All I can see are the typos
I'm glad that most book critics take only a cursory glance at the book itself (common wisdom says that the press kit is by far the more perused item), because now that we have a thousand copies sitting in storage, I seem destined to flip the book open to typo after typo. The ultimate responsibility lies with me, of course. I feel sure that some of these errors were pointed out in the proofing process, and through poor version control I managed to let them slip into the final printout.
The one that jabbed me tonight was the misspelling of Shakespeare's name: Shakesepeare. Ouch. Fortunately for us, galley copies (the ones going to the really important press) have the excuse of being "uncorrected," so it is assumed that typos will be squashed before the book actually goes to press. Yeah, right.
But I'm trying not to focus on that, and instead I'm working on getting these press kits and galleys out the door. As you will recall I ordered letterhead ages ago but it was too complex for the printer. Of course this delays the whole process while we wait for some simpler stuff to be printed up, but in the meantime Christina and I have prepared some pretty good looking folders (red with a postcard of the cover cemented to the front), inside each of which is another postcard, a flat print of the cover (we had extras printed with the books), and a pair of 3-D glasses with a
Reel Shame sticker on each arm. The press release, etc will be printed on the letterhead when it arrives and the galleys will go out with these press kits. And I'll be sure to proof the text of those about eight times.
Self-punishment for typographical errors aside, I'm pretty darn proud of our little baby. The cover looks darned good and I think we'll sell quite a few copies on the strength of that alone. Best $100 we ever spent was on licensing that photo.
And on to other topics
This weekend was a minor whirlwind, with the arrival of Amy and Tanya late Friday night. Amy had brought along the dastardly iMac that has caused so much trouble, and it continued to do so until I finally wrestled it into submission – we think. She may yet end up taking it to the Apple Store, but I know I have done my utmost.
Saturday night saw a congregation of friends at the Inn on the Beach for the annual Surf, Turf, and Spud with Amy's folks, Betsy and Wayne. Books were signed and passed around, of course. We even gave them one to take to the Eaton library. (Or is it the Preble County Library?) Scott and Amy E. came along and we spent a long time watching the sunset and eating Wayne's fine barbecue (steak and shrimp, naturally) and baked potatoes. Amy and Tanya hadn't told W&B they were coming, so we brought extra steak and some funeral potatoes to make up for the extra mouths.
More on the weekend to come – I just looked at the time and thought about the fact that I'm working in the morning. Blogging can wait.
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