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Editing, Editing, Editing . . .

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Well the next test print copy of Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers is queued up.  I found a few errors that I wanted to fix, but not many.  A few cover issues, a few internal formatting issues, and some diddly stuff.  My editor, Ellen, did a pretty damn good job I have to say.

I almost forgot what this is like, editing a print copy, and now I remember why it was such a pain.  When you’re down to asking yourself about 1/8 inch in a margin or how to space a line break for a bullet point, the fun somehow goes right out the window and falls to its death.

It’s a 346+ page MONSTER right now, and will probably retail for $24.95 or so.  This thing is freaking huge.

Oh, and really?  Good gift material, just sayin’ . . .

Next up, looking over the test print copy of Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

 

 

Editing Print Books

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Well I got the beta print copies of Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming and Careers, and Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers.

One of the things I love about eBooks is what you see is what you get.  Print books, not so much.  Here’s just a few things I found:

  • The cover may not quite print as you expected – and any colors, graphics, etc. may not be what you expect in a solid version.
  • You can forget things on the cover period.  I’ll have to adjust one of the covers, in fact.
  • There’s breaks.  A paragraph you don’t have to break up in an eBook format may be damned hard to break properly in print.
  • Chapter formatting.  I love chapters that are on odd pages, so you have to get that right.
  • A lot of book elements like Table of Contents, Credits, etc. just seem “different” in print – and you have to make sure the breaking and formatting is right.
  • A re-scan of the print copy may help you find issues.

So I’ve got  . . .  about 600 print pages to scan.  I think I’m gonna be busy for a week or two on this.

Now as much as I complained here, I think you should consider print versions of your eBooks, if only for the sheer experience of doing one and discovering you don’t want to.  It’s pretty educational all around.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

 

One More Stop To Print!

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Well as noted I’ve been working on print copies of Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers and Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers.  The good news is my prototype print copies are in the mail, and I should get to look them over next week!

It wasn’t as easy as I thought – since I haven’t queued up a print book in about a year.  But frankly, I think I should have earlier.

As much as eBooks are a big thing, books like these are also gifts – and giving eBooks really isn’t quite the same.  I have to remember an audience is bigger than . . . the audience.

Also books that are physical leave a legacy.  It’s something people can keep, treasure, and remember.

Hang in there, if the review goes well then I just have one more test print to confirm it’s good, and we’re there . . .

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.