Erik Emery Hanberg

One of the more fun projects we've tackled recently was this book for a local psychologist, which she's self-published. There's nothing like watching an author receive that first copy of a book with their name on the byline. As a writer myself, I felt just as excited.

This was one of most fun projects in awhile ... (and, if you'll allow me to say so, something that is pretty affordable too if you're a budding author!)

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A few years ago I watched Stockard Channing on Inside the Actors Studio. One of the students asked her at the end, "How do you evaluate whether you should take a part?" Her answer, and I'm paraphrasing from memory here because I can't find it on the Tubes), was roughly this:

There are three good reasons to take a part. Because you love the part. Because it will help your career. And the money. Look for two out of three.

Working on projects with Mary, I've always thought of those three things. Some jobs we take because it will help our career (in the sense of adding work to our portfolio or entering a new market niche). Some because we love the client or the idea of the project. And some because we just need the work.

It's an interesting blend, but Channing is right: when you can get a project that fulfills two out of three of those goals, it's particularly rewarding.

If you're running your own business, this is a good lens with which to look at prospective clients and projects.

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Mary and I just launched a site for Debra Austin, an author whose first book will be published in the fall by Simon and Schuster.

The book is set 500,000 years ago, with a tribe of homo erectus, our early ancestors. How best to make readers connect with its central character Snap, when she is so distant from us? Working with the author, we thought the best way to go was to illustrate the site with scenes from Snap's life, working to show her humanity.

We looked around for a Tacoma artist who could help us with this, and decided to go with the wonderful Chandler O'Leary, who recently had some nudes up at the Woolworth windows on Broadway. Since Snap lived in a culture before clothes, we needed someone who could be faithful to the human body but also imaginative in the details of these pre-humans and yet still specific to the details in the book. It was a tricky challenge, but Chandler met it with great success. Here's one of my favorites, illustrating a scene from the first chapter:

The five illustrations are scattered throughout the website, and hopefully encourage potential readers to click around and explore as much for the pictures as for the content.

We had so much fun with this project. Any other authors out there? Mary Holste Design is totally ready to build you a website.

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