I'd written the story.  I'd become one with Slobbers.  We named the book "Slobbers and Slime". Kids would love it I was told. Good.  Great title. Now we had to get it published.  I agonized for a couple of days about which way to go and finally decided on the small group in Missoula. I felt I could talk to them.  I really wanted to learn about this process.

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of ways to go, piecemeal or the whole package.  I opted for the whole package with one exception.  A friend, who was an editor, volunteered to edit the Story.  She was my first real supporter, the one who encouraged me to write the story and gave me direction through out the process. I had great confidence in her. I knew she liked it and I needed the morale boost that gave me.

I was totally paranoid about the story.  Several friends had read it along with a few people I did not know personally.  I was told by all it was good.  Some read it to their kids.  The kids liked it.  That was a huge plus since it's a kids book. Yet I still wasn't sure. I don't know if other writers are like this but I was terrified of letting it out of my hands. Maybe it was because I was so new to what I was trying to do.

Never the less I moved Forward.  I loved the suggestions that were made.  They all made sense and  I readily incorporated them into the story. I discovered my weaknesses and was learning a lot. 

While all this was going on, I was told approximately how many illustrations would be needed so I faced another challenge. How to do it.  I had been using an online program and was just learning the ins and outs of it. There was and still is so much to learn but I dug in and got started. 

Finally the time came to choose the illustrations. My project manager  and I got together with our computers over a wonderful lunch overlooking a golf course in Missoula.  You don't get that from the big guys.

Next post - putting it all together.