Lulu book

For my Lulu book, I reworked an older book. The first book I did on Lulu, Roast had a lot of issues. I didn't know much about any of the Adobe programs. I wasn't really knowledgeable about the world of self publication. I just knew that I wanted to put out my work. I did everything in Microsoft Word. I used the formatting from Lulu's website combined with what I had read about "industry standards" on various websites. You know the ones. They're the sites with the random Googled GIFs on books opening and feather quills scrolling across the page. They have too many words and read as though the author spent so much time considering book formatting that they had no clue about actual web formatting. They're the ones you should really trust.
So, of course, I trusted them. I took their advice on spacing and page breaks and page numbering. I made my pdf.

It looked horrible. There was so much white space on the page. The font was gigantic. But, I figured, maybe something is lost on the screen. Perhaps, when my finished book makes its way from Massachusetts, it will be peachy keen and I will be a happy man.
It didn't work out. But, it wasn't so bad that I reeled. OK. So I reeled a little bit, but I was also overcome with the excitement of having a professionally perfect bound edition of my work, that I just approved it and wrote off the issues. I didn't know enough about any of the programs I could have used to fix it to worry much about it anyway.

Luckily, as it turns out, the size I chose for the book is no longer available for distribution with Lulu and I had the opportunity to go back in and correct the issues that arose with the first version. And so that's what I did.

Utilizing InDesign, I fixed the page layout. I changed the font. I fixed the kerning and the white space. I ensured that every "chapter" start - for this piece, actually every "new POV start" - began at the same place on the page. I changed the size from a 5x8 to a 6x9. It also dropped from a 109 page paperback of short stories to a 74 page paperback of short stories, lowering the price (since I am selling this one) to a much more reasonable price point.
I also changed my cover. Slightly. As I was going in anyway to change the size of the cover and the barcode to reflect the new price point, I used my brand new Photoshopping skills to chnage the text, add additional text to the back cover, and add text to the spine. Which - wapow! - I did correctly on the first try.

Here is a direct link to the new version. I have it currently as "direct access" which allows you to pass out links for people to view or purchase it without having it available to everyone via Lulu's search engine. It's a good thing to do if you don't want to release it before the proof, but still want people - like this class perhaps - to be able to view it. The download on it is priced because I was already selling both versions, but since it's a direct link currently, I'll try to get back in there and change it to zero if people want to download a copy of the pdf. But it's a limited time offer. Once I approve the book for distribution again, I'll be pricing the download again. So act now!


As a bit of reference, here's a side by side comparison of the old versus the new:

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'Zine Distribution

In considering how to distribute Malform, I played around with a few options. One was to continue with my tried and true habit of placing them at work for folks to pick up. Kind of an easy out, and a coffee shop cliche, but what the hell. The other was mailing them to friends and family back home in Georgia. The third, and the one I decided to go with, leaves me with the remaining copies after our class exchange, still in my hands. For now.

I've got 10 copies of Hymn headed my way to sell around town. I figured I'd do the Quimby's thing with it, and perhaps try to get a copy or two into some other spots. I want to offer Malform up as a bonus with those copies. Or, perhaps, as a freebie at places where the book is sold to get folks interested in dropping the cash on the book. That way, the 'zine can act not only as a means of getting my stuff out there, but also as a form of guerrilla marketing. Not to mention, having an excerpt from the next novel I plan on releasing - if I ever get around to finishing it - helps to maintain an interest. Or at least I'd like to think it does.

As this plan leaves the 'zines in place for the moment, I have no pictures to post. So instead, I shall present a screen shot of my order from Lulu. It's still "fulfilling." But it should be coming soon.

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The Stuff of Legend

Anndell Quintero's La Peregrina: A New Myth for Panama (re)cast/(re)imagined/(re)created produces a sort of fancy reverence, a nostalgic longing, in it's reader. It is written keenly with an eye toward the informative, a glimpse into the mythos of what was, and a hand clasped firmly around the author's heritage and sense of humor. Even the cover, with it's slick bold font on velum over a map of Panama, presents a winking nod that the reader must return to once more. ["(re)cast" - the central story revolves around a pearl; "(re)created" - the pearl buys a man his freedom or "recreation." Okay, maybe I was pushing that one a bit.]
What works best about this 'zine is the state of limbo it places the reader in. In her introduction, Anndell writes of her practice as an author and an artist, of her need to present the stories of her memory in a means outside of convention, as a sort of bridge between the true story of what was and the imagined space of what it could be. As the tale of the "New Myth" begins (and finished out the 'zine), the reader is forced to choose between what is real and what is reimagined. Or perhaps "forced" is the wrong word. Perhaps it is more of a happy circumlocution, a wandering around through language and a reverence for memory that has not yet lost its sense of wonder or humor. Even the stern and bold black and white formatting, the lush deep tones of the text and photographs, and the "I-should-be-taken-seriously" map on the cover cannot hide the wonder prevelent within the anecdote, and only serve to push the dicotomic state of the 'zine further.
Anndell grounds her "New Myth" with photographs, many of which were taken by the author herself, and references to icons relatable in all cultures. She spans across lines of historical memory in a way that not only enriches the reader's desires to know more about the author and Panama, but also their own history and culture. Or at the very least, the means in which they interpret their own memories.

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MALFORM

Presenting Malform: brief tales and short stories about the oddity of the human condition.

Malform presents three (3) short stories -- "Still,"
"Bullet," and "Words Carved into Stone; Wood Left Unharmed" --
as well as an introduction to the forthcoming novel
Daredevil Amphibians.

To learn more or read excerpts from the 'zine, please visit the website.

