Why is it taking so long?

I have to say, this is driving me up a wall. It seems like everytime I'm ready to move forward, some other detail crops up that needs correcting.

(That's an image from "Trial by Jury"  Gilbert & Sullivan)

 Well, you have to realize that with a project like this, a very complex, and I have to say- extensive, Illustrated Storybooks, when it finally goes to press, meaning; printing tens of thousands of books, it better darn well be right. 

In this case; printing, say, ten thousand books, means seventy thousand books; seven books in the first series; Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure.

I guess you can imagine that if I know there is an error, like a typo, a glitch in the artwork or an anomaly in the layout, there's no way I can let that slide. The latest issues have been with color balance. I made a mistake by converting the layout, which was created using RGB, and after conversations with a number of printers, I was led to believe I needed to convert my files to CYMK. Fine. I did that and it was ok, until I switched printers and went from Xerox to Canon for the on-demand printing.

The net result has been a difficult process to correct the color balance. That change effects the entire layout. 

(New word; aeffects, that covers both situations.)

So here is is; I found out after researching the RGB/CYMK situation, that each printing press has it's own specifications, depending on the technology employed in manufacturing to press. So, the recommendation is to leave the layout imbedded with the RGB protocols and let the printing press convert it to CYMK.

Well, that seemed to have worked. The CYMK that worked for Xerox does not work for Canon. Leaving the layout in RGB allowed the Canon to properly interpret the color balance.

Goodbye six months trying to figure that out !

So, I'm making a few adjustments for density and color. Yes, density. Each press seems to have it's own interpretation of density as well.

I am sure I will have issues of this nature when the books go to press for off-set or web printing as well. Hopefully, I won't need to address that and the printer will match the layout I have already done.

On Another Front:

We are advancing into the next level of creating the finished artwork. It is rather difficult to decide how to proceed. My initial goal was to get all the sketches done, but we need to push Book Five aside for a while. That is unfortunate, because that hangs up our release of the books. But, we need to move into line drawings and watercolors for Books Four, Six and Seven, so those books will be finished. Those books take place in our current time frame, while Book Five is historical. What that means is that the look of the art for the historical portions needs to change. Maybe add a sepiatone or leave the art as grayscale, something like that. That's an interesting prospect! I might like to have The Gnomic Tales, as told in Book Five in sepia, while each Gnomic Take, as it's brown book, will have the artwork in full color. That way I can expedite the release of the Seven Book Collection AND delineate the historical portions of the collection. Humm?

Well, that's all for now. 

AG

Thoughts on Book Publication

As I am assembling the Volume Sets for the Industry Review, it occurs to me that I only want to retain the Hand-stitched Limited Edition Books at IMS. Looking around the studio at the shear volume of work I have to do, leads me to believe that it is best if the Machine Bound books be jobbed out, both for manufacturing, marketing and distribution. Hence, I will be licensing that aspect of the project.

As I presume you have read, here and elsewhere, these books are based on a Stage Musical. That fact alone, under the assumption that my energy needs to be put in that direction, disallows me from managing book sales and distribution on a large scale. 

  Add to that the fact that I have a bid in to buy my family's 70 year old machine shop operation. That's another story, but that will require my attention, until I have a Board of Directors in place.

   So, I will continue with the Shopping Cart scenario and pursue the Hand-stitched Limited Edition Books as the initial offering. Depending on the capabilities of building inventory and implementing fulfillment in house, I am proceeding under the assumption that the larger aspect of putting these books before the public will likely be Licensed out. That being said, if you are part of a larger organization that may like to consider that, let me know. Hard Copy proposal is best, but initial email will work.

   The other option is a Marketing and Sales Manager working in-house. I have the facilities and there are service agencies who can see to fulfillment in conjunction with an in-house operation. So, if working in that capacity, on a commission basis is appealing to someone living nearby to my studio in Southampton, let me know.

   We still have a ways to go before we can implement the public release, due in most part to the finishing work on illustrations, but we can certainly begin to prepare and set-up the sales office.

Nothing is easy.  AG

A New Look For the Book

 While preparing the Printer's Layout
for the 
On-Demand Limited Edition Books

There were numerous unseen anomalies and corrections to be made. 

The end result was a shift in the overall look of the pages.

I opted to lessening the amount of ink on the page

by reducing the opacity of the outer page.

