Chow Book

ngraham · Post by **ngraham** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:48 pm

Too cool.... and I am in also. I also do web and graphic design... so it looks like there are plenty of us for that end of it.

I am so excited.

The Chow Chow's of ChowChow.org. LOL

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Wed May 24, 2006 4:58 pm

Judy, should we all just send stories to you and then you and whoever else is interested can decide which ones to use? I'd be gald to help in any way I could!!

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:35 pm

Yes, I think the first thing to do is to start collecting stories. These do not need to be long because in a book like this, just small anecdotes are lovely. It then gives the reader the option of reading the book seriously from cover to cover, so to speak or thumbing through it and picking out bits here and bits there.

So what I suggest is that you all email me with stories, anecdotes, pieces regarding illness i.e. Roxana and Dakota's , rescue stories and so on.
I will then sort them, edit them where necessary then after a few weeks, we will start to get a picture of how it is working out. We will also find out any gaps that need filling, i.e. in perhaps handling of an adult or senior chow chow into a family and so on.

I also suggest that we all start sending our pictures to Mandy in order that she can start compiling a library of our chows.

What I do want, most particularly is that no-one and no Chow Chow is left out. I want at least one picture and one story about each and every Chow on Chow Chow.Org.

This is a joint effort and it will be I hope, a book that will encompass all our precious chows, past and present and something we will be proud of.

Once I have started to sort all our stories into sections, chapters - whatever we call them at this stage, I can then consult Mildred whos husband has some experience of books and things. I can also put out a request for any specific subject we need .

Similarly, Mandy will be able to ask us for any specific pictures she feels would be good. I don't think she is going to have too much trouble with pictures - we all love pictures and I am sure we can provide her with more than enough for her to choose.

I think that is all for now.

Except, Lou, could you contact Terry and let him know what we are doing.
Shane, what do you think about your beautiful picture.
Kiwani, are you willing to put some pieces in about the things you have been tellin us.

My email, is FredJudyFox@aol.co

Mandy, we will need your email in order to send you pictures.

Mildred, will you let me know what your husband thinks. Am I tackling this correctly at this stage - or does he have any suggestions.

please start sending me emails.

Odessa's mum · Post by **Odessa's mum** » Thu May 25, 2006 1:52 am

Wow this project is really getting under way.

Judy and Mandy :
I will PM you'll later, my hubby is exited about the book too and will be more than willing to be a part of it. In fact if he makes a trip to the UK this year like he was planning, maybe he can meet you Judy. He usually makes a couple of trips a year via London in connection with his travel books.

Mandy, I'll make sure my hubby does not visit Illinois as if he starts talking about his MAC and Odessa, he will definitely forget me (he's almost there already) -- I'm married to a MAC addict

and consider my self his second wife, the MAC being the first

Thanks everyone else for being so eager about this project, what a lovely way to honour our chows who give us unconditional love. I strongly believe we often do not realise how much our lovely Chows actually understand and sense what we feel. Judy thanks for suggesting and taking this over.

Mildred

ngraham · Post by **ngraham** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:14 am

Ok.... now I realize that this is a little premature, but being who I am and how I am, on my end I am willing to take care of the online part of the book. I'd like to see a web site dedicated to the book, kind of like an advertizing online thing. When that time comes, I will take care of that end of it... pay for and register the domain, and pay for hosting and of course do the web and graphic design and site maintenance. So when we all come up with a name for the book, then I will register the domain name, so it is ours. Is everyone ok with that? So everyone kind of be thinking of a book title.

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:32 am

Yes, I am ok with that Nancy.

I think that is a good idea.

So names - yes, I have been thinking about that and have not come up with anything yet.

Chow Chow should be in the title.............................

goodas_AU · Post by **goodas_AU** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:15 am

What a great community of Chow lovers!!!

Judy you've sown a seed into this site! I think you've got alot of people on board to help.

Also I was thinking that maybe you could add a short 'poem' or 'personal quotes' between the chapters/stories.

