In our ongoing attempt to do way too much and further complicate our sense of identity, Robbi and I are working with our agent to make ourselves known to the commercial publishing world. Last week, we drove up to New York to meet with the children’s book editor of a major publishing house we happen to admire a great deal. It was fun presenting our ideas to someone who actually knows what they’re doing—and interesting to see the offices of an actual publishing company. Apparently, actual publishing companies have more than two employees. And they don’t have two small children running about as they conduct their business. It was quite a revelation.

The meeting went well enough that our agent thinks we should have a few more. So yesterday, we put together a “get to know those folks at Idiots’Books” package for an art director for another publishing house we happen to admire a great deal in hopes that it will inspire this person to sit down with us some time.

Here it is.

Basically, just a 13″ x 19″ clear plastic sleeve filled with books and various propaganda.

One side features the (seemingly irresistible) cover of The Baby is Disappointing. Sales of this book have subsidized many of our more “experimental” ventures.

And the other, our smiling faces, as seen on the cover of our press kit.

It made a satisfying little package. We send it forth with optimism and a head scratch. Perhaps there is a bridge to be built between what we do and the world of real-live publishing, but we don’t yet know what it looks like.