I like it better.

BOOK ONE will go to the printer today for a Limited Quantity as I start to build inventory.

If all goes well, BOOK TWO will follow shortly.

UPDATE:

   In preparing this final layout for the new On-demand printing scenario, I found that making the Industry Review Edition on BOOK ONE this edition has included portions of The Business Plan. So with that in mind, I have decided to produce the Industry Review as the Three Volume Set and include what I have of The Business Plan in Appendix to each Volume. The Preface of Volume One & Two consists of Summaries of the Objectives, while the Appendi consists of the Business Plan. I expect to follow this plan for Volume Three as well. 

   The Business Plan was a developing document and is in large part conceptual in it's greater degree, because my focus of attention still needs to be on the Core Creative Materials and not on building the Management Structure. I am progressing toward the ultimate Management Structure, having determined the Modus Operandi, but the final stages of the Creative processes must take priority. That does not mean that certain managerial elements can be ignored, for they have been pushed aside for many years for the sake of Development. However, that Development has produced sufficient results to allow for Pre-production to take place. Of course, I refer to Pre-production, mostly in the sense of theatre & cinema, but clearly that also applies to publishing, manufacturing, distribution and sales, specifically of the Book products. Other Ancillary products come into play. But those items cannot be addressed, because of the distraction doing so would cause in these final stages of completing the Core Creative Materials.

   Although I must stay primarily focused on the work of completing the Core Creative Materials, which basically only means the artwork for the Storybook and the Score for the Stage Musical, I must also seek to engage the Business Management into gear. This is the purpose behind the Industry Review Edition, which outlines the objectives and a number of options for proceed.

   So I do hope to find interested Business Partners in the form of Entrepreneurs, Producers, or Organizations that may want to buy into the Production at any number of levels. Those options are outlined in the Business Plan, but there is room for other propositions as well.

  My primary goal after I complete all the registrations is to locate the proper representation, or if a proposition comes into play before that time, we can pass it through legal representation.

I am open to discussions via email; att: Arthur Greisiger

 image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

AG

UPDATE:

    The Industry Review Package is being published as the Three Volume Set. This package will include aspects of the Business Plan, however,  the Arthur Greisiger Bio will not be included and may be found on the IMS Management blog.  This Industry Review Edition will include multiple versions of the layout to exemplify the current status of the entire collection. That means; some books are finished and ready for distribution, while others have unfinished artwork and BOOK FIVE has not been illustrated at all, basically because it contains The Gnomic Tales, which require a different historical frame of reference from Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure. I will discuss the Illustrations in another post.

Shopping Cart, Buy Now Buttons & Code

 I will use this page to discuss and set-up a Shopping Cart for Internet Sales. The Books are not yet released to the public, but the Industry Review will be available to Industry Professional wishing to consider becoming a Producing Partner.  A Restrictive Covenant Agreement is involved.

 Inquire via eMail: image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

UPDATE:

I have discovered that a "Shopping Cart" is possible with eBlogger, but I need to address security Certificate Issues before I  begin to build a Shopping Cart or invite orders for the Illustrated Storybook or other products.  We are currently building inventory.

 Gnome-sized - PayPal Code

Big People - PayPal Code

This code is not usable just yet. I was trying to think of an update to give, ( being that every process I go through with this seems to be magnanimous ) and I came across this BUY IT NOW button I created. Theoretically, it should work, but I don't know that it is properly set up. So if it does take you to PayPal, don't use it yet. This is rather a test for myself. Once I get finished and have at least fifty books in inventory, I will set up a good and proper page to order books from.  Also, I just created a QR Code as a test, so that may be involved if everything works out right.

Thanks for checking in.  AG

Project Details

       An old shot of working on a puppet for the character Zach.

Details about producing activities are posted actress a multitude of sites, some of which are private. I am working to restructure the blogs to coordinate better, but also need to address Security Certificates.

You will note that the most recent posts here mostly deal with the foibles of publishing the Illustrated Storybooks and other assorted individual aspect of the overall project. Scanning the posts will give you an overview, however, The industry Review Package is being published in hard copy for persons who are serious about being involved or investing. That package includes both Summaries of activities and components of the Developing Business Plan. It also contains discussions on Licensing.

I will post links here as necessary or provide links privately via email request. I have a blog titled Producing Partners, which is private for our participants.

AG