There are so many beautiful chows on this site too, the pictures are fantasic!

I'll be sure to send you something about my Bear!
We haven't had Tucker for very long so I don't have any great stories about him.

Also Bear and Tucker are only part chow!:oops: Will you still be including X Chows?

Leigh

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:33 am

Hi All! I will be opening a new email so that I can dedicate it to receiving pics. I'll take care of that tonight and post the email on here.

Some directions on how to prepare images:

Small pics that you post online will NOT work for print. The images need to be as large as the original picture that was taken. Low resolution photos (72dpi) look fine on a screen but will print VERY fuzzy. So only send pictures in their original format - as big as possible. If they are a smaller size (say 3x5 or 4x6) they have to be high resolution or 300 dpi to print well. If none of this makes sense to you, just send what you have and I will let you know if they work. Please title each photo like this:
Chewie-MandyBarrett-sleeping.jpg That will make this immensely easier for me to organize if all photos are labeled by the pups name, your name and what they are doing. I will reply to each email letting you know if I got your images and if they will work. Don't worry about color retouching or anything... I will take care of that.

As for layout - I'll start doing some research on successful books of this type and see what works. When I come up with some layout ideas I will post them up wherever our thread ends up for votes on who likes what. I would like to keep images with the stories in the book - I for one HATE searching for things in another section of the book and I think it would be great to be able to picture the pup right then and their doing whatever crazy thing they are doing.

Judy - I'll start getting some stories together for you too.

Nancy - great idea about the website. Maybe we can work together to get the website to reflect whatever the design of the book.

Odessa - Hope to meet your man sometime. I love a man that loves a good Mac.

I'm sure my husband would agree with you... I am a little obsessed as well. Just bumped up the memory in my machine again...was bouncing off the walls when I saw how fast everything was. Tell him that at home I have a 20-inch 2G iMac and at work I have a Quad 2.5G G5 with a 30 inch display - that oughta get his blood boilin....

I'll post an email tonight and you can all start sending away!!

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:11 am

Now then, let us go back to the first post on this thread.

Chowfrnd88 started all this off so the thanks lie squarely there!!

Mildred, Fred and I would love to see your husband. Just let me know when he might come - that is irrelevant really

we are always here. We live in Crewe in Cheshire - only a couple of hours by train from London and we have a spare room so he is more than welcome. They can practice their American on him or show off to him - depending on whether he arrives before or after Lou!!

How wonderful, maybe Lou (we are hoping like mad, especially M & M) and now maybe your husband.

I am so excited about this book. There is so much help coming in. $\:D/$

Regarding poems - maybe we can put that lovely one about the Rainbow Bridge on and I have a very poignant one about a Chow Chow who is in a shelter and doesn't know why. (Hell me eyes are filling up already). That one would be good for the rescue section. Also I seem to remember that my daughter wrote a beautiful poem about the Happy Hunting Ground when her old black and white cat Hannah died. I will ask her about that.

The thing is, just send me anything you think - we can sort it out.

Victory · Post by **Victory** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:29 am

Sheeesh I'm gone a few days and everyone goes crazy! But it's a good crazy! This is an awesome idea! I just sent Judy a story of Ming who is over the rainbow bridge. I'll be sending ones of MingToy and LiChi, also over the bridge and Darkwind and Firesong, who are at home right now, barking at the neighbors and squirels in the window.

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Thu May 25, 2006 8:29 am

Yay!! I just received the first story from Victory!

So we are off!

Post by **Zhuyos mom** » Thu May 25, 2006 8:48 am

This is really exciting! I so do not want to be the dark cloud over this wonderful project, but I do want to mention a little "business".

Since the hope is for this to be a published hard book, believe it or not, Judy will need to get "hold harmless and a property release" contract signed by everyone who submits a story AND Mandy will need to get a "model's release" signed by everyone who submits a photo. Really, truly. It's just for legalities.

Also, the group has not talked about proceeds from the sale of the book. Do we plan to donate a certain percentage to chowchow.org? What if this becomes a best seller, who gets the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? These should be lined up so there are no misunderstandings in the future.

