In the first two months of its availability between July 1 and Aug 3, 2011, my children's picture book, The Mutt & the Mustang has sold more than 700 copies! and picked up by a third distributor who represents western-themed gifts rather than books. As there are only 300 books left from the first printing of 1000, I have ordered a second printing of 1000 to make sure there will be enough books to fill Christmas orders.
Ft. Collins daily newspaper, The Coloradoan had the following review:
"The Mutt & the Mustang by Judy Archibald and illustrated by Patricia Greenberg has it all for a children's book. The artful illustrations accompanied by photographs of the real horse and dog, Raven and Kody, respectively are visual delights. Add to that a pleasant story of a friendship between a dog and a horse which includes the underlying inspiration that everyone is special in their own way and you have the makings of a beautiful child's book with a timeless message."
The Valley Equestrian News features The Mutt & the Mustang - the True Tale of a Dog-Riding Horse in their Aug/Sept. 2011 issue with a photo of Kody riding "his" horse plus a cover of the book.
Valley Horse News out of Las Vegas will be featuring The Mutt & the Mustang in an upcoming issue and The American Dog Magazine plans to review it in their fall, 2011 issue.
A successful book signing at the Loveland, CO Barnes & Noble where without any publicity and on a week day, sold 17 books. Twenty books sold at the Estes Park Historical Museum's booth at the recent Heritage Festival - however, this was a much harder way to sell books than signings in book stores as it was way too hot and noisy.. MacDonalds Book Shop in Estes Park has sold more than 130 copies!!
Boomer Cafe posted how I came to write The Mutt & Mustang on their website with the following comment: "One thing we love to read here is a success story. Maybe it's financial success, maybe it's emotional success. Either way, we like this story from Judy Archibald, whose dog and pony show literally inspired a new career."
I am having so much fun sharing stories about my little dog Kody, Raven my mustang, Cheyenne my German Shepherd and her pal Rio the paint horse with the public that I can honestly say though I recently "lost" my job as director/curator of the annual Colo. Governor's Art Show where for ten years I produced highly successful shows I don't miss it .... (well maybe I miss working with the artists but I don't miss the politics.)
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Art of August
August has been filled with art and artists.
The first part of August all of my time and energy went into producing the annual Artists' Charitable Fund auction which raises money for this non profit which provides financial assistance to artists in medical crisis.
For the nine years I have been responsible for this outdoor auction in Loveland, CO I am impressed with how generous the artists are - such as Joshua Tobey who donated a beautiful bronze sculpture of a antelope to painter Nancy Guzik's lovely portrait Silver & Gold - more than 60 original paintings and sculptures were auctioned off - which raised more than $36,000 --- once again everyone who attended had a ball eating and drinking under the stars while sculptor George Lundeen as auctioneer kept everyone in stitches.
Later in the month, the Rocky Mountain Plein Air painters were in Estes Park for a couple of weeks - I, with Lynda Vogel, director of the Cultural Arts Council had juried the artists who came from several different states, Canada and Germany into the show so it was great fun getting to meet them. As in previous years I hosted all the artists at my ranch for an outdoor picnic -- Ten artists arrived early so as to paint the views from the horse arena - and also made paintings of my horses Rio and Raven - Then thirty artists arrived for the picnic - lots of fun, which my dogs Cheyenne and Kody enjoyed being part of. The horses enjoyed the extra attention also.
A week of attending artist parties, breakfast and the opening reception where awards were given out....now that the artists have gone home, Estes seems quiet - but their works will remain in the CACEP Gallery until Oct. 2, 2011.
The first part of August all of my time and energy went into producing the annual Artists' Charitable Fund auction which raises money for this non profit which provides financial assistance to artists in medical crisis.
For the nine years I have been responsible for this outdoor auction in Loveland, CO I am impressed with how generous the artists are - such as Joshua Tobey who donated a beautiful bronze sculpture of a antelope to painter Nancy Guzik's lovely portrait Silver & Gold - more than 60 original paintings and sculptures were auctioned off - which raised more than $36,000 --- once again everyone who attended had a ball eating and drinking under the stars while sculptor George Lundeen as auctioneer kept everyone in stitches.
Later in the month, the Rocky Mountain Plein Air painters were in Estes Park for a couple of weeks - I, with Lynda Vogel, director of the Cultural Arts Council had juried the artists who came from several different states, Canada and Germany into the show so it was great fun getting to meet them. As in previous years I hosted all the artists at my ranch for an outdoor picnic -- Ten artists arrived early so as to paint the views from the horse arena - and also made paintings of my horses Rio and Raven - Then thirty artists arrived for the picnic - lots of fun, which my dogs Cheyenne and Kody enjoyed being part of. The horses enjoyed the extra attention also.
A week of attending artist parties, breakfast and the opening reception where awards were given out....now that the artists have gone home, Estes seems quiet - but their works will remain in the CACEP Gallery until Oct. 2, 2011.
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