Off to the Editor

Today, the 44,000 words that comprise the 48 stories, author biographies, back story, etc. have gone to the editor.  That's a tremendous milestone for a project that was started late last autumn!

Thanks to all the volunteers and believers that have worked so hard to get us to this place!

If all goes well, we expect a celebration party to welcome the arrival of the published books in February.  If you are reading this and following the progress, you are invited!

Between now and then we still have to:

• Start and finish editing.
• Take the cover photo.  (I have a great idea for this!)
• Capture some additional photos of authors that will be listed with their bios.  That will be on the morning of October 1, the same day as the Niwot Rotary Club's Oktoberfest in downtown Niwot.
• Select the book designer.  (The Niwot Rotary Club's project committee will do this within the next month.)
• Design the book.
• Finalize the marketing plan and create some promotional materials.
• Select the printer.
• Send the book to the printer and do proof approvals.
• Visit the organizations that we expect will buy/sell the books
• Receive the books.
• Warehouse the books.
• Have the launch party.  

Then, we'll need to:

• Distribute/sell the books.
• Present the proceeds to BOHO and the Carriage House Community Table.

Through all of this there are roles for new volunteers.  If you would like to participate and make a difference for the homeless community in Boulder, please let us know.

Some GREAT News!

We just received some great news!  Sue Deans has offered to edit the book.

Sue, a member of the Rotary Club of Boulder, is currently a Visiting Professor of Journalism at Knox College.  She has held a long and impressive series of positions in journalism, particularly in Colorado.  Prior to teaching at Knox, Sue was Editor of the Daily Camera.  Before that she was Assistant Managing Editor of the Rocky Mountain News.  And before that, Sue was Editor and Vice President of The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C.  She started her career as a Reporter at the Daily Camera.

This project now has stories developed by a large and diverse group of writers -- from those that always wanted a chance to write, to some who are bestselling authors.  While that's a blessing and just what we hoped for with this project, it's also a challenge for an editor.  Sue is obviously up to the task.

We don't want to take away from the diversity of author styles and the wide diversity in the stories told by our homeless and intersection subjects.  Sue will allow that individualism to come through while providing the editing that such an experienced professional can offer.

Today, at the Boulder Rotary meeting, Sue explained that she is very excited to be part of this wonderful project.  We are thrilled to have her on board!

Elle has done an outstanding of recruiting writers, assigning stories to them, receiving early drafts, providing initial editing, and doing the needed follow-up!  We are so thankful for what she's done so far.  Her focus for this next phase will transition to working with Sue and being the principal point of contact for the book designer.  Yes, we're close to determining who we will use for that.  But, we need to get our Niwot Rotary committee of Scott, Eli and me together to make the final decision.  That should happen within the next couple of weeks when Scott returns from travel.

Nearly Finished with Subject Portraits

Yesterday, I met with Frank on the Pearl Street mall.  Frank has a long-lasting relationship with Tomas deMers, one of our writers.  So, Tom and Frank had earlier worked on his story and it was now time for me to catch-up with the requirement to get the photograph.  That's a different order than most of the other photographs and stories for this project.  For the others, the photo was first captured.  Then the story was written.

This is Frank's portrait.  Readers will really like Frank's story of resilience and recovery.  Tom did a terrific job!

On Wednesday afternoon, I am scheduled to photograph Ian Engle.  Ian is the Executive Director of the Center for People with Disabilities.  Tina Downey interviewed Ian and recently completed his story.  (Ian and I met a few weeks ago during a 15-mile Rotary bike ride.  He impressed me so much, in part because although I usually climbed hills faster than Ian, he crushed me on the downhill.  Ian's bike is much different than mine.  He uses a bike that you crank by hand since his legs are paralyzed.)

When Ian's portrait is completed, the total number of subjects for which we will have portraits comes to 50.  As it stands today, we have 48 stories completed for those subjects.  There are two portraits for one of the stories.  Thus, one story is outstanding but there are very special circumstances surrounding it.  We expect it within the week.

We have five photographs for which we will not have stories.  For various reasons, the time between the portrait and the beginning of the story resulted in our inability to get the interview -- the subject moved, we lost contact, whatever.  These images may or may not be included in the book.

We have completed 21writer portraits.  We anticipate getting the remainder of those writer portraits on one of two final writer days:

• The afternoon of September 18
• The morning of October 1

Keep posted.  More to come....