It took nearly two decades, but Betsy Bishop, a local author, and Jill Vickers, a local illustrator have self-published their first joint creative effort, Dilly Duck Makes New Friends.

Bishop and Vickers knew each other from they’re time living in Amherst.

“She had written the story, and we found each other because we lived two doors down from one another,” said Vickers. “She found out that I was an illustrator, and that I drew characaters. And she had this story, and she asked if I would give her a concept character. She really liked the concept character so I began illustrating the story for her.”

Bishop said that she might have illustrated the book herself, but, “couldn’t have done anywhere the job that Jill did.”

“I sent the book out, maybe 500 times within the first ten years,” Bishop said. “And I kept getting rejected. So, I gave up – but saved everything, or course.”

Bishop and Vickers said publishers only wanted one of them – either a writer or the illustrator, but not both.

Every publisher wanted me to illustrate other books, but not this one,” said Vickers. “Or they wanted to take the story by Betsy and have another illustrator do it.”

Vickers guessed that might have been because most publishers want their say in how it’s designed.

“She and I were friends,” Vickers continued. “So, we decided we started this together and this was the way it is.”

Bishop has since written two more books which the duo plan on self-publishing as well.

“One of my friends had just self-published a book,” Bishop said. “I told Jill and knew that the difference was that we would have to advertise the book ourselves, and we’d be responsible for sales.”

Bishop, who now resides in Milford, and Vickers, of Hooksett, said a book signing will take place in March at Annie’s Books Stop. In the meanwhile, the duo is selling books on their own.

Vickers, a graphics department professor at Nashua Community College and Lakes Region Community College, said it took her few months to draw.

“All the illustrations in the book are all by hand,” said Vickers. “They weren’t computerized when I did them. Dilly’s now computerized but at the time, ten years ago, it wasn’t as easy as it can be now. But when I designed the cover, which I just did recently, that was on the computer.”

The book is copyrighted and has an ISBN number, Vickers noted. “Just like a regular book would have.”

Both agree that the message of the book is timeless.

“When you learn to share and give and care about others, you make more friends that way,” said Vickers.

For more information or to buy a copy of the book, visit bookpatch.com, or email Jill at imaginebeestudio@gmail.com.