Maybe I'll just wait till tomorrow...
Just kidding! I think you've waited long enough.
The big news is that Patrick and I have just signed a contract to write a book! Our publisher, Chelsea Green, has published some really amazing books. In fact, at our first meeting with Margo Baldwin, the president of Chelsea Green, I started telling her about this great book I had just finished called Mad Sheep (which I highly recommend, BTW) and she laughed and told me that she had published it. Turns out I had read lots of their books, including all of Joel Salatin's books.
Chelsea Green is such a great fit for us. Obviously we are just over the moon about the book although I am going to be really, really, really busy for the next two months because the manuscript is due on October 31st. Why? Because the book is coming out in the Spring and there is ever-so-much that has to happen between my turning it in and seeing it in print. (Quirkles, my dear friend and shareholder knows all about this!)
The first thing we have to so is get the title and subtitle to our editor ASAP so they can start working on a cover for the Spring catalog. Here's where you come it.
As you know, this summer has been stupid-crazy-busy and I had planned to use my vacation week to knock this title out. But know I have a cold and my brain is addled from all the cold medicine I'm taking. Help me out here, friends! Leave a comment on this blog with your suggestion for title and subtitle. I'm not guaranteeing that we will chose from your suggestions but if we use your title and/or subtitle WE WILL SHOWER YOU WITH MVFF GOODNESS!
The winner(s) will receive one of our brand spanking new MVFF tote bags, (which you haven't seen because I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of them yet), a MVFF logo hat and t-shirt, a set of our photo postcards AND six skeins of our 100% Cormo yarn in your choice of weight and color. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.
You will also win an advance, autographed first edition copy of the book and a thank you in the book.
So, put your hand knit thinking caps on and let us hear your ideas.
Now for contest number two. To celebrate the publication of the book, Chelsea Green and MV Fiber Farm will be publishing an exclusive pattern. And that pattern could be yours! Would-be pattern designers (or pros for that matter) can submit as many original patterns as you like between now and October 31st. All patterns must include a photograph of the finished objected and must be completely original. Patterns can be for sweaters, scarves, hats, toy, whatever. Go crazy! Let your imagination run wild!
We will narrow the submitted entries down to five and let ya'll vote on the winner. I'll post more details here as things developed. Email me any questions at susangibbs1 [at] mac [dot] com.
XO,
Susan
55 comments:
Of course, it would help to know what the book is ABOUT... (grin)
Congratulations!
Let's see ...
-Flocking to Martha's Vineyard: It's Not Just for Tourists Anymore
-Sheep on the Internet: How a Shepherd and Her Flock Found Their Virtual Home
-Community Supported Flock: How the Internet and the Knitting Community Raised Sheep and Goats
-It Takes a Virtual Community to Raise a Flock: One Shepherd's Adventure on the Internet
-Fleece to Ferry: Martha's Vineyard Wool Takes over the World
-Fleecing the Tourists: Raising Sheep and Goats on Martha's Vineyard
-Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm: Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back to the Island
-Angora and Cormo: The Faces of a Dream
-Where's My Internet Connection? The Trials and Tribulations of a Modern Day Shepherd
-Fleeced! Raising a Flock on Martha's Vineyard
-Do Your Sheep Have a Ferry Reservation?
(And yes, of course, some of these are MEANT to be ridiculously silly!)
(Okay, maybe a little TOO silly?)
Oh--and I WANT a copy of this book to review over at (Knitting Scholar!! I insist!
Holy cow! (or should that be Holy goat?)
Great news!
Thinking cap is on.....
That's wonderful, congratulations, Susan and Patrick!
Susan, I have enough to do without designing patterns, dangit! I'm guessing it will help if they're designed with your yarn in mind? Or does that matter?
Communal Critters: The country's first fiber CSA.
Yup, I'll stick to the knitting in future...
—A Vineyard Yarn
—Rosemary, Truman, and Ike: Tales of Shepherding
—A Vineyard Farm: True Tales of An Unlikely Shepherd
—Island Tails
—Island Shepherd
That's great news!!! I hope your book has lots of pictures.
-Sharing the Sheep on Martha's Vineyard
Congratulations!!!
Outstanding news!
think think think think think think
This is such exciting news!!! I totally want a crack at the pattern, but I broke my fool hand on vacation this week! I think I might have enough time once it has healed, though, so designing I will go! Or at least attempting I will go!
Good lord, I thought you were gonna say you were pregnant, though! ;)
I miss you guys, I have to try to come down again.
Deb's are great, but here are a couple more:
Shear Adventures: It Takes a Community to Support Agriculture
(or the subtitle could be It Takes a Virtual Community to Support Agriculture)
Share Adventures: Community-Supported Fiber Farming
Maybe I'll think of more while I'm working out...
Yay for you! That is just fabulous news.
How about:
Sweet and Spicy: a modern day wool tale
Out of the Woolworks: the world's first fiber CSA
Surrounded by Fleece
Fleeced: my life as a shepherdess
mmmmmmm.....have to think some more....must win cormo (and book).
