Coming to a Milestone with Publication - Still Some Miles to Go!!

Okay, my lovely ones who are persevering with me on this journey - now ten months long with the self publication aspect - here is some news!

This past week I received the FIRST full look at my entire manuscript from the typesetter. 

They are the ones that ready the manuscript for printing. 

My job now is to go through every word and page alignment (text and photos) and okay it or ask that what is not "right" be re-done. 

It is quite more "real" to see this PDF and how all has been put together. There are many needs I am addressing as I go through it in regard to formatting and have run into a few typos of my own.

Gratefully, as I am self-publishing, I have the final okay.

Once I get through this stage, I will submit it and any corrections will be made (hopefully) and I will get it back for another "go through".

There is one interior graphic that was not implemented correctly and that re-do will take place once the graphic designer is back from her honeymoon mid-August. 

I have no clue ( have not been told) as to how long it will take when all of this formatting/typesetting is completed for the books to be printed - they will be sending me a few "free ones"!! 

An eBook will be prepared elsewhere once all is okayed for printing. It is possible that printing may  be done before I am ready to launch the book for sale. There is a lot more I need to seek out in terms of information about the business side of this and I want to be clear before the book is launched.

I am kept on a pretty short leash regarding information as the publisher believes in one step at a time. 

I am still seeking (and have word out) for a website teacher who will take me on in person to complete a website. A website  was barely begun with help online in April but that instructor "left" with promises of returning. I realize I do need someone "at my elbow" to help me navigate this process. I learned a lot in the two weeks the online instructor was with us but am now very lost in implementing what I learned.

 I have the vision for the website which is a plus. If you'd please pray for this need, I am most appreciative.

As I have said all along, the timing of when this all comes together IS in God's hands. As frustrating as the delays have been - more correctly the human reasons for the delays - they are all working toward good. 

The finished book is going to be a wonder! I can barely wait to have "her" available to nourish and encourage others.

Below are photos taken in 2011 as  I readied notebooks of the full manuscript for those who said they would endorse my book. My workspace (the rug and my couch) are most lovely, don't you think!!

However, this will give you a peek at the size the book will be (8.5 x 11). The image is a watercolor done for the text message it reflects. There are 5 such watercolors in the book which were done specifically for it. The rest of the images are 55 full page color photos of real life images - not sketches. And there are 5 interior graphics which are photos used as "headers" with some text flowing out of them. 

Okay - off to work I go and am glad to update you as we round the bend going into August.

Thanks for all your support and prayers!!!

xo  Lynn

July Update on Publication Journey!!

My Journey with the Library of Congress!!

Oh, how I love the Library of Congress - the literal Library!

It is breathtakingly beautiful. 

When I was in 8th grade, and other times in my life, I lived in the Washington, D.C. area.

Back at the time I was in 8th grade, no one under 16 years of age was allowed to use the Library of Congress to do research or check out books. But my 8th grade teacher wanted our class to learn to write a term paper, complete with footnotes, and other resource information. As we were not 16 years of age, we were 14, she got permission from the Library of Congress for any of her students to use the Library. 

I remember taking the bus to get to the Library to work on my FIRST ever important piece of writing in 1957. My subject was Thomas Jefferson who I was later, in my young adult life, to learn had been responsible in selling a large collection of his personal library of books to help build up the collection in a new Library of Congress after the original building was loss to fire in the early 1800's.  

My 8th grade experience was  back in the day of card catalogues in drawers with the names of books the Library had, finding the right book resource one wanted, taking the information up to the main desk, submitting a slip that was put in a carrier tube and sent down to the stacks and soon the books were delivered and I could sit in this quiet setting and do my research!! 

I am sure that a whole new system is in place in 2016!!

Fast Forward to December, 2015 (58 years later) and I have full color photographs in my devotional book which is in the process of being published. I had gone online to access the site for getting my photos copyrighted. That application was completed and filed with the copyright office 

The means to digitally upload my 67 photos was beyond my know how so I went with the option to mail off hard copies of my photos. I got prints made and where did they have to be sent? 

 The Library of Congress! 

It was not until I was addressing my package to mail to Washington, D.C. that the connection of my 8th grade experience collided with what is currently happening! 

It made me smile!

On June 24, 2016 - my final approval of interior graphics and a sample template of my manuscript, Seeking the Light of God’s Comforter, When Challenges Dim Our View, was ready to be sent to the typesetter. I emailed it off with my “OK” to my book’s project manager, Amber who lives in Ohio. 

On July 7, 2016, I got this message from her: 

I have good news as far as Seeking the Light of God's Comforter! I will be able to send everything to the typesetter today, since I finally got your Library of Congress Card Catalog Number back from their office! I'll let you know when I have a file for you to review! I'm so happy we're finally at this very important step! 

And I am, too. 

There are still miles to go after the see-saw of my receiving the manuscript back from the typesetter and reviewing it, making any corrections, and eventually getting to the point where that part is finished. 

Stay tuned - the saga continues!!