It's official! To Three and Beyond is published and ready to order!

It's been a long haul—almost 10 years since the inception of my idea of writing a book about breastfeeding beyond the third birthday and about a year since I signed my contract with Praeclarus Press, but the day has finally come. The book is published.

"It's published!" selfie!

Here, I am, proud author and editor. I could not have done it without all of my wonderful contributors, the women who were generous enough to share their stories with me and with the world.

The book has made its debut here in Phoenix, where I am writing from, at the 2014 conference of the International Lactation Consultant Association (#ILCA2014). I was blessed enough to share a book signing last night with other Praeclarus Press authors Helen Ball, Nancy Mohrbacher, and Alyssa Schnell. I  had a lovely chat with Alyssa and was excited to see her book, Breastfeeding Without Birthing, which covers another much-needed topic in the area of breastfeeding support.

Helen Ball, Nancy Mohrbacher, myself, and Alyssa Schnell. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Kendall-Tackett.

Although IBCLCs are generally focused on the early period in the breastfeeding relationship, I hope that many of them here can personally relate to the topics in this book or understand that the journey that their clients are beginning may last for years, not months, to come.

In the meantime, for the rest of you, my book is now available through Praeclarus Press and Amazon.com. The digital version of the book will be available through Amazon in about a month.

I hope you enjoy seeing the topic covered in a real-world way, through personal experiences. We have had enough sensationalism on this topic. It doesn't deserve to be treated as an aberration. It is a valid, real-world choice for mothers and children throughout the world and is just an extension of real-life parenting.

If you are a blogger yourself and would like to review the book, please contact me via the contact box on this page. Please include the name of and a link to your blog and your contact information.

Book Release Date!

Hi, everyone! Praeclarus Press has set a release date for the book of July 22!!! It's almost here! Finally!

The book is set to launch at the annual meeting of the International Lactation Consultant Association in Phoenix, July 23–26.

The most exciting part is that I will be there and will be signing books the evening of July 23! I will post more details as I receive them. I hope to see some of you there.

I am superexcited about the release of this book and am grateful that I will be at the launch. I hope that that the book will serve its intended purpose: to help and give real-life guidance to breastfeeding mothers by giving them the insight of other mothers who have ventured into the territory of natural-/long-/full-term breastfeeding.


On a side note, also being released on July 22 and at the conference from Praeclarus Press are
Finding Sufficiency: Breastfeeding with Insufficient Glandular Tissue by Diana Cassar-Uhl (a contributor to my book) and
Working and Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher. Congratulations to you both!

Book cover

It's official! The book has a cover. After much discussion and the work of a talented artist, I am very happy with what the publisher came up with. I feel it really expresses the bond and closeness inherent in long- or natural -term breastfeeding. I hope you all like it as well!

To the Publisher

Well, I just sent the book files to the publisher for her review and all of the many steps to come. This is my first book, so everything to come will be new for me as an author and editor.


However, I've worked in publishing for almost 20 years now. It's strange to be on this side of the desk, but I know a few of the things that might happen. The publisher may ask for revisions, send the book out for copy editing, and talk to me about the marketing of the book before it goes to the printer. These are just a few of the steps to be taken between now and the time the book is officially published.

I will try to update the blog as the process continues and keep you up to date as much as I can. In the meantime, if there are topics on the subject of full-term breastfeeding that you would like to see me discuss on this blog, please contact me at tothreeandbeyond@gmail.com or with the contact form on this page.

Thank you all for sticking with me and this project so far!

Beta Time!

As of yesterday, the full manuscript is out with beta readers. These include my husband, who is a full-time copyeditor (like myself), and some friends who have all breastfed their children and/or have editing and writing experience. I am hoping they will be able to give it a critical eye and give me important feedback to make the book as good as it can be.

It's a weird feeling to have this project out of my hands, if only for a little while. I've been working on it in most of my spare time for months now and more intensely since the stories were due in October, so I automatically seem to have that "twiddling my thumbs" feeling. It's good that my kids and my normal work-at-home job keeps that feeling from lasting long.

I expect the beta readers to be done within a week or two, and then I will be able to incorporate any changes that I need to. After that, it will be time to get all of the necessary files together and send it to the publisher.

I will write another update when that happens.

Thanks for sticking with me through this! I can't wait to see this thing in print (and in an e-book!).

Janell

Progress!

I just wanted to write an update for all of you that are following the progress of this book to let you know that the book is moving forward.

The publisher extended my deadline just a little, to March 1, but said, at this point, we should still have the book ready around summertime.

Tonight, I sent out the last edited story to its author. While I wait for all of the story authors to return their changes and copyright forms to me, I will be working on my own story, the introduction, and the back matter for the book (including the list of "milky names" and a resource list).

One thing I can still use help on is compiling a list of resources for not just breastfeeding mothers but for long-/full-term breastfeeding mothers and their families. If you have found such a friendly place, please email me or use the contact form on this page to let me know, so I can point my readers in the right direction.

Thanks!

Stories are Due Tomorrow!!!

I have a nice fat folder full of possible stories for my book, and I'm looking forward to getting more. Based on submissions, I will probably be merging some chapters or working stuff around, but I am really excited about the prospects of this book.

If you are thinking about submitting, here are a few notes:

• The book is about breastfeeding PAST THE THIRD BIRTHDAY. I am limiting the book to stories that focus on this precious period. I love reading all kinds of breastfeeding stories and applaud all of you breastfeeding mamas, but I can only accept stories about breastfeeding a child who has already turned three.
• I currently have the most submissions for chapters 1, 5, and 6, so submissions with a focus toward the other chapters would be most welcome (see the Call for Stories link at the top of the page for more details).
• Are you close but need a small extension? Please use the contact form on the right side of the page to message me, and I'll let you know whether I can accept a late submission.
• I am still looking for funny tidbits and anecdotes, milky names, and photos or artwork depicting breastfeeding past the third birthday.

Thanks, everyone!