Remember a few years ago, in the UK, a group of senior ladies created a pin up calender of themselves to honor one of their husbands who passed of cancer. The ladies did cheesecake shots of themselves just to do a little fundraising and it ended up becoming the top selling calender in the UK and America. The proceeds all went to the cancer society. So who's to say our book will or will not acheive equal or higher success. Thus, the business stuff should be discussed and agreed on too.

Post by **kingalls** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:31 am

Lou,
You're absolutely right about the legalities. When we had our backyard put in Sunset magazine, we had to sign off on alot of stuff. They also "bought" the right to publish the pictures. They used another one of the pictures in another book and we had to sign off and they "bought" the picture.
My personal preference is that the proceeds be donated to rescue organizations. I think an X% to each would be good as we have both domestic (US) and international orgs that some of us have worked with.
As for helping to fund this project, I will be happy to help - just need to know how much, how and where to send it.

Karen, Shiloh, and Mr. N

Victory · Post by **Victory** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:58 am

Copywrite laws and regulations are a pain, but not insurrmountable. this is what an publishing agent's job entails, One thing we should first consider is where we are going to publish it? because the laws in England are different than the ones in the US. Canada also has different laws as well.

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Thu May 25, 2006 10:32 am

Judy, that's so sweet of you to say, but I just voiced something that a lot of you have already thought about. I just know that I'd be lost without the anecdotes and advice I have gotten here!! I also really, really want every non-chow owner or potential non-chow owner to see the "secret world" of the chow chow. What better way than to immortalize all these great stories!! It's just that a lot of times, I wish I had never heard the stigma associated with chows. What chows chows are is wonderful and the public should be aware of that!

I will start to compile some of my stories of Special and send them to you Judy, and my photos to you Mandy! Like Leigh with Tucker, I won't have so many stories of Special yet because we haven't known each other very long.

Hurray Victory!! Thanks for getting the stories started!!

Lou, Karen and Victory, you are right. I've been thinking about that a bit also. (The story of the ladies in the UK also became an excellent movie!

). Seems like there's a lot of legal issues to follow up on...Does anyone the exact process and in what order things need to be done?

Of course, the book will be a best-seller!

Who wouldn't want to read all this great stuff!!

Post by **Zhuyos mom** » Thu May 25, 2006 11:53 am

Special's mom, I like what you said as a working title "The Secret World of the Chow Chow".

We should start NOW with the non-disclosures/hold harmless and the model release. That way if and when we secure a publisher, we have the file ready. It will only delay things if we were not organized from the get go. There are too many chow families involved to not be on top of it all from the start. It's a nightmare to try to find everyone after the fact and sorry to be the nay-sayer here, but everyone's life situation changes and maybe someone's finances might be in jeopardy and knowing they were a contributor to a succesful book could want from the profits. Additionally, there may be mention of people or photos of people that actually would prefer their anonymity. Those individuals can hold up our project or lawyer up for a slice of the pie. But with a NDA/HH and model release release on file, for the most part, the project will be covered.

I personally think we should donate a portion to this site. It was what brought us together and remember how absolutely worried and crushed we were when we thought the old site was going to go to the cyber hunting ground... each time when we couldn't log on, or when that interloper, Guy, came on board bashing our chows and then you-all converted him and he went out of his way to look into who owned the site and gave us contact info. So, for me, I say chowchow.org deserves the glory our book may earn. But that's just me.

Elaina · Post by **Elaina** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:37 pm

It looks like this is taking off! This will be a great project. Judy, I will be sending you some stories for your consideration. Mandy, I'll send the photos to you. Let me know what releases I may have to sign. Also, if I can help out, let me know...I'm just an accountant, I have no talents in the literary or publishing fields, or anything like that, but maybe I can help with $$$?

