Loach Book Party

[Mark in Vancouver]

There's some cruel irony in the fact that my books never showed up... Still, I've got my advance copy. But after all that fuss from Jim!! Four years of begging people to be patient!

Alas, it'll be Monday, no doubt.

[Jim Powers]

You're kidding!!!
That's too bad.
But as you said, at least you have your advance copy.

[barbara]

There's some cruel irony in the fact that my books never showed up... Still, I've got my advance copy. But after all that fuss from Jim!! Four years of begging people to be patient!

Alas, it'll be Monday, no doubt.

has martin gotten his? i'm guessing it has to do with customs...not the content in THIS case. : )

mine only arrived one week ago tomorrow...and i'm REALLY close to NJ if that's where they shipped from.

[Jim Powers]

Martin got his yesterday.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Patience is a virtue.

[Jim Powers]

Hmmm. I believe someone mentioned something about patience to me a time or two.

[barbara]

Martin got his yesterday.

and he's in toronto...monday at the earliest for mark then. : ) sheesh this is addicting. every time i walk towards the door i hear a message has come in...and back to the computer. and another....THIS is why i don't drop in...nothing else can get done! and, actually, i've had no spare time lately...well, okay, i admit i do knit but that's where there's no electricity...ooops WASN'T any....now for the internet up there.

[barbara]

Patience is a virtue.

usually.

[Botia Robert]

Hello all! My book has been ordered for a about a month. Not sure when it will get to Oz but it must be close. Congrats to all the contributors. Im still excited there is a web site, forum and now a book devoted to Loaches.

[Keith Wolcott]

Congratulations everyone on what I am sure is a really great book! Mine should arrive soon and I'll get to see it firsthand. It is quite an accomplishment for all of you to have worked together so effectively to produce the book. I am sure that it will have an impact on improving the quality of loach care worldwide. You should all be very proud.

[shari2]

Doing the book with was a great privilege. Thanks to all of you for letting me in on things late. It couldn't have come at a better time in my life, truly. I needed something positive to focus on waaaaay back then.

I'm running out to get Chinese for dinner. I'll be back in a bit.

[Mark in Vancouver]

We got used to waiting for this book. Last year at about this time, the new (replacement) editor at TFH announced that it would be going into production in the spring. Our hopes were up! Then it just seemed like ages before Martin and I got to see the first pages. That's the term for the first set of proofs.

They were very preliminary:



And at the eleventh hour, HH (I think it was HH) revealed a complete change to the taxonomy of some species...



Which called for a very close examination of the text. Meanwhile, Martin and I had provided a web site full of hundreds of photos we were hoping to include in the book. We wrote captions for every one and suggested placements for them.

We spent hours on the phone, going over the pros and cons of each, suggesting replacements, checking IDs. In the end TFH used about 20% of the images, and none of the text.

But as authors we could only have so much input into the book, so we had to settle for what we ended up with - which is very good, I think. Just not 100% perfect as we had in mind. Nevertheless, it's the first book of its kind.

[grizzlyone]

Congrats to everyone. Just got home and voila! there was a package from Amazon.

I'm opening the book as we speak and look forward to getting my greasy hands on it

Kevin

[barbara]

We got used to waiting for this book. Last year at about this time, the new (replacement) editor at TFH announced that it would be going into production in the spring. Our hopes were up! Then it just seemed like ages before Martin and I got to see the first pages. That's the term for the first set of proofs.

They were very preliminary:



And at the eleventh hour, HH (I think it was HH) revealed a complete change to the taxonomy of some species...



Which called for a very close examination of the text. Meanwhile, Martin and I had provided a web site full of hundreds of photos we were hoping to include in the book. We wrote captions for every one and suggested placements for them.

We spent hours on the phone, going over the pros and cons of each, suggesting replacements, checking IDs. In the end TFH used about 20% of the images, and none of the text.

But as authors we could only have so much input into the book, so we had to settle for what we ended up with - which is very good, I think. Just not 100% perfect as we had in mind. Nevertheless, it's the first book of its kind.

those images are great: they really give life to the editing process...no matter how many times we read it seems there's always another thing not seen. i do love those you show though as they are so blatant! hey, i really have to go...party on. it's been great being here briefly and hope to be around more soon!

[Jim Powers]

I have to admit that when Mark first came up with the idea for this book about 4 years ago, I was a skeptic. I got on board, but I never really believed we could pull this off....at least at first.
But, everyone seemed to work together well doing what we did and here we are.
Mark and Martin put a lot of extra effort into this book and I would like to thank them for that. In addition, Shari, Robin, Barbara and Mike all did a wonderful job on their respective contributions. I give you my sincere thanks too.
And all you numerous photo contributors....WELL DONE!!
This was such a team effort. All involved should pat themselves on the back.