Got to start somewhere

Freeport, Bahamas.

Every so often I take a few days and go some place for what I call an "Upper Management Company Retreat." Since I define myself as the only person in upper management, these retreats tend to be quiet and relaxing.

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They give me a chance to:

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• Get my mind around the bigger picture

• Make written plans

• Get projects I couldn't find the time to do off my plate...like getting this blog started.

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And finishing the content editing of Fear and Loathing of Boca Raton: A Hippies' Guide to the Second Sixties by Steven Lewis, a title we will be publishing in the fall of 2007. Fear and Loathing is an anti-retirement retirement book. The first self-help book to claim to not be a self-help book. It's a grand title for us baby boomers looking at retiring in the next 10 years. Lewis has a witty engaging style.

I tacked this trip to Freeport onto a trip to New York City for semi-annual sales meetings. Publishers and sales rep groups hold a flurry of meetings where the publisher introduces the next season's titles. Generally speaking, there are two seasons in the book biz when new titles are released. One in the spring and one in the fall.

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This blog is envisioned to be a place where the people at Quill Driver Books can talk about what we do in our day-to-day work, to discuss the decisions we make, to bury our failures, vent our frustrations and celebrate our successes. We also invite you to chime in.

I don't guarantee we'll make daily posts, but if you are interested in the inside workings of an independent book publisher, please bookmark this blog or rss or whatever you're suppose to do so you won't forget about it.

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BTW, coming from a fellow who just had to eat crow for adding the words, "A Very Unique Book" (Think about it.) to one of the sell-sheets I used in NY, I don't promise perfect spelling, punctuation, or editing. Editors are human too. (That's why we hire proof readers, who are super human.)

—Steve