Funny How Things Work Out

I just ordered my first proof on my children's book "Lake of the Spirit Bear". If you have been reading my recent blogs then you know that the book went through several "evolutions" as I learned this and that. I actually thought the book was ready over a week ago however I didn't like the cost of it and thought it was too high which is a problem of the POD process and colour. As an author, I have a vision, as an illustrator I have a vision, and as a publisher I have to merry everything together in a way that is practical. I may have the book I want, however if no one can afford to read it, then it really isn't working!

So it may seem like it was more a matter of compromise which to some extent is true, at the same time however, this process ironically has brought me back to the size and little book idea I began with!

Originally the book was meant to have images on one large landscape page. I did the images thinking because it SAYS 6 x 9 it would MEAN 6 x 9...that would be landscape right? WRONG! It wasn't this at all, it was PORTRAIT.  

So then I went looking for landscape, and finally the last size just added was 11 x 18.5 or something like this. I really had envisioned a smaller size book but thought, what the hell I don't want to do over these images. I cropped them and did them all to fit thinking ok, at least they are still large enough that I can use a large enough font to do the white on black as well as the black on white text because they don't like any smaller text done in anything but black!

THEN after all that, with arrangements and changes made still having one side with text on a blank master (with a ink drawing border), and colour images on the other side, I take my computer somewhere that had decent internet all the time, and found out when calculated ( oh yes, it appeared the calculator didn't work because the error message kept saying postal code, but when I FINALLY started scrolling up, found I had missed a box! sigh!), THAT THE PRICE WAS WAY TOO HIGH! 

I really only had toyed with backgrounds for the text to keep it all black and I just had to sit with it. Finally, it occurred to me, DAHH! why not do the image over two pages! This meant back to the layout because SPREADS have to be SINGLE when uploaded!

The only way I could figure to do it, is to do two page spreads so the spread is side by side and I can see the bleed and how they align, and make sure the text and images are not in the centre of the page...that would be terrible! 

SOOOO all the images had to be checked and anything with a main subject had to be moved to one side!  Painful but not impossible but fInally it was done!

After that it was a matter of figuring out how I wanted to do text boxes. By this time I was just wanting it DONE!  So all the boxes were white but they over-shadowed the images too much so I played with the opacity...which is what I decided on.

Then I watched videos on what a text base line is because the text was all messed up. and wouldn't line up with the other page (HinT- zoom in until the lines how up!). 

After that it was a matter of creating guides and working within those guides, putting in the text making sure it was NOT tab indented, and proofing text again. A few times text had to be eliminated and one time a compromise on indent had to be made to keep the text...I wanted a decent size font (16) since I hate books I cannot read because they are too small!  Also the font, is the same font I always use so that was easy and that was that!

Then when it was all done (I hate it of course, I am too critical and always am!), everything had to be converted to One page spreads.  OF COURSE I copied and when I did it, I noticed all the bleeds were off! So then ALL the text and everything had to re-checked and fixed. Oh joy!

Finally ready for the PDF. At first I could not see how to change it (having also made sure nothing is in the wrong colour profile - CMYK is what you need (think that is in the right order!). It took several PDFs before I got the alignment on one bloody page which was off right, and make sure the number of pages allowed the layout to have the copyright on the correct side. 

A mistake I had made in the past is that I save the ones that were wrong. I do NOT do that now! I save nothing and have a specific folder just for those two files...cover and interior...I learn from my mistakes. I shall have a ton of space to free up soon on this computer!

When it was all said and done, the book was 7.5 x 9.25 (which is more in keeping with what I had intended originally,) the price for full colour is decent (a little over ten dollars USD and under 15.00 CAD if the dollar holds there), and a few of the images got to be done with the text NOT in a text box as I originally intended.

So NOW, the proof has been ordered and hopefully with a rush on the printing, the person I am sending it to can mule it back to me by the end of the month! THAT will be exciting! TO actually HOLD it. I know there will be issues and things that need fixing, however my greatest concern is the gutter and bleed and if text box is far enough from the centre. It is not a traditional 32 pages, it is 38, however I thought, screw it, I made all these sacrifices for POD, I don't need to loose pages and images just to be totally traditional. There is a great deal about it that is not quite traditional anyhow.

So that is the process of my first children's book, hopefully, I hope this can keep you from making my mistakes...mind you, there are always more! lol, but it is all part of learning something new!

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