Interviewing people who were there

I saw a lot that went on at Dove, but I couldn't be everywhere. I'm relying on the people who were there to help fill in the blanks to this story.

If you were there, I'd love to hear your story.

My interviews are moving forward at full speed. It's a wonderful feeling to reconnect with so many people who were a big part of my life during this special time.

I had my latest meeting with Jay Woodruff.

Jay was Dove Books' only in-house sales rep, and he comes with a huge amount of publishing experience. He and I worked together at Price Stern Sloan (PSS), back when I designed and illustrated Mad Libs, Murphy's Laws, and other classic books. Jay has been in publishing for many years, and he knows his stuff.

So it's hard to understand why Michael Viner, the president and founder of Dove, refused to send Jay to the annual book convention in Chicago. Viner sent lots of other people who were not involved with the sale of books, but sending his only in-house sales rep to the sales event of the year — for some inexplicable reason — was not a priority.

"To me, it was a no brainer to send me," Jay said. "I had all this experience for years and years in the book industry. I had a ton of contacts. What harm could it do?"

The harm would come later, when Dove's fortunes began to fail.