“Beatrice The Little Camper Gets Rescued” Is Nearing Completion!!

My children’s book featuring my little renovated camper is moving along!

So much so that my illustrator is on page 22 out of 30 pages. I’m anticipating that within a couple of weeks it may be ready to go to print! Once the actual illustration is done, Lauren will be tackling the cover design and formatting.

Every time she sends me another page to approve, it’s like Christmas day! I cannot tell you how exciting it is to see your words come alive! Just last night she totally revamped page 22. This page was about rolling out the new roof on Beatrice. Originally it showed Mr. Tuffle (the dad in my book) fastening the roof down. After digging out pictures of the actual renovation I had one picture that stood out which featured our neighbor helping Rick by standing on a ladder rolling out the aluminum. I thought why not recreate that picture and add Mr. Tuffle in too. The result was spot on!

It’s fun to see my old camper remodel come to life in my book.

What I am really enjoying about this is reliving all the steps in the renovation project. I have been sending Lauren pictures and she has basically recreated them in a way that will be perfect for the child’s eye. I can only hope that children and the adults alike will enjoy this rescue story.

Next step: printing and marketing

Once all the illustrations are done and the cover designed, it will be off to print! I have decided to use Print Ninja as my printer. Their reviews are great and the customer service has been excellent so far. I ordered their deluxe sample package with 3 actual children’s books included. It was $25, but I think it was well worth it to see the books they have printed. Their main office is in Evanston, IL and the printing is done in China. I have decided to order a bunch of copies and sell them on my own through my website and at as many vintage trailer rallies that I can attend. My goal is to also make public appearances with the real Beatrice in tow! It will be hard work doing all the marketing, but I’m ready for the challenge.

I figured I can always get them on Amazon, but since this is a passion project and I love to connect with people, going out and selling them is what I am most looking forward to. I just love to tell the story on how Beatrice came about!

Mt first appearance at the Midwest Vintage Trailer Rally

I have reserved my campsite for the Midwest Vintage Trailer Rally held each September in Montello, WI. It’s grown so much that they have it for 2 weekends instead of one. Bonus is that Montello is just under 2 hours away, so it’s an easy drive. Each Saturday is a swap meet and all the campers are open for the public to come in and view. As I had my own handbag business a bunch of years ago, I went around to flea markets, craft shows, and the like selling them. It was fun to meet lots of people. I’m certain there will be a travel blog post or 2 about that weekend.

Joining Sister On The Fly

Another thing I did was to join Sister On The Fly! I’m proud to say that I am sister #13,454. Each state has a chapter of this fun, adventurous, and camping group of ladies. I’m looking forward to getting to attend some events and find fellow lady adventurers.

You can learn more about Sisters On The Fly here.

Yeah, I can totally see myself being apart of this group!!

Anyway, that’s an update on what I’ve been doing lately. I have tons of blog posts I’m working on including one about Dingle, Ireland and I’m headed to the John Micheal Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan tomorrow for a little culture. I will also be writing about that too.

See you soon all!!

xxoo

Lori