

FINAL PROOF

Got a look at the final proof of the book. After giving the printer the correct cover and not some lo-resolution version, the book is looking great. We are hoping to get 50 books done and out to the stores that have requested them by Saturday!
So close I can taste the ink!


The final front and back cover of the book. I wanted to go with a very cool, club-inspired image . . . or maybe it's because I listen to trance as I design.