June 2005 Memo
I wonder if the average person realizes just how much goes into a finished book? Until I got into writing, I never gave it much thought. Books with nice covers, catch your eye, but are they what really sell the book? Years ago when I first thought of publishing my story I knew I’d need a cover. Luckily I had that part figured out long before I ever had the book itself.
After having my left hand surgically straightened and before having the right done, Mom took a picture of the “before and after.” When I saw it I was so struck, that I knew if I ever needed a cover, that picture was it.
Now, many years later when the second half of my story was near completion, I was stumped for a cover. As the book came together I had a vision of what I wanted, but that alone did me little good. Who was I going get to make my vision a reality? Professional artists are expensive; we’re talking $800.00 minimum for a very plain cover.
Once again this cover was started long ago when things fell into place and I was first offered a friend’s old computer when they were upgrading. (This story can be found in, “Too Many Speed Bumps: A Journey of Healing”) One day, feeling as though I had nothing to lose, I e-mailed Bob, a fellow Whooligan, (explanation of Whooligan can also be found in Speed Bumps) I causally mentioned I needed someone to brighten up the cover of “Too Much for One Lifetime.” I told him I couldn’t pay much, but would be more than pleased to send him a copy of the finished, new and improved book. He agreed!!
As he worked on that cover, I mentioned the second book to him and told him of my vision for it. I don’t remember all the details but I do recall the day he e-mailed and said, “So, you’re talking about a second book? Two covers = two books?” Beyond my wildest dreams Bob agreed to do the cover for “Speed Bumps” for a copy of the book! How often does that happen in life?
Well, for me, it seems to happen a lot. First Ed, my editor, agrees to edit the first book, for a copy, and now Bob steps up to the plate. Talk about being blessed! These fellows are not amateurs either. They are both professional men who have to work for a living!
Now mind you, once this cover project was underway its road had its share of speed bumps. Bob is a very busy man and couldn’t always work on the cover when he wanted to. But over the months, yes it took months and months; we slowly neared the finish line.
Almost one year from the time Bob started with the first cover, the last cover was almost complete. Just some fine tuning and it would be ready. Then, one day as I was admiring it, I noticed the bar code was wrong! NO! That can’t be. It has to be correct.
After some double checking, I sent Bob the right one.
Then I noticed we had the wrong back cover text! NO! I had re-written the text several times until it was the way I wanted it. I also sent it to Ed to see what he thought. I must have sent Bob the old text.
Now you have to remember, every time Bob sent me a copy of the cover for my approval, he sent the whole thing, back, spine and front. When I asked him to just send me the front, he mentioned that if he broke it up, that might affect the colors, and maybe they wouldn’t match when he put it all back together. All these little things to consider.
When I printed out the back cover, Bob had the text in red with a shadow. It looked nice but was hard to read. Then he changed it to white, it was still difficult to read. So we tried black. Ah Ha! That’s better, but now one part of the background was also a little dark, and I was concerned you wouldn’t be able to see the text. No problem for Bob, he just lightened that portion of the cover. What a genius!
Meantime, while we were in the final push to get the cover finished the week of June 13th, I had already sent in the text part of the book, thinking the printers could start checking it. Wrong! They don’t look at it until they have the complete book.
I’m not even sure why or how, but for some unexplained reason I went to check something in the text, and lo and behold, I found a typo, in of all places our Web site address. That would never do!
How could this happen? I had edited the book three times, then I printed it out and both Mom and I read through it. I found some mistakes happened when I formatted the book to the required size for printing. But some were just completely missed! As I read through the story for the umpteenth time, I was getting just a little tired of it. I mean really, first I lived it, then I wrote it, then I re-wrote much of it. Then I edited it, then … well you get the picture.
I decided to go through the book one more time. Mom thought I was nuts until I showed what I was talking about. Silly little mistakes like little mistakes like repeating yourself. (I did that on purpose, to make my point.J) I found other little things, such as no “o” in another. Things most people would probably just read right over, after all the story is so gripping whose going to notice right? Well, me, for one.
So while Bob was sure each day was the day we’d get the cover just right, I sat reading feverishly hoping I wouldn’t have to tell Bob he had another day or two. It took me one afternoon and into the night, until I couldn’t see clearly, and a twelve hour day at the computer, only stopping to eat. I had to admit I wasn’t going to finish that night. I got up early the morning of the 16th determined to finish the last forty pages before Bob sent his final, final cover.
Just as I finished sending the new and improved, thoroughly checked text in … Bob sent the final cover! Yes, I wouldn’t have to tell him that I kinda rushed him for nothing. Now everything had been sent to the printers. Whew! It’s done, right? Not quite.
First Acquisitions checks the cover and the text for any obvious problems. There was a minor one with the pictures, but since I can’t afford a $900.00 program for the formatting of pictures, I figure if a picture is a tiny bit unclear, it’s better than no picture at all. We gave them the go ahead.
The printers’ formatters take over and they format the book for their purposes. Then it’s sent off for what they call “Inhouse Approval.” This all takes days to accomplish, but at least it’s out of my hands.
After all that, it goes to the Pre-Press department. Here they print out a hard copy and again check it for any flaws and if all checks out, then they notify us that the book is finally, “print-ready.” Let me tell you, that will be an exciting day.
To be absolutely sure things are the way I want them, I’ll then be ordering one copy to check myself. Hopefully it will be OK and I can order books to fill the orders I already have. While I wait, I have begun to let people know the book will soon be published. It does my heart good when the orders start coming in, and pre-paid orders at that!
Some months back you’ll recall I took some time from writing to explore getting an agent. I finally gave that up because I couldn’t do that plus finish the book at the same time. With the book now complete, I’m going to pick up my search for an agent. I’ve e-mailed a few only to learn they want a “reading fee.” Sure, I’ll pay you to read my book then turn me down – not!
From what I’ve learned, a reputable agent would never ask for a reading fee. Oh, and the funny part is they don’t want just a few bucks; they want an arm and a leg! One told me their fee is $125.00 for the first ten pages and $2.00 for every page after that. They also want it double spaced, in 12 point font! Do you know how many pages that would make this last book? Roughly, 600 pages! I’ll let you do the math. If anyone is foolish enough to pay that, why would the agent have to do anything more? After all, their making quite good money just sitting back and reading your work! My search continues …
So, the next time you pick up a book, think about what was put into it before it ever reached you. As we’ve learned there’s a great deal more to writing a book than just throwing some words on paper and making a pretty cover, oh yes, there’s much more. We haven’t even considered promoting the book yet. Maybe we’ll get into that next month.
In my spare time, I read “Breaker’s Reef” by Terri Blackstock, talk about an on-the-edge-of-your-seat read! You'll find Breaker's Reef Review Here. Be sure to check it out.
I guess that’s it for this month. If you would like to pre-order your copy of “Too Many Speed Bumps: A Journey of Healing” all the info is on our Web site. If you need any assistance feel free to e-mail me at kat@shorthandpublishing.com
Until next time, be happy, read much and be well. J
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