More On Contracts

It is interesting, just as I have been involved in contract discussion recently (my first in a very long time), there have been several discussions about contracts occurring on several blogs of note!

The first one is more of a educational piece on things to think about and be aware of. It is on the Girl from Auntie blog. I always find her information very useful because although she specifically disclaims this is not legal advice, she is, in fact, an intellectual property attorney. So even though she is not offering legal advice, it comes from a much more reliable source than most.

The second post is on a more personal blog that many folks are familiar with, Annie Modesite's blog Modeknit / Knitting Heretic. Annie has taken the hand knit designer world by storm. She and I met just as we were both getting serious about our businesses. Her post is passionate and raises questions that all professional designers need to be considering.

If you have any interest in the designing side of the hand knit industry, I encourage you to take the time to read both posts and any comments. The information is good and should be shared by all!

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A Big Commitment

Well, it is done! I signed two copies of the contract today and sent them off to the publisher. Now, I just have to wait to get my copy back with their signature and the initial advance. This is one of the scariest things I have done in a long time. The commitment to writing and publicizing a book is longer than my first marriage.

At this point, our goal is to have the book released early in 2010. Doesn't that seem like forever? But the fact is, it is an achievable, yet aggressive schedule. And then there is a minimum 1 year commitment to publicize the book at various knitting events. Not that I won't be at most of them anyway, but it will be one more activity during what are already very busy weekends.

I guess what scares me as much as anything is that I have now committed to be in this industry, at least to some degree, for the next three years. Although I am starting my 7th year, each year I have evaluated the decision to continue on. But now, that decision has been made. Even if I want to do something else, I must maintain some level of activity in the world of knitting.

This may not seem that scary to most of you, but for me it is terrifying. I have always lived under the delusion that I could give up Knitability at any moment and go back to my "big income" career. But that now probably won't be possible, at least not for the next few years. And then there is the fear of falling flat on my face!!! What if I put in all this time and the book is a dud!

Well, for good or for bad, I am committed. So here is to a new year, a new opportunity, a new chapter in my life and a new reason to be committed!!

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Teaching is Teaching -- Right?!

As much as it might shock and amaze many of you, being a professional knitting instructor does not bring in the big bucks! There are a few out there actually making a living doing this, but as of yet, I am not one of them. If I did not have the world's greatest husband, I could not afford to do this. Yet, teaching is what I LOVE, it truly makes me happy and most of my students think I am a very good teacher.

So I have been thinking about some supplementary income to add to the family coffers. Not too long ago my mom suggested that I look into being a part-time instructor at the local junior college, ah but what subject? The fact is I am probably qualified to teach a variety of subjects but I am nervous about how well I will do.

When I left for college my goal was to become a math teacher. In fact, I became a computer geek, but I still have a "minor equivalent" in mathematics. Several of the knitting classes I teach are about the mathematics of knitting. And teaching is teaching -- right?!?!

So tomorrow I will make the call. See if the head of the department is still looking for a part-time instructor of mathematics. If so, apply for the position. And then hope beyond all hope that good teaching skills will cross subject boundaries. At least when the students ask when they will use this stuff -- I can tell them that they will need it for their knitting!!!

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New Buttons

So I decided to add some new buttons there on the right hand side of the blog. These are various knitting teacher friends of mine (and my "other" blog of course). I will see about adding some more of these as I find them. But all of these gals are teachers I know and/or hang out with during the various knitting conventions.

Karen Alfke has geek week currently underway (organizing your knitting stuff), so I highly recommend you stop by and see what she is talking about!!!

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What's In a Name

Recently, and I truly can not remember where it was, I was reading about the importance of a title of a book. And although I had not thought about it much before, now that a book is most likely looming on the horizon, titles are becoming much more important to me.

A few days ago I logged on to the Unicorn Books website to see about ordering some books for myself and a few of my customers. As is often the case, I got totally drawn in to the site, checking a variety of categories and browsing titles. The first thing I noticed is that although there are well over a thousand (yes -- you read that right) knitting books listed, almost none of them appear to have any valuable or unique content. Next, way too many books have the same or similar titles. And even worse, an unimaginable number have the word "easy" or "knit" (or some variation) in the title.

So this inspired me to begin thinking about a title, a fabulous title, for the upcoming book on entrelac. Now I am the first to admit, and if you have read many of my posts you know, I am not the greatest when it comes to words. I talk a lot, and I really do love words, but I am not that creative in my usage. This may turn out to be an issue with writing a book, but we will worry about that later! However, I have often found inspiration (or just plain great ideas) from those around me.

So I am starting a contest to come up with a title for my book. You can enter as many times as you wish and if more than one person comes up with the same fabulous title, I will randomly draw a winner. And the prize you ask? You will receive a signed copy of the published book.

So here are the guidelines as they stand at this point:

1. Each entry should be sent as a separate e-mail to me at gwen @ knitability.com (remove the spaces) with a subject of "Entrelac Book Title Contest" and the suggested title as the message.
2. Individuals can enter as many times as they wish.
3. The Author (that's me) and the Publisher (still working on that) will make the final decision, as such, it is possible that no one will win if a suitably outstanding entry is not submitted.
4. Entries will be accepted through June 30, 2008 or until the publisher requires a title (which ever comes first).

Obviously the book is about the entrelac technique. At this point the plan is to start at the beginning and work through to a point of explaining fairly complicated techniques. There will be a variety of projects included from very small and basic to large and complicated with everything in between.

So let's see what you all can come up with! So what's in a name -- everything is in the name. And if you have the right name (or at least title) a free book is it for you too!!

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