I think a portion of any proceeds should go to ChowChow.org. Without this site, I don't think we would have ever come together. Although I have never met any of you, I feel that you are my friends...the kind that you go to for laughter in the good times as well as help when times get rough. I also think that a portion should go to Chow/animal rescues. Without the rescues, there would be no Max-A-Million or Mahayana (I personally rescued Mei-Mei) in my life.

Good Luck to us!!!!!!

Post by **Auddymay** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:37 pm

For a second there, Lou, I thought you were going to ask us to strip for the cause! I have no problem signing releases. I agree we should also help fund this site if there is profit to be had. As for submissions... I have so many Photos of Lily and Pip I am going to have a hard time choosing! SO- if someone has a past favorite of my girls, let me know.

Judy, as a Chapter, could we include one featuring the mixes? There are so many of us who have them, and to us they are every bit as special as our PB's.

Elaina · Post by **Elaina** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:49 pm

Auddymay!

Good question and thank you for thinking of our mixed Chows. Sometimes I forget that Max-A-Million is a mix, he acts more Chow than his sisters! Soooo...can we included our beautiful mixes?

Post by **Zhuyos mom** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:54 pm

Auddymay wrote:For a second there, Lou, I thought you were going to ask us to strip for the cause!

You didn't know, Auddymay!?! Judy is dedicating a chapter to those chow parents who admitted knowing the hit songs of "The Village People"! We 'll have to wear one of their hats! Our chows will cover the rest! Hey, has Jeff signed on this bandwagon yet?

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:03 pm

Lou, who are The Village People??

And yes, I think that is an excellent idea to dedicate a chapter to the mixes.

Regarding proceeds etc., that had crossed my mind and I too thought some money go to the site.

Also Fred and I had briefly discussed proceeds and we both thought Chow rescue organisations - over the world? - all depends on how much the proceeds will be.

I am sorry I know absolutely nothing about things like that - also I know nothing about all the other things you have been talking about.

Can somebody find out about all that as there are far more of you over The Pond than basically me and a few more over here on The Island. I am totally out of my depth with those details and when it comes to publishing or whatever, perhaps it will be better for those negotiations to take place in the U.S.A.

At this point, I am just wanting to get the stories and anecdotes in order to start sorting and catergorising them and pictures to Mandy for her to do likewise. Naturally we will have to honour people's wish for anonymity and we must ask each person if they agree to their name and the name of their chow to be used.

We are quite happy for our names and Milly and Mabel's to be used but I would assume addresses will not be used - we can make location as vague as any person wishes.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:26 pm

The Village People were a band from the late 70s. Each of the band members dressed in a different costume, an indian chief, policeman, construction worker, biker, cowboy, and soldier.

http://www.officialvillagepeople.com/

Sylvia

Post by **Zhuyos mom** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:27 pm

Judy Fox wrote:Lou, who are The Village People??

Oh, just an inside joke between Auddymay, Jeff, Karen and myself that stemmed from this post: http://www.chowchow.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1341

The Village People were an all male disco singing group in the late '70's (hits like YMCA, Macho Man, etc...) Inside joke.

Judy, have you contacted Mr. B and Joanna about this? They are such colorful writers. Also, Carolyn from South Africa has had a book published. Maybe she can help us in that end.

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:51 pm

I've signed on but all my Pekoe stories are already posted, 8 years worth. As for the proceeds from the book I think a fund should be set up For Chows needing help such as transport, Seriouse illnesses/ Medical, For people that can't afford it that need cash fast. an emergency fund for all Chows.

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:45 pm

Hey all!

So does anyone want to volunteer to come up with a release form that I can send out to all the people that email me pictures? I would be more than happy to send that out to every person that emails me but don't really have time at this moment to look up all the information that needs to go into a release. I can look at work and see what we use for our magazines but I'm not sure if it holds the same for books. Probably...but who knows?

Here is the email that I would like you all to use to send me pictures:

akalaks@sbcglobal.net

Please refer to my above post as to how to send me images. I have a feeling they are just going to start raining down on me so help me out by making it easy for me to organize by labeling the pictures as I posted above.

Please let me know if anyone can take care of putting together a release! Thanks!