One Step Closer

After six weeks and five judges reading nearly 100 entries submitted for our maiden volume of Gone Dogs, we’ve selected 50 stories to be part of our book. And boy, what stories. 

I can now say that what started out as a dream in 2014 is about to become a reality later this year and I couldn’t be prouder. This book is going to be great. Everyone you know who loves dogs is going to want it. 

I was speaking with someone recently who mentioned how much he a loved certain novel about a dog. I said, “Yes, it is a great book. About one dog. This book is about 50.”

So what happens next? Well, now we get busy doing … everything. From copy editing and photo editing, to book layout, proofreading, and more, we will be pretty busy for the next few months. After that, it’s on to publishing. As you wait (patiently) please keep in mind there are just two of us managing this project, and it’s not our full-time gig. That said, we are committed to having our book in everyone’s hands by Christmas. (We’ll give plenty of notice about preorders once we figure out that engine.) 

We’ve also had a lot of people ask about Volume 2 and when they can submit their Gone Dogs story. We are intentionally holding off on opening up for submissions again until we get this first book down the road a little farther. The submission engine we used the first time was a little glitchy and we need to reassess. Please be patient, and know there will be a Volume 2. 

We wanted to give a special thanks to our judges, Judy Goldman, Ken Wheaton, and Stephanie Whetstone – outstanding writers who volunteered their time, and no doubt went through a lot of tissues to read each entry and help make Gone Dogs the best book possible. Both me and Laurie also read each story, and were overwhelmed with such beautiful tributes. 

Finally, a huge thanks to everyone who participated in our first ever call-for-entries. You are the heroes here. And while we couldn’t take every story submitted, every story submitted was a gift. We all know dogs love their people, but now I know just how much people love their dogs. Thank you for sharing yours with us. 

Here we go. 

Jim