The new year is a time to look ahead and make decisions as well as resolutions.

I met this morning with researcher Dick Smith and publisher Bob Serra, and we decided to continue courting a major university press to publish Crossings, McCullough’s Coastal Bridges in its third printing. We edited the letter again and again and added two attachments where we delineated factchecking procedures and included glowing endorsements. Then sent it off.  We’re not just shooting in the dark; there is an interested party on the other end. Wish us luck!

Dick and I have done well in selling nearly 1,200 books since April 1, but to get to the next level, we’ll need help. If the university press doesn’t work out for the third printing, we’ll do it on our own. And we’ll get on Amazon and also go with a regional distributor.

While we play the waiting game regarding the third printing, there are still approximately 300 books left to sell from our second printing. So I will continue covering the coast and Eugene. I arrived back on New Year’s Eve from my two weeks of Christmas travels to see family in Bakersfield, California, and friends in Phoenix, Arizona. Then I spent a few days taking down my Christmas tree, packing up all the ornaments and decorations, putting the living room back in its normal configuration, and in general cleaning, sorting, and gearing up for the coming year.

After the meeting today, I’m back in the saddle. I got on the phone, and tomorrow will head south with stops in Winchester Bay, Coos Bay, and Bandon to deliver books and check out a couple of new venues. Then on Monday and Tuesday, I’ll hit the phones again and head north on Wednesday to deliver books and check out a few new venues as far north as Lincoln City. I’ll probably do the same with Eugene the following week, and in between, I’ll cover some of the many places in Florence that sell the book.

Dick is gradually turning over his contacts to me, since I will be the one in charge of sales from now on and receive commissions for my efforts.  So I resolve to try really hard to not let Bob and Dick down and to get to the next milestone where I’ll be paid––750 books of the second printing sold with the money in the bank. We are now at 676 plus about 30 more invoiced with money due. I’ll sell more tomorrow when I head south and next Wednesday when I head north––at least that’s the plan. Shouldn’t be long before I reach 750.

All three of us were thrilled to have Crossings nominated for three different book awards—at the national level, regional level, and at the Oregon level. We didn’t make it on the first two and the Oregon Book Awards will be announced this coming Monday, January 9. Wish us luck! I think it’s a long shot, however, because there are a lot of good books in the same non-fiction category.

If this year turns out to be only half as exciting as 2011, it will be another incredible ride. And I’ll be here every Friday to keep you posted along the way. Cheers and Happy New Year!

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Crossings: McCullough’s Coastal Bridges can be yours for $24.95 plus $3.99 shipping. Order from Pacific Publishing at http://www.connectflorence.com or pacpub@oregonfast.net. It is also available on the coast in bookstores, museums, and gift shops; in Eugene at the airport, the historical museum, and several bookstores; and in Portland at Powell’s and the Oregon Historical Society.

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Judy’s PowerPoint presentation with book sales/signing:

February 19, Sunday, 3 p.m.––Port Orford Library, Port Orford (1421 Oregon Street [Hwy 101])

Judy guest on TV show:

March 13, Tuesday, 2:30––The Author’s Forum, a talk show with host Dr. Veronica Esagui, chiropractic physician, author, and public speaker, on Portland area public access television (channel TBA)