Creating and Embracing
New Opportunities
Linda Womack
As the huge truck pulled up in front of my house I got
a chill up my spine. I knew the books would arrive
sometime that week but no one seemed to want to
give me a firm delivery date. I watched as the driver
struggled to maneuver the bulky pallet through my
garden gate and I worried that it wouldn’t fit. As he
drove away, leaving me with box after box of my
new encaustic book I thought, not for the first time,
“What have I done?”
Portfolio
Linda Womack
It all started about 5 years ago when one of my
students mentioned that she couldn’t find an
encaustic book with step-by-step instructions for
beginners. That got me thinking that it wouldn’t be
too hard to put one together, especially with the
new print-on-demand services that had recently
become available for self-publishing books online.
Using this service they would be printed as they
were purchased, so I would never need to print
a large number of books. By that evening I had
decided which service to use, downloaded the
software and purchased the Internet domain name
EmbracingEncaustic.com.
Using my existing class handouts as a basis for the
book, I started planning what photographs I would
need to take and what other information might be
missing. Before long I had a good idea of what
techniques to include and how I could best illustrate
them for my readers. I added my content to one
of the software templates, uploaded the file, and
the first edition of Embracing Encaustic: Learning
to Paint with Beeswax was ready for purchase! I
ordered copies right away and was thrilled to see
my little books in the mail just a few days later.
I was stunned by how well the book sold over the
next few months, and I quickly became convinced
that there was a much bigger need for this than
I originally thought. I decided it was time to find a
traditional printer.
Learning New Skills
I wanted to produce the next run of books at a lower
per-book cost with higher quality materials, and in
a form that could be sold in bookstores across the
country. That involved immersing myself in the world
of bindings, special paper coatings, ISBN numbers,
photographic resolutions and ink options. After a lot
of research, I selected a Canadian printing firm that
had been recommended by another author.
Linda’s husband Bill helps unwrap the first 1,500
copies of Embracing Encaustic.
36
Summer
The second edition of Embracing Encaustic was
larger, with twice as many pages and a load of
new information. The best addition was a gallery
section featuring the work of twenty-five painters
Embracing Encaustic: Learning to Paint with Beeswax,
by Linda and William Womack. Second Edition. Hive
Publishing.
www.EAINM.com