Welcome to NY Publishing

I've survived my first two days at a New York publisher. I've been trying to absorb info like a giant sponge. I've been looking at spreadsheets of schedules, publishing plans, launch documents, book briefs, procedures, style guides, and more. I'm also trying to look through existing product and past marketing efforts as much as possible to get an idea of all of the existing product and its selling story. I've been meeting individually with editors, getting to hear their stories: their successes, their woes, their struggles, their bottlenecks, their goals. I don't have a lot of time to get up to speed as there are major deadlines looming, but I can't make assumptions too quickly either. Will be a week of careful reading and thinking...

Went to a NY deli for lunch today and was yelled at for not understanding that I needed to hand the guy the roll I wanted from the bin when I said I wanted a sandwich on a roll. Oops! The fun of being a new resident. I think he might have been related to the "Soup Nazi" from Seinfeld. "No soup for you!" Now I know.

Book Girl NY

Gateway to Hell: The New York DMV

So what smells like steamy body odor and mold, repeats a random series of letters and numbers in a sickly sweet voice every few seconds, requires slowly shuffling, head down in shame, in a snaking line, and then being verbally chastised and harassed before you pay $65? Ah, yes. The DMV. Make sure you have your soc security card, your old license, your passport, your birth certificate, and a mandatory document that will only be revealed while meeting with the DMV worker based on his or her whim of the moment. But...we got our NY licenses!

And Now We're in New York...

We made it! Not without frights but without injury! I will NEVER EVER EVER drive a Uhaul truck long distance again, ESPECIALLY towing a car. It was absolutely terrifying. The second to worst part was driving the Jersey turnpike in the rain, at night, with roads unmarked and narrow while semis whizzed past way over the speed limit. The very worst part was pulling into the hotel at the end of the journey and finding out as I rounded the bend that there was a 9 foot overhang and my truck was 11 feet tall! No, I didn't smack into the low clearance. But from 11pm to 1am I tried over and over again to back the truck and car carrier out of the hotel lot without hitting parked cars, the low clearance roof, the fence, and without jack-knifing the towed car. I wanted to get out of the truck and run screaming away, as over and over I was directed by first JP and then my new landlord, who happened to call during the torture and came to try to help. Thank heavens that a man who drives a tow truck for a living came by and said he could get the truck out of there. And he did! In about 3 minutes! Amazing! We were saved. Had to park it illegally in a Dunkin Donuts parking lot overnight and pray we didn't get towed. I heard trucks backing up at 6:30 so I went out to sit in it until JP woke up.

The moving helpers showed up a little late, which was fine, but they took 4 hours to unload the truck. Two really long days in a row!

Today we didn't do a lick of work all morning. We needed some odds and ends--a broom, garbage can, etc. Usually I'm off to Target for these kinds of things. But instead we went to a mom and pop hardware store. Felt like we went back in time. The people in the store were very helpful and friendly. Had to pay to park, though. Weird. Have to start carrying quarters with me wherever I go.

Unpacked a few more boxes tonight. It's coming along. I like the new place.

Looking forward to exploring more tomorrow.

Move Eve and My Stuffing Is Out

It is the eve of the journey north. I feel like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz after the flying monkeys have been terrorizing him. All my stuffin' is unstuffed! And the sad thing is, I mostly watched men loading my U-Haul. Of course, I'm sure I'm unstuffed more because of stress. But I do have some good news. For an extra $100, I ordered a car trailer instead of the tow dolly to tow JP's car, so all four wheels will be up, and I CAN BACK UP IF NEEDED. I had nightmares last night about being stuck on dead end streets, unable to go in reverse. So I splurged. Now, maybe I can get a good night's sleep tonight before the driving marathon tomorrow. The truck is packed to the gills. At the crack of 7 am we'll gobble some Krispy Kreme, and take off to get the car trailer. Hope to actually hit the highway by 9 am and arrive at destination by 9 pm. Wish us luck and travel mercies!

Book Girl NY
http://bookgirlny.blogspot.com

Trucker Mama Practices on Move Eve-Eve

Picked up the Uhaul today--a 17 footer. Let me first say, I drive a compact car that is only slightly larger than the human body. I had trouble even getting into this monstrous rig. As I grabbed the handle (yes, you need a handle to swing in like a monkey), I miscalculated my hip fling to the driver's seat. Ouch! Bruise time! As I started down the highway, I wished I had banners on the sides of the truck that said "Stay Away! Unpredictable Driver!" I managed to get the truck to my house, but I am even more nervous about the 12-hour journey with my car hanging off the back! Yes, they told me I cannot back up. So I must drive 600 miles without going in reverse. I hope I can do it! I finished packing boxes tonight at 7:30 pm. Moving helper men arrive at 9 am to load. Hope they can get all of my crap in within the two hours I paid for.
Good night,
Book Girl NY
http://bookgirlny.blogspot.com

June 11 and we are packing up!

So it is the Saturday before the big move, which occurs on June 14. My daughter, JP, and I are heading north to start a new life in NY.  We are both starting work in a publishing company: me as editor-in-chief, and she part-time as an assistant this summer before she goes back to college.

I have enough corrugated paper cuts that I look like I've been training tigers!

A Book Girl does not realize how many books she has until she has to pack all of them! I was able to part with one tote bag of miscellaneous textbooks that brought me $81 cash--not bad. But the prospect of selling any of my other precious "children" has me overwhelmed. So instead I'm packing, packing packing. Oh, and yeah, I'm packing some clothes and other stuff too. But mostly I realized that you can tell a lot about a person by the books on her bookshelf. Go look at yours. Tell me who you are based on your books. I realized I'm weird.
All for now
Book Girl NY