Thursday, January 17, 2013

Steeped in Tea & Friendship


Digital technology has opened up the world. We are able to send instant messages, share photos, and post on personal websites and blogs. Friendships are formed and creativity enhanced. It has also provided many with opportunities to publish. Several of my friends have written their own books. Clarice from Storybook Woods has written a delightful book called "Wren Bay". You might remember one of my blog posts where I reviewed her book. Wren Bay, the story of making a home, portrays charm, creativity, and warmth. It is skillfully mixed with grace and elegance, with a true mix of practicality, economy, and the careful use of natural resources.  Another friend, Marilyn from Delights of the Heart also authored a book. It's called "Tea Party in Your Cupboard" and is filled with ideas for creating impromptu tea parties with products generally found in your cupboard. She includes recipes from her own kitchen.


Clarice and Marilyn inspired me to give it a try! Step one is finding a publishing company online. There are several reliable companies that provide this service. Check out amazon.com, lulu.com, and blurb.com as a start. They offer simple instructions about writing, layout, color, and publishing.


My book is a simple "coffee table" book, although I should be calling it a "tea table" book instead! 


Since my book is simple, I wrote it in a way similar to writing a short story, article, or blog post. My main intent was to find a way to use some of my favorite tea themed photos. Therefore, my book was about tea and I called it "Steeped in Tea & Friendship". It was not only a labor of love, but labor intense as well. That surprised me, as I thought something as simple as my little book wouldn't take much time. I wrote about tea themes and included some of my favorite tea quotes. I enjoyed sitting for an hour or two at my computer each evening and adding to "my book". 


I enjoyed choosing photos and prose for each set of pages. Each pair was laid out by theme like an Asian tea, royal wedding, tea and sewing at a friend's house, or family tea times at the cabin.


Although I only published ten copies which I gave to family and friends for Christmas, I now feel like I have had an interesting peek into the world of self-publishing. It was a fun creative process! I treasure my copy and keep in on my "tea table" to enjoy during quiet moments of the day.

Other blogging friends collaborated together to share their favorite recipes and with the help of a publishing company. They've written a wonderful cookbook called Mennonite Girls Can Cook. Volume Two will be coming out soon. 

If you have some time to share, you might enjoy publishing a book too. Are you a blogger? Have you considered writing a book or publishing your blog? Please share!

11 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing this information. I have been encouraged by friends to publish a book. Now I can see it is a possibility.

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  2. How delightful! If you ever publish more of this book, I'd certainly love to know about it!

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  3. Congratulations on your book. What a beautiful gift from your heart to your dear ones. I have a book in my head! It will be written for my children snd grandchildren. I have the title. - that's a start. You have encouraged me to begin to write, my friend.
    ~Adrienne~

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  4. How fun is that?! It looks really beautiful. Congrats on putting the time in to be able to hold something in your hands and share...

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  5. Thanks for mentioning my book. It was a dream come true to do that book and I would love to do more. I have just recently realized I should probably print my blog too, but need to research more. Thanks for sharing this beautiful book with us today. It is lovely and definitely looks like a tea table book for sure.

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  6. LaDonna how lucky of them to receive such a personal book from you. I'd like to give it a try myself and so grateful you gave the info the get started.

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  7. How exciting for you, LaDonna! I want to have my blog put into book form after I celebrate my one year blogging anniversary. Not for resale, of course, but for my family members since they are a big part of my blog. It'll be my legacy. ;-) I haven't done any research on the project though so I may be contacting you, along with others who read your blog entry today! ;-)

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  8. Oh yes, I've done it too. I'm on my third book now of all my posts on my blog. I have to do a next issue after each year. I guess I talk/write a lot. I'm using sharedbooks.com, and am very happy with my soft bound brag books that I can carry around with me. I love Mennonite Girls Can Cook, and have used many of their recipes successfully & deliciously.
    Val

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  9. Honestly, LaDonna, I think that's GREAT. You know, I've thought of doing a decorating book. Would love even to make it lucrative somehow but don't know if there would be an audience who would buy it.

    My kids bought me a book that contained the first six months of my blog. I LOVED it. For Christmas, they got me the second six months! I've been blogging for three years now so I don't know how they are going to catch up. ha

    I'm really happy you did that book, though. That's SUPER! Take care, Susan

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  10. Wow LaDonna! I'm impressed. I can imagine that a lot of work went into it. What a wonderful gift to give though. How delightful it would be to receive such a labor of love. Fantastic! Best wishes, Tammy

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Thank you for commenting on my blog post. I am always happy to hear from blog readers. Your words encourage and inspire me. I am glad you stopped by to share conversation, recipes, ideas, and thoughts on creating a welcoming home.