So, the first proof of Hope Is A Six Letter Word arrived, really quickly in fact, and as this is in my writing process series, I’ll stop right there and point out how important it is for authors to pay close attention to these. It is naturally hugely exciting to see a book in all its papery goodness and feeling more ‘real’ than an e-book in the ether, but you order a proof for a reason. Spotting even the tiniest errors you think won’t matter (for example a slightly off-centre heading) there is a temptation to let it slide, and avoid going through the whole reformatting and repeat of proof stage, but I go into this process expecting at least two or three rounds of proofs as part of the process.
First, the big and easy to spots; in this case a miscalculation and misplaced invisible page break meant that my chapter all began on the facing page until halfway through, after which they so straight to the next available page. Not a major error, but it is inconsistent, and I’d know, and it made me re-evaluate the decision to use ‘facing page’. Why did I actually do that, and what does it add, apart from extra pages which affect costs and pricing adversely?
Looking on correctly sized pages in a physical book, it is also the first chance to look at margins and gutter, and most crucially, whether opening the book, the inside area by the spine is wide enough to read comfortably, and the blank space to edge of the page is too wide/narrow. In both cases, for Hope, I decided a further tweak was needed.
When I’d done this, I always check for another feature of Microsoft Word (which I have my master copy in), trying to be helpful and failing. For a change of time or viewpoint within a chapter, I frequently use [space] # [space] between text blocks to indicate the change, and Word has a tendency of guessing where these carry over to a new page or split between pages. I did a pass to make sure where these occur, they happen consistently on a new page, to make it easy for the reader to follow.
I seem to also set myself new challenges with each book. In the last, tEXt me, it was the inclusion of text messages in the narrative, for Hope, it is the need for footnotes to translate the French conversation. I’m delighted to see that this part worked perfectly. So, changes made and a new proof ordered as the release date inches closer! mybook.to/Hope2022
Stay safe,
Kit