Wet Pets and Other Watery Tales

The Book:

HOW IT CAME ABOUT

The idea:

Upon her retirement from Florida to Maine, Hazel Weidman began to volunteer at the Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League shelter. First, walking dogs; then participating in fund-raisers; then becoming involved in the Fund Raising Committee; and finally serving on the Board of Directors.

During this time she became disenchanted with labor-intensive bake sales, yard sales, raffles, fund-raising dinners, obedience-training sessions, dog-walks, and the like. It was gratifying to see a small band of loyal volunteers working hard together to bring money to the shelter. It was the size of those sums that bothered her -- so much work; so little payoff; and nowhere a steady stream of income to help from day to day.

Hazel decided that she would rather give her time and attention to one major effort: a project designed to bring a steady stream of money, over time, to the shelter. She decided to compile a book of short stories contributed by animal lovers wherever they could be found. But she was not prepared to do this entirely alone.

Hazel and Jackie Teare, a Board member and an experienced journalist living in Rockport, had worked together on many short-lived projects, so Hazel enlisted her, and the book project was launched.

It was approved by the CRARL Board, but the book project did not take form until after one of the Maine Boats & Harbors magazine "Goin' to the Dogs Regattas" in Camden Harbor, to benefit the shelter. That event crystallized their thinking, and they began soliciting pet-owner stories about their animals and water.

Estimated time to produce a book:

The two had no idea how long it would take to do a book. Hazel's prior experience with publishing had been in academia. It included articles, chapters in books, and voluminous research reports, but no books in their own right. Jackie, too, had published widely as a journalist with the Associated Press and as a feature writer on many diverse subjects. The novice book publishers expected the stories would quickly accumulate, that editing them would be a snap, and that publication by a Maine firm would be a sure thing.

They were so wrong! It took many months just to get the word out. Announcements were included in Maine Boats & Harbors magazine, Working Waterfront newspaper of the Island Institute, the Free Press, the Rockland Courier-Gazette, the Camden Herald, on bulletin boards at the Camden Yacht Club and the Rockport Boat Club, in a variety of newsletters, and in every public place they could think to place them. There were a few very welcome, quick responses, but after that the stories trickled in over a very long period of time.

Some were written by previously published authors; some by people with a lot of writing in their backgrounds. Still others came from people with more moderate writing experience but a real desire to participate in the project and tell their pets' stories. All reflected great love for the pets described, and each one was welcomed. But it took a long time for them to be collected, edited, approved, and released to the editors for the compilation that would become Wet Pets and Other Watery Tales.

From the time the first stories were received until the manuscript finally went to press, five years had elapsed. There were many fallow periods, many unexpected hurdles to overcome, many totally unanticipated, delaying events, but with great patience and cooperation on the part of the authors and determined perseverance on the part of the editors, somehow it happened. Talk about a labor-intensive fundraiser! Few could match this one, but the hope is that over the long term, it will provide the trickle or stream of income for the shelter that has been the goal from the start.

Why self publish?

Many queries went out to commercial publishers about the book. The manuscript was accepted for review by several, but months went by before answers came from each one. There were both disappointing and encouraging responses. However, for even the one most interested there would have been at least a year's delay before publication could have been considered. It had taken far longer than anticipated to complete the manuscript; so the editors plunged into learning about self-publishing.

That clearly became the route to take in order to reach print sooner and to begin, sooner, to channel proceeds to CRARL. The web site www.trafford.com reveals the basis for the editors' choice of this company to print the book and to help advertise it nationally.

Advice to others:

Substantial costs are involved in preparing a manuscript of collected stories for publication. Even more money is required for self-publishing. Therefore, the editors would advise other non-profits considering such a project to look for grants to fund the project from the beginning.

The bottom line:

This book took more time, energy and money than anticipated five years ago. But it's been worth the effort, and now the benefits can begin accruing to the animals at the shelter.