Sending virtual boosts of energy to keep you going.
duh! Sorry about that, just realized Fleeced was already taken....but it's a new subtitle, does that count?
Shear Madness: One woman's path from yarn to flock.
Or I suppose it could be: One couple's path from yarn to flock (sorry, Patrick, for leaving you out at first)
And, you know, after I climbed into bed last night it occurred to me that I DO have a pattern I could write up. A pair of socks that I think you're familiar with!
A couple more title ideas (because this is fun!):
-Shear Fun: Raising Sheep and Goats in the Middle of a Crowd of Tourists
-Sheep by the Beach: The Story of the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm
-Fiber Fantasy: Living My Dream of Raising a Flock
-Vineyard Heaven: Why Martha's Vineyard is the Perfect Place to Raise Sheep and Goats
(Hmm, I think the first batch were better--apparently I'm more creative when I'm half asleep. And, really, some of the subtitles would probably be better with other titles, but I think you said you were going to mix and match anyway!)
Another thought--on the patterns, perhaps it would be best to judge them blindly; that is, no names or faces attached. We all have friends out here, and it wouldn't be any good to feel you have to vote for your friend even though they have a crap pattern, or some other sticky situation. Just an idea...
Wow! I can't wait to get a copy of your book! Congratulations!
How about "Woolsome Goods: Tales From a Shared Sheep Community"
How about:
Wooly Headed: How I traded the city for the world's first CSA fiber farm.
Spinning a Tail
That's the only one I can think of right now.
Congrats Susan and Patrick! I can't wait to see the book. I know it will be a success! I wish I could be creative with a title, but I think you have some good stuff in the comments you already have. I can't compete. :(
I'll have to work on designing that pattern now!Oh, and I miss you guys!
Sort of thinking out loud here...
Shear Lunacy: Shepherding the First Fiber CSA
Yarn on the Hoof
From Follicle to Fiber
From Broadway to Bo Peep
I don't have a title or a pattern, just wanted to say CONGRATS! That's wonderful news, and I'm already adding the as-yet-untitled MVFF tome to my "To Read" list : )
My husband and I came up with two titles for you:
Little Lambs Eat Ivy: What I didn't know about shepherding.
Buck Fifty: How I made my fiber farm work.
:) Congratulations!
I'm bad at the titles. The best I could come up with was
Sheep on the Shore:Tales from the Fiber Farm - except I think it sounds too much like the Sheep in a Jeep series of kids books (which, BTW, are adorable!)
So, I will turn my mind to a pattern or two, and that of course will require a visit to your store, as I'm currently out of your yarn! A situation we will have to rectify!
I'm thinking about making it easy for people to find your book on Amazon. I'm always sortof remembering part of a title and having the darndest time trying to find it with just a word or two in my head. So I recommend you include MVFF in your title somewhere. How about this:
Island Shepherd: Days and Nights at the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm
Take care!
How about:
Sheep to Shore : Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm and America's First Fiber CSA
Kelley
deleted and re-posted to fix a spelling error
Sheep and Goats at home on the Beach : Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm and America's First Fiber CSA
or
Happy sheep and goats roam on the beach: Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm and America's First Fiber CSA
This sounds like a lot of the other comments but I love the picture of the goats and the beach in the background!
The follow-up book should be about West chop and his adventures.
Congrats!
Tails of Yarn: Fiber Feasts for the Senses
Some really corny: Martha's Vine Yarn
Tending the Flock; Living a Life of Creativity and Purpose
Congrats! I look forward to reading the book when it's available. I didn't have any good title ideas, but tonight while making dinner, this came to me:
"What I Herd in My Heart: A Shepherdess Following Her Dream."
or something like that. I like the "Herd in My Heart" part best.
Anyway, best of luck to you two as always. Looking forward to seeing you in September!
Kate B.
-- Two Shakes of a Lamb's Tail: The Rapid Success of the First Fiber CSA
Congrats on the Book Deal and all you've achieved!
zoe
Huge congrats! I just read that book a month or two ago....loved it! Being a native vermonter i so would love to have a small farm, how the heck did i marry such a city boy??!
I have never tried to write a pattern but have a small idea, may have to try it.
Of course "Holy Sheep, adventures on an atlantic island fiber farm" comes to mind.
or "freaky Fiber" or "fiber freaks" "roaming fiber" "grazing fiber" dorky i know, but i can't wait (for you and us!!) and do also hope the book has lots of pics!
What the Sheep Don't Know:
Their Farm Is a Community-Supported First
From Cyber to Fiber:
Internet Lifecycle of the First CSA (Community-Supported) Fiber Farm
High fiber on Martha's Vineyard:
Modern-Day Shepherds Count Sheep and Shareholders
Holy Cow! (I mean Sheep! I mean Goat!)
That is awesome!
