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3 Years Since 'Cats In Hats' : Thoughts and Advice on Publishing
Earlier this week it struck me that it has been THREE WHOLE YEARS since my book 'Cats In Hats : 30 Patterns for Your Kitty' first published. While writing the book and for a short while after it was released, life felt pretty stagnant. In fact, it felt as if certain things in my life would never change. However, I yearned for those changes and guess what? My life could not be any more different now than it was several years ago.
In this post I'd like to reflect back on what it was like to transform my craft business into a book for publication. When the opportunity was first presented to me to create a book from my cat hat patterns, I tried searching for posts from other crafters-turned-craft writers to see what their experiences were. I don't recall having much luck at the time. What ultimately helped me was speaking with friends familiar with the process, and they connected me to writers and publishers helped me make my decision.
Since several years have gone by, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about writing a craft book based on your business, including why I decided to share my patterns when my shop was founded on selling the finished products from them as well as what it's done for me since.
If You Publish, Your Patterns Are No Longer Your Own
I first started selling cat hats in 2009 from a pattern I'd devised on my own, with inspiration from others on Ravelry. I tweaked it until it was streamlined and started making fanciful hats for my two kittens. I sold cat hats for just over 4 years (approximately), and when I was approached by Quarto Books about writing a craft book with patterns for my cat hats, I had mixed feelings.
You see, when I'd first written down my cat hat pattern I'd shared it for free on Ravelry. It became one of the top pet patterns on the site. Then I found that someone started using the pattern base to mimic what I was selling in my Etsy. I was naive, I know, but I never realized that someone would abuse a free pattern in that way. Attempts to contact the other seller didn't go well - they wouldn't admit what they had done (even though I knew my own pattern so well I could see it precisely replicated in their photos).
I retracted the pattern on Ravelry and wasn't sure if I'd ever sell my patterns. People kept asking, I kept putting it off. Then I realized I'd rather do it in a book form than as individual PDF's, because at that point cat hats had become something that defined me to my friends, family members, and the Internet. As I said in my last post, I'd come to the conclusion that I wanted to write my cat hats as a pattern book before Quarto contacted me. But when they did, I had to come to terms that my cat hat patterns would probably be reused by people so that they could create a craft business.
So, when publishing, I think you should really evaluate how you might feel about giving others the ability to recreate and sell your work. Intellectual property rights still exist, but for me I just accepted that once published, my patterns would be used by others in ways I might not really like. It was more important to me to create the work as a whole. After all, I'd worked very hard to make my Etsy a success and I am extremely proud to have published a craft book as a result of that success. That's more worth it to me in the long run.
Your Publisher Is Important
I feel extremely lucky that I worked with Quarto books to develop 'Cats In Hats'. The team was fantastic, and since they were British I feel like they grasped the sort of kitsch humor I had aimed for with Scooter Knits. Since I'd really gotten serious about knitting while living in London, while attending design school and working in a yarn shop, I was very influenced by the British craft scene when creating Scooter Knits.
There were several details that inspired the team at Quarto, from my existing Etsy store to the pink and blue retro tones I used in the packaging for my samples. Even my handwriting was an inspiration for the font choices in the book. I love that I can look at the book now and it's still something that is a marvel to me. One downside is that in the years after publication, attempts to find out how the book is doing (it has been published in several languages and in different countries) have gone unanswered. Quarto sells the rights to publish the books, and they do not have to consult with me for that. I'm kinda bummed that they haven't really followed up with me, but overall still grateful to them.
A Craft Book Can Be Closure or the Launch of Your Brand
My book 'Cats In Hats' came at the end of a successful Etsy store. The book sort of encapsulated what I'd done, and my intention was to expand beyond cat hats after publishing the book. Remember those life changes I mentioned in the first paragraph? Yea, they happened and I'm just now getting back to Scooter Knits. I do have some ideas for things I'd like to do in the future, but writing a craft book of my beloved cat hat patterns really was closure for me.
However, time has given me the clarity to realize the book could've been what launched a globally-focused brand. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but I think anyone considering writing a book based on their craft business should think about whether or not the book is the beginning - or end - of their particular business. If, like me, you are publishing patterns to something extremely unique, you might be inadvertently creating lots of competition for yourself. Others will very likely create craft businesses using your patterns (and often times, this is completely legal for them to do, according to the intellectual property rights attorney I consulted). Weigh your options, keeping in mind that your craft business will definitely change no matter how you decide to proceed after publication!
Conclusion
If the wordiness of this post hasn't shown you already, I've thought a lot about what it was like to publish a craft book based on my Etsy shop. I really hope the considerations I've featured above will help you as you write, or decide to write, a craft book. You can always contact me if you've got any specific questions, and I'll do my best to help if I'm able!
xo
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means that in some instances, clicking on the link and making a purchase may financially benefit me, the owner and author of Scooter Knits. I think transparency is important. If you have any concerns about this disclosure, please let me know!