Thursday, June 30, 2011

Cover uploaded to Createspace

Hallelujah! The final pdf of the cover has been uploaded to Createspace, with the spine adjusted for the total number of pages and the spot for the barcode ready and waiting. LAST STEP BEFORE PRINTING!!!! Busy planning the launch now, which will be complete with words, music, wine and treats. And I was just interviewed on the radio, with hubby Roddy Ellias, about how we worked together to create the songs on Roddy"s latest CD, Acts of Light. Listen to CBC In Town and Out between 7 and 9 Saturday morning, July 2. Whoo hoo....and now the fun begins.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

FINAL PROOFS APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just approved the final proofs of the interior......I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Completion is in sight.....

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Interior proofs -- finito!

Createspace returned the proofs based on my corrected edited text within a week, and they look fantastic. Now we know the page count -- a respectable 220 pages -- so we can adjust the cover in terms of the spine size. Cruising in on the last few steps in terms of getting ready to print anyway. I had about 7 corrections to make, and they will make up to 20 for free. There is a standard form they provide online for corrections, but I had already put them on a separate sheet, which they accepted ( again, as a one time courtesy). Next time I will know. Next thing to adjust is the size of the space left for the barcode. I generated the barcode easily enough (the numbers) but the actual bar design I decided to leave up to them. It is a free service, but the size may be a little large. We shall see. Of course I must now take in a deep breath as I realize that the biggest challenge of all -- marketing -- awaits me now. Endless and ruthless and shameless self promotion, always a hard landscape for writers to navigate, writers being people who prefer skulking in the shadows, writing. More soon --

Friday, June 3, 2011

uploading the manuscript

After a prolonged absence, blog girl has returned. All the errors in the manuscript have been fixed, and ater Createspace kindly agreed to let me upload again, as a one-time courtesy, we are back on track. Design proofs will be sent to me made on the revised manuscript. Again, I need to reiterate that CreateSpace has been both professional and humane in allowing me to do this -- resulting in a better product for both of us. I guess it just goes to show you though how important it is to proofread again and again and again, at every stage. Still not sure how some of the errors were introduced, but I would have been heartbroken had they remained in the book, after having worked so hard to ensure the manuscript was flawless, at least as far as being grammatically correct and with the right spellings and usage of words. The rest, well, you will have to judge that for yourselves, oh gentle readers. Still aiming for a summer launch, but may wait for the fall, when I anticipate that the first draft of my second book will be done. A nice synchronicity there....