What Does It Mean To Be Real?

By Dani Greer, LPP Special Projects Coordinator

Our theme at the Little Pickle Press blog this month is friendship, and we kicked off the month with an LPP Insider feature article by Dr. Jordan Shlain, who discusses with his young daughter what real friendship is about. That article got me to thinking about my associations here at Little Pickle Press and my writing, editing, and book promotion business which is mostly online.

I met the chief executive pickle, Rana DiOrio, on Facebook. She had read a post about book trailers as a promotion tool for authors, and wanted to hire me to organize a blog book tour for What Does It Mean To Be Present? in July of 2010. I didn’t really want to organize more blog book tours because, by that time, I just wanted to teach authors to arrange their own tours. I was also spending more time editing and writing. But one look at the Little Pickle Press web site and their mission statement had me hooked, so I agreed to arrange the online tour. At that point, I was only committed to one gig. A major aspect of online connections that suited me to the bone was a certain level of casualness and being able to detach without a lot of ramification. I didn’t have to say yes to a second blog book tour. Right?

But there were other interesting projects at Little Pickle Press so I stayed for a little longer than I originally imagined. Another fabulous book was published, Sofia’s Dream, for which I arranged a blog book tour, the company won awards for various titles, and the weekly telephone conferences with the team fed my brainstorming soul. I also deeply respected LPP’s financial commitment to publish in environmentally-conscious ways, and really wanted to help them succeed. I loved being part of the planning for this little company which was doing such innovative and progressive work in children’s publishing. In a way, I came full circle from my “old days” when I was submitting my own manuscripts to the big publishers and working as a gift rep for Random House imprints. I could bring a good deal of that experience to the LPP table. Before long, my editing interests put me in the role of reading direct submissions, and making recommendations for possible publication.

But still I was able to maintain a certain detachment, and keep matters mostly on an impersonal business level – until Rana DiOrio and I manned a booth in Denver during the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association conference last autumn.

We spent three days together and during that time, we worked and we laughed and we even cried a little. That’s when the game changed, and I knew it the following Tuesday on the weekly phone conference. I could feel it over the airwaves. I was not only more vested in the company and in Rana herself, but I was also more accepted and respected in return. The tone of the meeting had completely changed. That’s what real-life blood and guts friendship does.

Today, it’s much more difficult to think about casually leaving Little Pickle Press and moving on to other fascinating ventures. This creates challenges for an indie soul like me, always champing at the bit for a new project and another experience. But it also creates a certain solid footing, and the stability of staying the course stimulates a more powerful and committed output of my energy. Overall it feels right to stay connected and in more than just virtual ways.

I’m happy to recognize and give credit to the online opportunities available at social sites like Facebook – that’s really where my office is and where I first meet many kindred spirits – but for more meaningful work and relationships? Face-to-face is better than Facebook-to-Facebook. There’s no question about.

Chief Executive Pickle Rana DiOrio

What about you? Do you have real-life friendships that started online and blossomed into deeper friendships? Tell us about it in the comments.

Don't forget our special friendship promotion for June: Send one of our award-winning titles as a gift to a friend or family member, and receive 25% off your entire order! This month, show your appreciation by gifting our award-winning books. Just use code LPPFriend12 at checkout. Click here to go to our online book store.