Tag Archives: indesign

Proofing the Proof

I’ve read that proofreading a manuscript is best done with a printed copy rather than on a computer screen. The reason has to do with the way in which the eye-brain connection handles the task of processing the words, and that it’s easier to catch errors when they are on paper. Over the years of toil with my novel, I’ve generally not bought into that theory, primarily because in practical terms my experience didn’t validate it. A far more relevant factor in determining the effectiveness of a self-edit seemed to be familiarity. I’ve read every sentence in one version or … Continue reading

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Indie War – Divide and Conquer

I’m a “list guy” and prolific note taker. Two weeks ago a stack of file folders stuffed with papers sat on my desk. It was three inches high, the record of trials and tribulations associated with learning how to prepare the manuscripts and covers for both the ebook and print editions of my novel. Inevitably during a long project, I frequently experience the compulsive urge to start yet another list. As I sat here trying to make sense of what I’d accomplished and what remained of various “To Do” lists, I found myself very nearly catatonic. At those moments I … Continue reading

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Visitor Stories Logbook – A New Addition

My original intention for the Visitor Stories Logbook was for it to serve as a kind of “guest blogger” destination where thousands of my avid fans would queue up for the opportunity to share aviation-related interests and experiences. That hasn’t happened, of course, although three writer friends responded to my pleas for content very soon after I launched the site, and their stories exceeded my expectations. In the wake of that initial activity and without receiving any additional input from others, I soon decided to expand the purpose of the logbook by publishing aviation stories of interest to me that … Continue reading

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Indie War Dispatch – Wraparound Background

The short-version backstory on this continuing series of posts is very simple: with more time than spare change lying around, I decided to personally accomplish each of the tasks required to publish my novel as an ebook for all the popular ereading devices and make it available on as many distribution outlets as possible, along with offering a paperback edition through print-on-demand. At this point in my account of the war, I had been actively seeking help on two forums, one for Photoshop Elements (PSE) and the other for InDesign (ID). Etiquette as well as practical considerations prevent crossing the … Continue reading

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Dispatch From the Indie Front Lines – More Cover Battles

If any of my fellow Texans are viewing this post as a single dedicated page (rather than on the Home Page with the fighter pilot header), I’ve set the featured image to remind you what water looks like. I’m not confident that it will ever rain again. If the fighter pilot is giving you the eagle eye, click on the post title. As noted in an earlier post, my brother and I call it The McIntosh Brothers’ Pandora’s Box Syndrome, referring to the manner in which something that appears to be a relatively simple task will suddenly expand out of … Continue reading

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Update From the Indie Publishing Front Lines

Recapping recent battles in the war: Scrub the original Word.doc file formatted for submission to agents to remove all the “messy” troublemakers like extra returns, tabs, spaces, etc. Follow the guidelines of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and PubIt (Barnes&Noble) to prepare a single .doc file for conversion to .epub and .mobi. Create another .doc file using the Smashwords formatting guidelines. Use Calibre to create the .epub and .mobi versions of the ebook. Design a cover for the ebooks with Photoshop Elements. Upload the .epub and .mobi files to PubIt and KDP along with the cover. Create a template for the … Continue reading

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Wraparound Covers

I regret the absence of screen grabs in this post to illustrate the process of designing my cover, but based on the advice of “counsel” I’ll keep it under wraps until the decision to indie-publish the novel becomes a reality. Based on a recent post by Dean Wesley Smith, that might occur sooner than previously anticipated. Stay tuned for ramblings on that topic. In the meantime, I have added images from Editing Historical Fiction, a fascinating website that makes me want to write a Western. Last week after using InDesign to format the interior of my novel for the trade … Continue reading

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A Fifth (and Final?) Format Follows the Fourth

If you’ve been following the trials and tribulations of this writer’s efforts to prepare for the possibility of indie publishing his novel, you might have predicted that the fourth version of his manuscript would not be the final one for very long. And you would have been correct. Although Microsoft Word is adequate for producing a file that will be converted to .pdf for uploading to Amazon’s CreateSpace, the following quote from Build Your Book by Walton Mendelson got my attention: I assume you are are not going to learn a desk top publishing application like Adobe’s In-Design. If you … Continue reading

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