Book publishing is an arena that I’m glad to have delved into as it not only adds to my knowledge-base but has a world all its own. Another added bonus that warmed my heart was that this project was very dear to my client. This collection of unique and entertaining stories from one of Norfolk's oldest former dentists is still intriguing readers including myself.
It started out with a simple phone call. During my initial client meeting, I had many questions but the main one was, "How many pages do you anticipate the finished book to be?" The first response was, "I really have no idea."
That's a pretty open-ended answer but, ok, I can work with that. We both agreed that we would work from the estimate that it would end up being a 300 page book. In the end, it turned out to be just under 200 pages.
My client was looking to compile all the material written as a biography by her late husband whom she loved dearly. Her husband was a well-known dentist who practiced in the local community for over three decades. However, though he was well-known, my client felt that he had led such an interesting life outside of dentistry and that those life stories should be shared. She encouraged him to write the book and together they both researched and gathered information for it. So, it was a very personal project for her to which I saw as an opportunity to not only help her achieve this goal but provide some additional closure.
Mush of my initial time involved creating page layouts and design drafts from the author's giant black binder full of printed pages. This contained a bulk of the content and involved re-typing both it and the hand-written notes and content for inclusion. In fact, only a very small amount of digital content (less than twenty pages worth) was actually provided to me that didn't need re-typing. Since the author was no longer living, locating the original digital files proved to be unsuccessful.
In addition to digitizing the copy, numerous versions and drafts of stories, sections and chapters existed in similar forms. These needed to be sifted through and edited to ensure the entirety and clarity of the content was included and left fully intact.
Together, my client and I compared, re-ordered and re-arranged all of the writings to get it just right. This happened over several months but, after much patience, we felt like things were really taking shape!
Along with all the writing material, there were numerous old photographs, articles, and documents that supported the stories and held significance for the author. These also needed digitized. From old family portraits to newspaper articles, I carefully scanned and re-touched each one.
From there, they needed placed with accompanying captions into the pages to coincide with the appropriate chapters, stories and writings. Once all of the images were placed and in order, the book was starting to appear more complete!
After reading the content over and over, I really started to get a feel for the author's life--his values and his adventures. I particularly enjoyed reading the letters written by himself and his siblings when stationed overseas and elsewhere during World War II. What real, amazing, and heart-breaking experiences.
I also enjoyed the quotes tied to each chapter and interjected into different portions of stories. A few of my favorites being:
“It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.” ― Dorothy Canfield Fisher
“At the punch-bowl's brink, let the thirsty think what they say in Japan: first the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.”
“I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery.” –Jean-jacques Rousseau
I never knew the author prior to his passing but after reading through the raw, personal, and honest writing of this rough-and-tumble-cowboy-turned-dentist I felt I received much insight into who he really was.
This immersion in the stories allowed me to design the overall page layout from cover to cover to really fit the tone and intent of the book. My client also had a particular photo of the author that she wanted to include on the cover in some form. When I presented the first design draft of the cover, my client said it brought her to tears to see it.
Many rounds of editing and revising, visits to my client's home and discussion on the changes occurred. Thankfully, it wasn't a very far drive so I got familiar with the view.
When we were finally both satisfied with all the changes, it was time to publish and print. What was once a box of unorganized photos and papers was finally a finished book!
Something my client kept saying to me throughout the process was that many people have stories about their lives and experiences that only a very few ever hear or sometimes others don't even know about. And once that person is gone, so are the stories.
Very few people take the time to write them down. She felt strongly that it is beneficial to do that. Judging from the response to her distribution of copies, she is right. A few months after delivering the books she called to let me know what a fantastic response she received from those that received one. She even anticipated ordering more copies.
Thanking me again, she shared what a success it had been. While the thanks for helping design and publish this book is certainly gratifying, it is really the willingness and effort of the author to write and share his life story with others and the dedication of his wife to complete the publishing process that readers connect with.
If you are wondering what it takes to successfully self-publish a book, I think that though there are many different aspects and lots of time involved, I think the best way to describe it would be patience, tenacity, and a whole lot of heart. While I didn't author any portion of this book, I am happy to have played a part in the process.
And throughout that process, I am also happy to say "nobody got hurt."
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