Last winter, around February, I thought that Book One was ready for press. I moved forward only to find, after a fine-tooth comb inspection, that there were errors that needed to be corrected. So I pulled back from advancing into publication.
As I proceeded to make corrections, I also decided to make design modifications. The work, greatly improved, both in the design and clarity. I found that adjustments had to be made to the "Gnome-sized Book" to make certain sections easier to read. I printed a prototype to check the layout and I found more errors, once I saw the printed sample. One such error was the realization that although the Gnome-sized book is a reduction of The Big People Book, the thickness of the pages remains the same, hence, the design of the spine is unique to each book.
As I proceeded with corrections and adjustments, I then determined to increase the overall size by 10%, mainly because there was more room on the paper than I had previously used. That also changed the ratio of the page and cover design, which likewise changed the position of the text and the artwork. It's like throwing a pebble into a calm pond, there is a ripple effect. On the Gnome-sized books, the layout is set up with 6-up on standard 11x17 paper. So all this work on the smaller edition took months to achieve.
Add to the design complexities the fact that; the layout has exceeded the processing power of the Mac computer I had been using. I did buy another computer, and a Raid Array, but the operating system is different and it takes time to set that up and adjust everything to that. So I determined to use the new machine after the first book is completely done and in distribution.
Unfortunately, I found out the hard way, that for some reason, the files I was working on would not open again once I closed them. There were instances where I had to do the same work over six or eight times in order to effect corrections. It sounds insane and it was making me insane. I had gotten to the point where, not only did I need to save the page files in pieces, meaning smaller sections, but I also needed to exclude certain components and insert them after I opened the file, saved the file as a PDF, then removed those components and the save the file again before closing the file. Even then, the file size was so close to being too big that it would not open again. I found it odd that the auto-recovery files would open, even with the artwork, but the main DOCX would not.
I have made an attempt to use InDesign, but so far I've not been able to implement the layout the way I want using that program. As it stands, I am using three basic programs to implement the design, each program serving a different function, which together creates the overall look while giving me wider latitude with each function. I've made quite a few discoveries about how these programs need to be used together, finding that there are deficiencies which must be averted in a particular order, otherwise the design and layout is impaired and a great deal of additional work is imposed on the process and making corrections.
Now that I have gone through years of pain and struggle, I'm relieved to believe that the remaining six books will be much easier to produce and that the consistency of design and quality will be maintained.
Once the Gnome-sized book was satisfactorally reedited and ready to print, I moved to adjust the Big People Book to match. There are differences between the books, which initially, I hadn't expected to incur. But I am in the process of making those adjustments and almost ready for another printing of, what I hope will be, the final proof. Hopefully proving that the book is ready to be released to the public.
This latest version of the book is head and shoulders above all other test runs and makes all the other printings look primitive. It's hard to believe that could have happened, because the earlier edition looked great and still does. But this final design definitely hits the bulls eye!
AG
