Slow Boat from China

Hi friends,

First and foremost, thank you for believing in "A Knock at the Door!" There is much love and magic packed into that film and so far, judging from two years worth of letters, it has touched so many of you and brought a new hope to your lives. It has been posted to our site free of charge for two years in order to REMIND YOU THAT YOU ARE THE MAGIC YOU'VE BEEN MISSING. YOU ARE THE SECRET KEY TO OPENING THE DOOR OF POSSIBILITY. Thank you to all of you who've written to me your thoughts and musings on the film, as your letters remind me of my own magic when I have stumbled off the path.

I write this letter to tell you the story of publishing "A Knock at the Door" in book/cd format. We have joyfully and painfully experienced every kind of delay in the production process. It's like being pregnant and given a due date of September only to find out there are complications and the baby won't arrive until October. No, November. The anticipation is killing us. (But no blood and guts, only great anticipation and a huge desire to release the life into the world!)

We used a service in New York City who is reputable and professional. They print in China and actually published our Duirwaigh catalog which came out beautifully and in a very timely manner (about 120 days from start to finish). We anticipated a similar process this time around and were given a delivery date of September 11, 2006. Unfortunately, that date did not include a grace period for proofing mishaps.

The first color proofs sent to us were not accurate. Everything that should appear red was pink and the blues were lavendar/purple. So we had to assist in the color corrections and send them back which tacked two weeks to the process. The second set of proofs weren't much better, so we assisted once again which added another two weeks. The third set was much better and we approved them. (Have I mentioned that every time the proofs were not acceptible, we were charged 200.00 for new ones? Funny how that works...) But then came the issues with the DVD. When we received the master proof, we noticed that the credits scrolled too quickly and the framed around the film seemed 'jumpy' which resulted in a reprogramming of the DVD especially for television. I won't bother to go into the additional costs of this process, nor the time involved to get it right.  What I will say is that in the end, the original delivery date quoted to us as September 11, 2006 bumped to October 1, 2006 and then again to November 10, 2006.

As of today, all the books have been printed and bound. The DVDs are being inserted manually into the back of each book. When this process is finished, the books will be packaged for shipment and put on a boat from China to the USA, then on a truck to arrive at our door in Georgia.

They are telling us that the boat will leave October 11 from China. Keep your fingers crossed. This means we should have them by the end of October/Early November and we'll ship to you in time for Thanksgiving. Although it has been a frustrating series of set backs, I have to admit I like the symbolism of delivery on Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for, including your support for this home-grown project.

A few pieces of good news:

*The first edition is almost entirely sold out
*We have a Big Boy publisher who's expressed interest in reprinting the book
*A very well-known author has volunteered to write a forward for the book in the second printing

There's also a number of other projects brewing in regards to "A Knock at the Door", so stay tuned. You could play a role in helping us spread the magic. We'll keep you posted.

Brightly Woven,

Angi
President, Duirwaigh, Inc.

Comments

[Sveltewings]

I recieved the link for your "A Knock at the Door" in an email from my cousin and I am deeply moved by this site and what you have accomplished and will accomplish. This has come at a time in my life when I dearly needed reassurance and have found it. Please dont ever give up. I look forward to seeing what else you accomplish in times ahead

[Pachoulli Sands]

I just love visiting your site.

Pachoulli from Scotland. X

[Terese Carchidi]

Angi,

I agree with Liz, everything happens for a reason. I think Thanksgiving is a perfect time for this much anticipated publication. Thank you all for introducing it into my life - it makes me feel good from the inside out!!!

Always,
Terese

[Liz Nilsen]

Ahhhhh, Angi,

'Tis a publication well worth waiting for...don't be disturbed by the delay...everything happens for a reason!

Sincerely,
Liz Nilsen