Only a Few More Hoops to Jump Through

A few days ago, I sent the FINAL edited manuscript to the typesetter to format. Why am I not doing it myself, you ask? I struggled with the decision, as any true, dyed-in-the-wool control freak would.

I know I could have done it. I’ve done it before. I had the page numbers placed perfectly; all the page breaks and section breaks inserted where I wanted them. Then I changed my mind. (Not a big surprise, right?) I decided I wanted the epigraphs (the quotes and images that signal a new chapter) to be on the left side, with the chapter text starting on the right-hand side. That necessitated adding blank pages in a few places. I also wanted the page numbers removed from below the epigraphs. Somehow that process messed up the page numbers. I struggled with it for a few days, then decided (justified is a better word!) that this book is simply too important to mess it up now.

While waiting for the PDF to be returned to me, I am working on a few things.

Upon the suggestion of my friend, Marian, I tweaked the front cover to allow more open space around the subtitle. I finished the back cover, incorporating the excellent suggestions from my Daily Writing Sprint friends.

Next I moved on to the Bibliography. Rather than placing it at the back of an already huge book, I decided to put the bibliography on the website. Considering that many of my sources were online, i think this makes a lot of sense. Readers can link directly from the bibliography to the source.

My current task is updating the website with the supporting documents and images for each chapter. You may have noticed a different look to the blog when you opened it today. I figured out why there was no sidebar on the posts page. Turns out, I needed to choose a different WordPress theme. I learned how to create menu tabs for individual pages and how to create anchor links to facilitate movement within a single page. If I didn’t organize it that way, there would be over 60 menu tabs! As always, let me know what you think. There’s always room for improvement!

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What’s left to do?

Once I get the PDF back from the typesetter, I will review it and upload it to Amazon. (Notice how I simply assume it will be perfect?) Then I will upload the cover, review the wording on the Amazon book page, preview the whole “shebang” and then… hit PUBLISH!

Oh, I almost forgot, I am also working on creating a Kindle version. We’ll see how that goes…

Our journey together through this book writing/publishing adventure will soon come to an end. Thanks for sticking with me!!