Love And Sequins: Visiting The Printer, And A Sneak Peek!

Last week, Mike and Dolly and I got into our little 1969 Volkswagen Beetle (toot toot! Beep beep!) and went for a jaunt to New Jersey. We were a family on a mission: we were heading to visit the printer that will be churning out beautiful copies of Love And Sequins. I had questions… And I wanted to have them answered in person!

As we sped along the highway, we got an eyeful of trees turning yellow and red… It was gorgeous. Even Dolly sat up in the back seat to look out the window!

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After several twists and turns, we arrived at our destination: an enormous brick building full of paper, ink, and lots and lots of books. I was excited to go in and speak to them, since we had only been in touch via email previously.

I shook hands with a man named Paul, before flipping open my rainbow Filofax and turning to a page full of scribbled questions. They were as follows.

Did they have any pink paper or cloth we could use for a (ooh la la!) very beautiful hardcover? (I mean, how disappointed would you be if my book was not PINK?) What would the approximate weight of the finished product be? (Essential information for calculating shipping.) And finally, how long would it take from the time of submitting our finished book to being able to ship ’em out?

I wish I could say that he reached into the back of a cupboard and pulled out some incredible pink paper, woven from feathers and unicorn hair, before performing a wonderful tap-dance, and then throwing a handful of sequins into the air with delight.

Unfortunately, he did not.

You see, before he met me, I was just some weirdo sending emails, asking about pink covers and attaching numerous images. But once I was in front of him — wearing hot pink lipstick and clutching my Filofax — I think he realised the magnitude of the job at hand.

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Blue cloth binding (and my rainbow Filofax). It’s beautiful, but — and I’m sure you can understand this — I have my heart set on pink. And what baby wants, baby gets.

Here were his answers.

1. No, they didn’t have anything pink. He showed me a selection of cloth options that could be used for a hardcover book, but everything I saw was, well… navy. Or fire engine red. Or orange. Or cream. (IMAGINE if my book came out and it was ORANGE! No offense to orange, but it’s just never gonna happen.) But once I pointed at the Radical Self Love Salon tote on my shoulder, and said, “THAT pink”, he seemed to understand. Now he is on a mission to source me something pink and lovely, and while that is awesome, we’re not really sure how long that will take.

2. The weight of the book will probably be around 1.5lbs, but, it’s hard to say until we have the final product in our hands. (It will also depend on the weight of the paper we choose.)

3. As far as timing? This was the hardest pill to swallow. Firstly, we have to find something wondrous for the cover, and like I said, my dude is not sure how long that will take. (Apparently, unicorn hair is hard to source?!) Once we’ve done that, it takes about two weeks to get a bound proof (and it costs $239, making it the most expensive book I’ve ever purchased). And THEN, it takes around 25 business days to print books.

25! Business! Days!

I must admit that I was stunned when he told me this. I’m so accustomed to working in the online space that the idea of anything taking a month blew my mind! I love to move quickly, and I’m used to a super-fast turnaround. But, when it comes to printing, it takes time.

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Mike and I discussed the situation on the drive back to NYC.

“Sure, I could rush it,” I said. “I’d love, love, love for the book to be in everyone’s hands by Christmas. But I really want to do this properly. If I’m going to put the energy into a hardcover book, then it needs to be amazing.”

“Absolutely,” Mike replied. “Better to make it great and release it a little later.”

He’s absolutely right, of course. I want this book to be gorgeous: so beautiful you’ll want to keep it on your coffee table or beside your bed. A divine little slice of radical self love that you’ll be proud to own. And so, being patient is the only way it’s going to work.

AND. Not to hold out on you: I have some sneak peeks of what the book will look like inside, courtesy of We Are Branch!

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Mmmmmmmm, type. And don’t be FOOLED by the simplicity of this spread, either. There are so many surprises and delights within the pages of this book!

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I thought it made sense for my first book to start at the very beginning. And that’s why I’ve written Love And Sequins as a primer on radical self love. It’s the very best place to start if you’re not sure what it means to love yourself, or how that can totally CHANGE your life. Plus, every section has homework, so that you can start putting the concepts into action straight away.

It looks sublime, the cover is blowing my mind, and… JUST YOU WAIT!

The pre-sale will happen soon (!!!), the books will be printed in December, and they’ll be in your hot little hands by January/February. Talk about a stellar way to start 2015!

Your delighted friend,