Hi there,

This has been one heck of a, dare I say it?, fantastically optimistic week with all kinds of good news! (And grammatical inconsistencies, but I don’t care because it’s the Internet, and nobody cares about grammar on the Internet, or at least they’re not supposed to.)

First, I’m over the moon happy cuz I hired a designer to create my book cover. Her name is Lisa Kiss and her work is fantastic. Here’s a tasty morsel.

Doesn’t that image made your brain tickle? What also pressed my kismet button is that Zab Hobart, Canada’s Grand Poohbah of all that is Typography, and the brains behind Parkdale Wallpaper (wallpaper made from a typographical perspective) recommended Lisa.

Both of these gals know the book world. They know how hard it is to get a first novel off the ground… they know what works.

And I don’t.

Certainly not in terms of design.

At the risk of sounding nauseatingly woo woo, I feel blessed to have them in my corner. (Eeeeeewwwwww care for a little treacle with that?) How about “they’ll help me not make a horses’s ass out of myself in a strange land I have ne’er travelled.”

Next bit of good news came from my publisher Greg Ioannou. Apparently “Night Town” made it through the copy editing stage with a single remark.

“She said it was it very clean.”

I assume that means no typos and decent grammar. I was dying to call and ask, “Did you like it?” or worse, “Did you cry?  I think it’s pretty funny even though gross things happen. What about you?” Fortunately I resisted.

Greg’s clean revelation followed with something like, “One more glance at it from you and then it’s off to the printer.”

Oh boy. I bet you know what’s happening next. My little baby is going to translated into all kinds of different computer languages and have the typography set up.

To do this, Lisa needs these things from me…

Client responsibilities

– provide all copy-edited text
– provide all necessary dimensions, logos, content for cover/spine/back
cover of the book as well as printing specs required for the job (exact
dimensions and format expected by publisher)
– supply barcode if necessary
– supply contact information as to where final artwork is to be sent
– provide timely feedback (within 24 hours of receiving proofs) to ensure
project gets completed by deadline
– client will pay for any additional costs associated with the job, i.e. high
res colour output for matching on press (if required)

EEK! Iguana to the rescue. They have all these strange things. All I have to provide is the salesy, sexy, promotional blurb you read on the back of novels that encapsulates the story in a couple of paragraphs. That’ll be easy peasy puddin ‘n pie. Yeah right!!!

But anxiety aside, it’s starting to feel definitely real. And that feels real real good.

C