LiquidSilence

Here's an image of the back cover of the book.  It should give a little more of an idea of what you could expect to find inside.

Back Cover

Here's the cover of the book. The (hopefully) final version is at the printer now and a proof copy is on the way. Once I have the proof, depending upon any revisions I think the final edition should be available within a couple of weeks. And, as promised, it will be available as a freely downloadable eBook. Why? More on that later.

Leaning Weightless on the Breeze Front Cover

I am currently in the process of downloading the "final" cover art for the book at this very moment.  After that, it's just a matter of a few Photoshop tweaks to get the text arranged just the way I want it.

I've finalized the design/layout of the interior of the book.  I've used OpenOffice for the entire project and I couldn't be happier with the ease-of-use and flexibility that it offers.  It's free to download, so there's no reason not to give it a try.  It has definitely come a long way in the last couple of versions.

So, a minor rework to the preface that I've been putting off and that concludes the interior contents of the book.  That means it's off to the publisher soon.  Woohoo!  Finally!

I've pretty well settled on using a Creative Commons license for the entirety of the text.  That means that while you will be able to purchase a "real" soft-cover version if you choose, you will also be able to download and share the entire book freely in an electronic format.  I think that type of license is a natural fit for this project.  I'd love to hear any feedback on giving the book away for free versus using a tightly controlled "All Rights Reserved" license.

 

I am currently dealing with no less than my fourth graphic artist.  It has been an ongoing struggle.  The book that I'm currently attempting to publish has been completed (in the content sense) for some time.  In fact, most of it is older material that I finally organized and polished.  Originally the goal was to publish the book in February 2009... that's what the first draft of the Title Page said anyway.  Obviously, that didn't happen. 

Part of the hold up has been dealing with artists in an attempt to get a book cover I can live with.  My first artist was a total flake that offered to help and never came through.  The second artist was referred to me by someone and I saw some examples of her work.  We had a lunch meeting where we talked about the book and ideas for the cover.  She took notes and listened attentively.  She said she'd have a draft back to me within two weeks.  That was months ago.

The third artist was also a referral.  She seemed professional; she had a contract for me to sign and a portfolio.  We talked about the design (she also took notes).  I thought we had a pretty clear understanding of what I was after.  We signed the contract.  I paid half the fee and we agreed to meet in one week for a review of the first draft.  We met.  I gave her some input and she said she'd have a final draft completed in another week.  She canceled that meeting; sick.  The next week she was unavailable.  I've emailed her twice for status updates since... no reply.  That was weeks ago.  So, she has half the money for the job and I have nothing.

That leaves me at artist #4.  So far we've been in fairly regular communication since I told him what I wanted.  I think he's beginning to understand what I need and has given me several rough drafts for evaluation.  None have been exactly what I want, but they have gotten progressively closer.  That seems like a good thing.  I'm hoping that he can give me something completed by the end of October.

But, just in case, I've contacted Artist #5 as a pre-emptive measure.