Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Book Launching: Introducing A Guide to Northeastern Gardening and the Story Behind It

A Guide to Northeastern Gardening
All my life I have been an avid gardener and my passion for everything green had led to me start up a landscape design business 20 years ago. The idea of writing a book came to me when I decided that I wanted to share my gardening experiences on a much grander scale and have a legacy to leave behind.

I had some extra time in my life starting in the winter of 2013, after retiring from a career as an educator for 32 years. The writing process started off with an online publishing program that offered writing templates and advice. After two years of composing the book, I finally decided it was time to publish and found that the e-book version was doable, but the production costs of the printed version were way higher than I had anticipated. I published the e-book on a website called Blurb and hired a computer technician to convert the manuscript for the amazon kindle, which published in 2015. My frustrations of not being able to produce the book in print continued to eat away at me, as I had already vested so much time into this endeavor. As time went on I would get numerous requests for a hard-copy form, but had to continuously apologize that it was just not doable, and continued to investigate.

Thanks to my stubbornness and determination, I proceeded to entirely re-write the manuscript in a word format which could be published in print at an affordable price. After numerous visits to the mailbox awaiting proofs, stomach dropping moments when I would find that one error, and after an uncountable number of revisions, I finally was able publish my book in print. After the long journey, I am thankful that I had the drive and willingness not to give up, and hope that my readers will find the book to be useful to them in their gardening endeavors.


A little bit about the book:

A Guide to Northeastern Gardening is a comprehensive guide of valuable information on plants hardy in a range of zones from 3-9, and gardening techniques backed up by my own personal experiences as a professional landscape designer, along with answers to frequently asked questions. Learn about landscape design principles, butterfly gardening, deer resistant plants, long blooming perennials, globe and weeping evergreens, flowering trees and shrubs, native plantings, shade gardening and more. Whether you are a novice or experienced gardener, A Guide to Northeastern Gardening will help you to create your own dream garden. Come along on my journey into the world of gardening!

A little bit about the author:

Lee Miller is a professional landscape/garden designer involved in the horticultural industry since 1996. Having started a gardening blog in 2010, she is the author of over 150 articles on general gardening, landscape design principles, gardening tips, planting, pruning, garden maintenance, feature plants and more. Her published book, A Guide to Northeastern Gardening, is an accumulation of information touching on a wide variety of gardening topics, all backed up by her own personal experiences.

A preview of my book is now online at Amazon and it is FINALLY available in printed format as well as kindle edition. I hope you'll take a look and share this with anyone you know who may be interested in this publication. My heartfelt thanks go out to you for your support! Now..I feel published!

A Guide to Northeastern Gardening: Journeys of a Garden Designer on Amazon 

All the best and As Always…Happy Gardening!

Author: Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening,© Copyright 2016. All rights reserved

46 comments:

  1. How wonderful! Congratulations on your persistence and your success in publishing the book. I'll definitely have to check it out.

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    1. Thank you so much Dorothy! It was a long process, but I am glad to have endured, and now it is finally completed!

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  2. Congrats. I have to get deer resistance plants my arborvitae trees
    that were so tall and lush have been eaten so bad they look like spiral
    macaroni's I guess even the spray didn't stop the deer. I'll have to look for the book. Good luck. yvonne

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    1. Thank you Yvonne. Deer are beautiful animals but can be a real nuisance when it comes to your garden. Arborvitae is considered "deer candy" to them, but there are many beautiful trees, shrubs and perennials that that deer don't care for.

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  3. Hurrah, this is the thing which I was searching for, what a cool stuff it is!!! http://www.treesurgeonsuttoncoldfield.co.uk

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  4. Congratulation! And I love to see your day lilies

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    1. Thank you Endah. Daylilies are wonderful favorite of mine as well,and certain types will bloom all summer long.

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  5. A link to the amazon site for your book might be helpful in this post, to make it easy for everyone to go get it... http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Northeastern-Gardening-Journeys-Designer/dp/1519671202/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

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    1. Hi Kate. There is a link in the last paragraph that I highlighted, but thank you for pointing that out, since it may not be so easy to see. I added another link on its own after that...thank you! Happy Gardening!

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  6. Congratulations Lee.. it's looks great. Good luck for lots of sales :o)

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    1. Thank you Julie! I tried to incorporate a broad range of topics, so I hope my readers will find the information to be useful.

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  7. Lee this is wonderful...I loved reading your journey. Can't wait to read the book!

