Since the last post, so much has happened! I thought to provide an ongoing series of posts, but who wants to see that? - when you can get all the info in one go!
Last year, our little-big book, The Promise, rolled off the press in Taiwan, but the dreaded bug (I dare not say the C-word!), held us up at every intersection. Held up at ports. Held up by lockdowns. Held up by our inability to launch due to restrictions on gatherings. In hindsight, it was a blessing - yes, it really was! - and gave us heaps of time to get properly prepared, to release our precious book out into the world.
On the 3rd of June, 2022, Richard, Kyoko and Hannah (author, illustrator, designer) attended the Craft and Co. Brewery in Melbourne for the 70th Australian Book Design Awards, due to The Promise being Shortlisted - yes, Shortlisted! - for Best Designed Children's Fiction Book, 2022, as one of only four books. We didn't get the big one - but what a ride. We now get to place a Shortlisted sticker on The Promise, so the entire world will know just how special it is.
Our next adventure was on the 18th of June, 2022, when Richard and Kyoko ran a workshop for seventeen "work-shoppers" at the Williamstown Literary Festival (WillyLitFest), on the concept of Project Publishing - a new form of publishing created by Little White Bird Press.
The following evening, on the 19th June, 2022, as the closing event of the WillyLitFest, The Promise was officially launched before a sell-out house of more than one hundred and fifty people. A song, interviews, reading, speeches, signings, artwork and more, invoked a cascade of sales, signings, and all the hype one could hope.
The Promise is an incredibly brave and aesthetically beautiful book, with an original fable and artwork. It is a story - allegory - that reveals the enduring power of a promise, and the wisdom of living a simple life, close to the earth.
You will find it for sale right here on the website. Or in galleries, bookshops, cafes and designer stores, such as Folk Home, Trentham; Blarney Books and Art, Port Fairy; and the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, and more.