Alison Cole on Writing Needlework Books

Writing a book is the easy part - getting it published was going to be as well - until the unthinkable happened.

Over the period of a couple of years, I had had three publishers ask me when I was going to write a book on Goldwork and Stumpwork. To them I replied 'one day soon'.

I know another tutor that had told me of her experiences in producing a book - and how the publisher wanted 20 projects so that they could select 12. And how the publisher contacted her to get another project whipped up - needing it immediately and not realizing how long it takes to embroider a piece of work. So when I decided to sit down and write my book, I decided to have the book partially complete before contacting the publisher that I had chosen, to eliminate some of the stress of the deadlines that they give.

This seemed fine. I told the publisher of the estimated completion date of the manuscript and projects, and the publisher was happy. The publisher was going to send me the contracts - which never arrived. But it didn't bother me, as I knew the publisher well and knew that they would in time come. I went on with the writing and promoting of the book. But the contract never eventuated.

When the book was complete, I sent off the manuscript. When I called to find out when they required the pieces for photography, the publisher then told me that they weren't able to produce the book this year - or maybe even the next - but did like the book. This absolutely flattened me. I had been promoting the book the whole time that I was writing it. In every class when someone asked when I was going to write a book, I told them that it was coming and would be out next year. Now it was all at a halt.

I decided that my book was still going to come out when I said that it would - and looked into self-publishing it. This was the best decision that I have ever made - although it worried my husband somewhat. Publishing means footing the bill - taking all of the risk but also taking the profits. I knew that the book that I wanted to produce would sell, as there were no other project-based Goldwork books on the market at that time and in every class I was asked what project-based books were out there. I knew that if the book was laid out well and had lots of photographs that showed off the embroidery and its richness, it had to work.

I contacted a company that specializes in helping authors self publish and when they took my call they were skeptical as to how ready I was to get it published. They told me that for every 20 authors that contact them, only one has a manuscript that is really ready. I arranged a meeting with them and left the meeting feeling happy that this was the way to go.

I contacted a photographer that I had worked with before and asked him if he would take the photos for me - he was surprised to hear that I had already worked out what photos were required and that I had already done the styling and organized the props. The shoot was done and dusted in a single day - a long day - but still only one day.

The production company that I was using had me sit down with the layout designer, whom I briefed in exactly how I wanted the book to look and be laid out. He made some suggestions which I liked and then laid the book out to my instructions.

Next I had to cut out a couple of projects as the book was too long, which was followed by inserting the photos and the diagrams. I then had to re-arrange some of the project layouts to accommodate the number of pages. Spelling and grammar edits and technical edits came next and then the print-ready proofs arrived. It was amazing seeing it all laid out and ready to go to print.

When the first air-freighted, hand-bound copies arrived, I could hardly believe it. All the work that had been done up until this, it still had not looked like a book. The end was getting closer. Finally, the truck arrived with the books. By the time the books arrived, I had arranged two Australian distributors and shortly after had arranged a UK distributor as well. I had enjoyed the whole process so much that I had also started on the second book which was to become 'The Midas Touch'.

Since then, 'All That Glitters' has gone into reprint and has been picked up and distributed outside of Australia and New Zealand by Search Press - throughout the UK, Europe, USA and South Africa.

'The Midas Touch' has also now gone into reprint, and is being distributed in the UK by Golden Hinde and in the USA by Nordic Needle.

While I have started work on the third book, it is going to be quite different than its predecessors. It is still featuring Goldwork - and has two projects already completed - but will take longer to complete. I am hoping that it will be released around 2011. Next year (2009), I have three commissions lined up on top of my usual teaching commitments.

Alison Cole's Background in Needlework

I was born, educated and married in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. I have always been around embroidery, as my mother was a professional seamstress. I have fond memories of sorting her threads and swapcard collection into colourways. I moved to Melton in January 2003 with my husband Stephen and two children.

