The blame lays squarely on David Hall's shoulders. My old boss and mentor at NZ Surf Mag. Early on in piece, during an issue debrief, he stated 'If you think you've made the best magazine you ever can, then it's time to quit. Because if you think that then you probably can't.' It still resonates now. How can this be better.
How can you approach a photo shoot better. How can you write a better, simpler passage to convey the information. How can you travel better. How do you make 'it' better.
The Big Little Beach Book is bourne from that.
What worked in the other books, what didn't. What did you like [and I mean YOU not me]. What missed the mark. What can be learned from the past and distilled for the future. That was the drive and the genesis for it.
Yesterday morning the two advance copies of The Big Little Beach Book arrived. It's kind of a strange tradition. You get the advances, the idea being it's a final check. But there is nothing you can do. The entire job is printed, bound, boxed and palletised, ready to ship. Still, it is so fricken exciting, and in this case a huge up lifting relief... it looks the business- it is better.
And just like with the South Seas Book, I couldn't resist doing a annoying funny cover to cover preview video... and a cup of tea.