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Prelude to 'Zine documentation

Whew. Whatta day. It was one of those days that never goes exactly as planned.
I left my cell phone at work on Sunday so I was flying blind and hoping he'd remember and be there when I set out for the train to my friend Atom's house in order to shoot photos for the Lulu book.
He wasn't there.
But he did show up, about twenty minutes later. So I did end up getting the photos.

I then took the train back down to my neighborhood and headed over to the Kinkos to get my 'zine printed up. It was the worst experience I've ever had at Kinkos. And for anyone who's ever had any experience at all with Kinkos, you know that's saying a lot. Their laptop stations were down, my flash drive was formatted for Mac and wouldn't work on any of their self-service PCs. I knew this because I'd tried it before, and yet the "helpers" there made me go from computer to computer (paying for the computer usage each time) to prove to them that it wouldn't work. It was strange. Then, they wouldn't print the files from my drive through their computers (which I've had them do before) because they can only help customers with "large format printing" or emailed jobs with a 24-hour turn-around.
So I left and headed downtown to school. I put cash on my artic card for the color printer and got everything printed out. But since the B&W printers don't do copies and I didn't want to pay .89 per page on the color copier, I headed out again and went to Kinkos on Jackson.
And then Kinkos got another big Fuck You from me as I went to create a booklet and discovered that Kinkos disables that option on their copiers. It's there. It pops up. But they've twerked their systems to not actually allow it. The guy who worked there couldn't even override it.
So I had to place two 8.5x11 pages in the correct order on the copier, make my 11x17s, then feed that through to make 2-sided prints. Not a big deal, just not as easy as the booklet making tool. Plus it wasted 8 sheets of paper.
After I got the interiors done, I went to do the color covers on the copier. I had decided that the centerfold of each one would also be a large poster of one of the cover illustrations also in full color, so I'd left my central splash page open to feed through the color copier as well. Then I discovered that Kinkos has raised their color copy price to 1.89 for 11x17 (which makes no sense next to the .49 for 8.5x11 - the price more than triples?) so I ended up doing the covers in color and the central splash in B&W.
I then decided to go ahead and use their radial cutter to trim the edges/margins off each of my print outs. It was dull, loose, and broken in parts. It wasn't smooth going at all, but it did a fair enough job. And I kind of enjoy the inconsistencies and jagged edges.

Then I noticed a typo.


Then, when I finally made it home (to my first meal of the day at 8pm) I got a letter in the mail informing me to report for Jury Duty on August 14th.

Good times. Heh.


This really was not intended to be a whoa is me post. More of a giant middle finger to Kinkos. And a reminder to myself that as appealing as their open 24 hour flourescent cube may be, it's really not worth the headache.

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Planning

For 'zine #1, I decided to pull together a few short stories I'd previously written alongside the opening preface sort-of-thing for the novel I'm currently working on. So it'd kinda be like a little sample buffet of my writing, minus the sneeze guard.
I decided to use: Daredevil Amphibians: Preface; "Abbaiare A La Luna in Dm for Flute;" "Still;" "Harpen;" and "Words Carved Into Wood."
During our one on one workshopping during class, Jessica and Samantha helped me figure out some design factors. I decided to do the 'zine in the style of the Little Golden Books we can all remember reading as children.



I ran out after class to buy some supplies at Dick Blick:

I bought some pre-creased-for-easy-fold-and-probably-too-expensive-for-what-it-is cardstock in a sky blue, grass green, and cream. Sorry, I got no generic natural descriptor for the cream. Maybe "beach sand cream" could work.

I also sprang for the metallic gold drafting tape. Which is probably unneccesary, but I wanted it to emulate the gold foil from the Golden Books, and I figured it would it'd be a good way to cover up the staples.






After I walked out with my snazzy new book-making supplies (and picked up some new jeans next door) I sat on State Street for a few hours waiting for a friend of mine to come out of the casting call for Art Stars. I utilized the time to smoke way too many cigarettes and sketch out some ideas for the 'zine flow. You can see one of the sketches in the lower lefthand corner of the first photo.

Atom came out - finally - and I set plans for Monday to take photos of some of his artwork to use for my Lulu book. Bonus for getting a head start on the next one!

Once I made it home and really started going through the works, looking for images, and playing with the layout, I came to a conclusion. The design I had in mind from class and the design aesthetic I feel more drawn toward for this work are not condusive. So....

I decided to pull out "Abbaiare..." and stick in "Bullet." I'm going with an early 19th century illustration aesthetic for the 'zine. I also decided to use "Abbaiare..." and the Golden Books design (which really fits that story well) for Book#2. How's that for having the next three projects planned in advance?
The downside of this change in design is that I'm back to the drawing board on supplies for this particular 'zine. So, it's off to the Blick again tomorrow to figure out the cover color/stock for this one. Or maybe it's an upside. I love shopping for paper. Or office supplies in general, actually. Woohoo!

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Hymn

So, Hymn is officially for sale. Which is super exciting for me. I also pulled together a super makeshift webpage for it. But I'm proud of it because my skills in web development are minimal at best.
Here's a screen shot:
It's interactive to an extent and there's a few "eggs" in it, including the text to "Mongers" which I used for Chapbook #1.

There's also a link to purchase the book, if anyone is so inclined. Heh.
But as I mentioned before, the markup is ridiculous. I'm ordering some hard copies to sell at Little Branch and perhaps Quimby's and beyond. Because of my discount (or purchase at cost) and the bulk discount, I plan to sell them for a more reasonable price in hard copy. At least at first.

If anyone in class has any marketing or distribution tips, I'd love to hear 'em.

Cheers.

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