It was when I was eight years old that my mother first put a needle in my hand and taught me to mend my teddy bear. From there she taught me to make a patchwork pillowcase which went on every school camp, but it was not until I was 12 that I took up embroidery. It became a passion for me - I used to stitch on the school bus to and from school, in my free periods and at lunch and recess. My friends used to laugh at me - always carrying around some piece of work.

Even when I starting dating - if my boyfriend wanted to sit beside me on the couch – he had to have my tapestry frame over his legs while I was working on it (one of my frames was over four feet long and took up the entire couch).

I worked in an office - working my way up to administration manager - and always stitched in my breaks. One time - while at lunch and stitching at my desk - some smart man said to me 'you have a good job'. Over the years, this became something that I heard regularly - sometimes, if I didn't want to be bothered with the smart remarks, I would stitch in the boardroom if it wasn't in use.

I joined the local branch of the Embroiderers' Guild and maxed out on classes - from Crazy Patchwork to Schwalm and everything in between.

After leaving work to have children, I started part time work at one of the local embroidery shops, where I was encouraged to teach and pass on my skills. I was told that I was already teaching - helping the customers with any problems that they had with their embroidery was teaching. And so I designed and taught classes in basic stitches, Stumpwork and Goldwork and loved every minute of it - as I still do to this day.

The more people that I taught, the more that word got around. I taught at my branch of the Embroiderers' Guild and then at other branches and at Guild Headquarters. I was asked to teach at conventions and seminars and find myself these days fully booked almost two years in advance, teaching all around Australia and New Zealand.

Through the years I have furthered my studies in embroidery, gaining an Intermediate Certificate through the Embroiderers' Guild in Melbourne and completing numerous other courses including Train the Trainer Adult Education Course and Art for the Stitch - a design and colour course for embroidery artists. I am currently working on a long term research project that I started some years ago, which will culminate in another book.

I have been the recipient of a local Embroiderers' Guild Branch Scholarship and the prestigious Ethel Oates Scholarship, of which I used part to research the history of metal thread embroidery. I have also been the recipient of the Florence Monod Award for Excellence - the top prize awarded at the Royal Melbourne Show - judged over 150 categories. These days I am a sponsor of the Melbourne Show, supplying an award for the Best Piece of Stumpwork or Raised Embroidery.

I am a regular contributor to Embroidery and Cross Stitch Magazine and, to a lesser extent, Australian Country Craft Magazine. I have also had projects appear in Handmade Magazine and UK Publication Stitch with the Embroiderers' Guild. For three years I provided Christmas decoration projects for the Country Womens' Association Magazine.

Achievements in 2005 included receiving a Commendation for Stitching Excellence from the Embroiderers' Guild United Kingdom for their 'Picture This' competition and the People's Choice Award at the Embroiderers' Guild Victoria Annual Exhibition for the piece Jacobean Elegance. I also created a three dimensional floral arrangement of Goldwork Liliums for display at the Johnston Collection's exhibition 'Taking Tea with English Bodies' and I am also represented in their collection of decorative arts.

During 2006, I was a featured artist at the Craft and Quilt Fairs, touring Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide, exhibiting, teaching and promoting the art of Goldwork. It is amazing how many people said to me 'Oh, this is new', only to have me cheekily reply 'Yes, these techniques are only about four hundred years old!' To the people that told me Goldwork was too difficult for them to try, I asked if I could borrow their grandchildren, and invited the kids to apply some purl in an area of chipping on my work.

2007 saw me participating as Artist in Residence for a group project with the South Western Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild of Victoria, creating two panels 30 cm x 75 cm in memory of two of their members that are local benefactors. 2007 also saw me being commissioned to embroider a piece of Goldwork for the front cover of the UK magazine 'Stitch with the Embroiderers' Guild' for their 50th issue. This was also the year that I had my new studio built. A purpose-built studio with work room, store room, wet area and toilet - and more cupboards and shelf space than in my house!

2008 has seen another People's Choice award at the Embroiderers' Guild Victoria Annual Exhibition with the piece Gloriosa Lily and the release of my second book 'The Midas Touch'. My first book 'All That Glitters' was released in 2006.

All That Glitters