JC said Spinning a Tail - what about Spinning a Tale - the first flock of Martha's Vineyard
or
The Life and Times of a Shepherd in the Modern World
or
Salty Sheepies, the Martha's Vineyard Tale
or
How to succeed in shepherding without really trying (NOT)
(that's a take off on an old title, How to succeed in business...)
Panic on the Vineyard
or
The Sheep have escaped again
or
Bad Goats!
or
oh my gosh I could go on and on
and yes, I might have three patterns, one I just started writing for a lion stuffed animal..maybe...
Sheep on the Beach
along with a photo of the sheep with the sand and water behind them like the photo that you have on the far left of the web site
From Shear to Shore: The story of Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farms, The Country's First FIber CSA
The Ferry, The Flock, The Friends and The Fun: Starting America's First Fiber CSA on Marth'a Vineyard
Flocking to a Good Idea: How the First Fiber CSA became a reality
Congrats and I look forward to the book.
Here's mine...Sand, Sun & Sheep...fiber amongst the dunes.
Susan,
Am really excited for you! After looking at Chelsea Green's website and reading their book guidelines, titles of other books they have published, and reading your archived blog about the day you collapsed in the tub still wearing your bra and panties, with the subsequent discovery of your "fan" club, I really think your title ought to say something about involving others in your project. Here's some suggestions - my favorite is the one about the shepherd's crook -
Engaging People in Shepherding -
A new twist on Community Supported Agriculture
Widening the Reach of the Shepherd’s Crook –
“Tails” from the First CSA Fiber Farm
Shepherding –
Knitting a new Fiber Farm Approach with CSA
“Tails” from the First CSA Fiber Farm
Knitting together a community of support
A Day in the Life of the First CSA Shepherd
Blogging to Worming
(don't know if you could do an A - Z thing - but having read your blog over the past months, you definitley have a lot of variety in your activities)
Hope your cold has relented and you are feeling better.
Valerie
OMG! The entries are so good!
Here are two I came up with in the shower and one is eerily similar to another one that someone came up with.
From Sheep to Shore: The Story of Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm and More
From Sheep to Skein
Here is another one.
From High Hair to Mohair: How I went from TV Reporter to Goat Sorter
Of course, you can only appreciate the High Hair if you are from TX.
Dawn, TX
Dawn,
Do you think Susan is old enough to really appreciate the High Hair part? :o) As a native Texan now displaced to Missouri, I think I know what you mean. Growing up in Texas in the 60s I managed to miss out on what I would call "High Hair" if for no other reason than mine is so fine and fairly thin that it wouldn't work for me. Or maybe it's "Big Hair" and you mean something else by "High Hair"?
Valerie, Texas, now MO
ouch, my head hurts too much to think straight but there are some really good ideas here so i am not worried! and i have no patterns either...but sounds covered there too! congratulations!
puddleduck
How about "Counting Sheep on Martha's Vineyard- the country's first fiber CSA" (or just Counting Sheep- the country's first fiber CSA)
here is mine:
Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm: from corporate america to sheep farmer
Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm:
Feeding That Other Addiction
Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm:
All wool, no whine
Hey - I received a shopping bag with your logo on it awhile back. Got it as part of a yarn swap - I use it all the time!
Congrats on your book!
How about:
From CBS to CSA - A Journalist's Journey to Shepherding.
Hope the cold is improving. It happens when it is least convenient.
Hmmmm....not creative enough to think of a title. Subtitle could be From The Other Martha (Vineyard, Of Course).....Congrats and good luck!
Just one more ounce, please : The exctasy of spinning and knitting are beckoning.
From the sheep to the needles: the transformtion & journey that the fleece undergo
So much fleece so little time.
Nothing like Firber Goodness to warm the heart of knitters and spinners.
SheepWise - How to lose your mind and find your heart with sheep.
or words to that effect (Big Fat Grin)
love,
jordi
Sheep in the Vineyard: A Shepherd's Tale
Congratulations!
Here's my idea:
Farm 2.0 -
A flock, 2 shepherds and an internet community that revolutionized the small farm.
It is a book about how you got to where you are? It seems like it started with an idea and grew to something that involved others to help you help them? (shares, etc)
Sheep, Share, Shear: The 3 S's of Fiber Farming (preferably, subtitles are so lengthy but I guess you need them if it's this kind of book?)
Maybe you could write your take on it all as a children's book? How fun would that be with illustrations, etc? It could still tell the story, but in a more fun way.
Here's a few more ideas to throw into the mix:
-Sheep Sharing
-A Yarn to Share
-Yarn Farmer
-Wool on the Web
-Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm (simple, but sweet!)
I guess it depends on where you want your book's emphasis to be: your own personal path, life on the farm, the intersection of the internet and agriculture ...
Herd Mentality: Gathering a Flock of Supporters to Help Shepherd Our Dream.
(you've had to think at least as much about gathering your Online Herd of supporters as you do about caring for your Offline Herd of fiber-makers!)
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