( Up-dated 12/14/09 )

.... AND THE WINNER IS. . .

Facebook killed E-Mail and Work in Progress?

 Pictorial Webster's Trade Edition in Stores Now!
Patti Quill, marketing director of Pictorial Webster's at Chronicle asked me to come up with three numbers between one and 4,000. (There were about as many entries in the contest as there are engravings in the book!) First I did a google search of "Pictorial Webster's" and got 3,900 something and then I looked up what entry in the book is closest to "Winner" (It is the Winkle) and the corresponding number in the book is 2000 something and then I added up the numeric equivalents to "Pictorial Webster's" taken from the "Quercus Press" alphabet as printed on the deluxe cover 41? (I don't recall the numbers exactly, they are posted on a Facebook post, see article about facebook above) and sent these three numbers into Chronicle. They then used some formula to crunch them and got a number that corresponded to an entry put in by a librarian from Chicago! Isn't it nice to think the book was won by a librarian! I hope you all enjoyed participating. There are still copies of the book to buy if you want to set your pennies aside!

Yes, folks I have been seduced by that Devil Facebook and now seem to use it almost exclusively for disseminating the latest ongoings of Quercus Press (which has all been Pictorial Webster's lately), I fear that my friends who at one time would send me e-mails find all of their need to reach out to their fellow humans fulfilled by Facebooking. I am not a fan of this new reality, though anyone who sees my activities on that realm knows that I, too, can spend hours following the threads of scintillating posts. That said, if you find the glacial pace of updates to this page unfulfilling, you should become a fan of Pictorial Webster's on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pictorial-Websters-A-Visual-Dictionary-of-Curiosities/103709476306?ref=nf

If you haven't yet done so, please go see if your local bookstore has a copy of my book. I heard from a friend that a local stationary store owner said he has never had eight copies of a book sell so quickly! I link to Chronicle Books on the sales page for the book and on the index page of the website

There are also wall cards that are fun to explore with your children if you have children in the four to six range! There are also rubber stamps. . . I have been threatening to go back to my old haunt, Papersource, and do a stamping demonstration with the little cuts as I did in the old days.

I have so much to say on the wonderful process it has been working with the folks at Chronicle. It looks as if the articles I wrote for the online magazines Bonefolder and Ampersand will not be published until some future date - but those will contain much information for those who want more on the process of making the trade edition.

The Children's Corner - . Okay, the children's corner is stuck in a time warp - to see the old pictures go here: :more>more To see Newer pictures go here: this is my new Mac site. . . . poor work in progress online. Will there ever be another print version?

http://podictionary.com/ April 15, 2008 entry.
Johnny on NPR!? And why isn't this on the top of the page? Well, sorry it's now old news. Hopefully the Here and Now episode is still cached on this page. Look halfway down on the left.
Johnny on Martha Stewart Radio!? ..... .Yes, it's true. On Nov. 30 at 8:14 am I was live on the Martha Stewart morning radio show talking about "How Martha" I'd been over thanksgiving (I failed to mention that I stayed up too late the night before watercoloring the little book I'd brought in to show them . . .how do these people who call in with their ten activities down find the time to do their crafts? with kids?) and trying to explain how to use the Pictorial Webster's rubber stamp sets to the best advantage. It was unnerving as I was ushered into the booth while the show was in progress and I was put in front of the mike but I'd left my visuals on the other side of the room. Visuals for a Radio Show you ask? Well, they would have helped me talk about what I'd done and keep me focussed. At one point I must have looked at the hosts like a deer caught in the headlights and I had this sensation of "radio silence - I'm alone at the microphone. . ." they said "you are still on the new jersey turnpike, aren't you?" No, it was not my most stellar performance. . . . but hopefully I've learned my lessons for next time. . . if there is a next time? Anyone want to give me a shot?
E-mail me with comments: Editor.