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    1. Thank you so much Donna! I hope you enjoy the book and would love your feedback.

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  8. Congratulations, Lee! I admire your commitment and hard work to accomplish this! Best wishes for great success!

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    1. It's such a wonderful feeling now that it is published and I am glad I hung in there. Thank you for your kind words and support.

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  9. WoW!!! How very exciting for you. Congratulations!!

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  10. Well done, Lee. I congratulate you on your hard work and persistence. Look forward to reading the book. P. x

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  11. What an exciting journey. Congrats on your book! Will your book also tie in with commercial landscaping?

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    1. Thank you Evan. To answer your question, I have been a landscape designer for twenty years and use all of the plants and techniques I have discussed in my book, so absolutely it can be used with commercial landscaping!

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  12. Congratulations Lee! I'm so happy for you. I'm so glad that you pursued the idea of having your book published in a hard copy. Personally, I would want a hard copy because that's like a reference book that you want to keep referring to, and making notes in the margins and highlighting important stuff!! Looking forward to getting a copy! Good luck to you!

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    1. Thank you Susan! I know I would want a gardening book in print as well, for all the same reasons, and have several to prove it! Your words are encouraging, and make all the time and effort put into the print version worth the while. Thanks for the moral support!

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  13. Congratulations and great job persevering!! I love the cover.

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    1. Thank you so much Laurin! The cover was a big decision, so I went back and forth with some of my favorite photographs, and went with that one. Thanks for the positive feedback...it is appreciated!

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  14. Wonderful your work is in print. I like having a book rather than reading on an iPad. Good luck with sales.

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    1. Thanks so much Donna for the good wishes and confirming my thoughts. As an avid gardener, I too enjoy going to my bookshelf on a regular basis. There are numerous photographs throughout the book, so I figured it would be more user friendly as a reference in printed format. Now there's the mission of trying to get the word out about the publication so that readers know about it!

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  15. Congratulations, Lee!!! What a wonderful achievement! Best of luck with the launch!

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    1. Thank you Heather. I am very excited that other gardeners can benefit from my book. There was a time when I had to learn everything, and now I can share my knowledge with others!

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  16. Wow, what a thorough plan for gardening! That's quite a feat to publish! I love the photos and especially seeing you in it. Let me know how I can help promote.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Terri. Right now its a matter of getting the word out so I would greatly appreciate it if you could let any of your gardening colleagues know about the book. I tried to include a vast variety of information in it, so there's a little something for everyone. Thanks for your support!

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    2. Thank you so much for your support. I appreciate it!

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  17. This looks like a wonderful book for those in the Northeast. I will suggest it to my sister who lives in Maine.

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    1. Thank you Carol. The plants discussed in the book are hardy in a range of zones from 3-9. I believe Maine would be anywhere from zone 3 to zone 6a, depending on where she is located.

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  18. Congrats on the book! Great guide for anyone in the Northeast

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    1. Thank you Renee. I tried to include information that will go beyond the northeast as well so that gardeners can use the book as a resource. The principles of landscape design discussed can be applied anywhere.

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  19. Congratulations! Well done! I know how much work that lies behind a book, not that I have published any for sale, but I have self-published a good few books through Blurb and I know how incredibly many hours that lies behind every book I have made. http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/detail/1322545-kew-gardens
    Good luck with your book!

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    1. Thank you Helene. It is a tremendous amount of work and editing but very satisfying to finally have the book completed and published. The process from start to finish took about three years, but I was determined to make it happen!

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  20. Congratulations and well done, Lee! The book looks beautiful and very interesting, a must for those that live in your gorgeous region.
    Your blog is wonderful as well, lovely photos and very useful texts.
    Happy Sunday!

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    1. Thank you Sara. I am enjoying all the wonderful photographs on your blog, and even though you are in eastern Finland, it's interesting to see that you have a lot of similar plants to what we have here. Have a great rest of the weekend!

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  21. Hi Lee, congratulations on your wonderful book. An achievement to be proud of for sure. Great post!

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    1. Thanks so much Denise! It was a lot of work but I am glad that I can now share my horticultural knowledge with others.

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  22. Congrats on the book! A gardener can never have to many gardening books with great info!

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Thank you for visiting. I love reading your comments and knowing you have been here, and will try to reciprocate on your blog. If you have any questions I will try my very best to answer them. As always...HAPPY GARDENING!