BOOK DESIGN

ByLee Ann

It’s been a ride and a half getting the manuscript to the point where Gary, my book designer, can start laying out the pages. By my count, I’ve pressed the send button for the final time three times now. Once to the Dominic, the editor. Once to add more photos. Once to incorporate all the “front matter”: preface, introduction, publisher’s message, endorsements.

This is the process of refinement that gives a book its final polish. As I write this, Gary has done a preliminary layout and in doing that, has read the text through again. He says he can’t help it, especially with a book so interesting,which is high praise from a man who’s already read it twice. I’m busy responding to his questions and suggestions. Meanwhile, editor Dominic has also reviewed the manuscript once more and provided some suggested tweaks to Patrick, the publisher, who is giving the text a thorough read himself. This book will shine diamond-bright from all the polishing!

What you will be dazzled by first, though, is the design. Main Street has so much visual appeal, starting with the cover: 

Inside, this is not a simple novel, which consists of page after page of plain text with a header, a footer and some chapter pages. Main Street has over a dozen “sidebars”and 100-plus photos and maps that must be fit into the right places in the text, enhancing not distracting from the text itself. Every single page is unique, yet follows an overall design that dictates column width, text placement and presentation.

Book design is both creative and technical; every element requires a decision. Fonts are chosen for readability and for a style that reflects the nature of the book. Page size and paper type are based on the content, the number and size of illustrations, and the cost of printing. Muskoka’s Main Street will be seven by nine inches, printed on high quality white paper, and will run about 230 pages. 

Every page will sparkle!

LIFE AFTER MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

ByLee Ann

I submitted the manuscript about a week ago (did you hear the cosmic boom?) Yes, it felt great! Yes, I feel lighter, more relaxed, able to lift my head above my computer screen and remember what else is happening in my life.

Submitted manuscript: 144 pages

Geoff and I promptly went on a little getaway, then came back and did some fun home improvement projects. Nothing like new paint and light fixtures to generate fresh energy!

Gary (my master map-maker and book designer) kept busy in the meantime, as did my publisher. We now have a production schedule that will put the book in the hands of readers by about the end of May. That means:

  • By March 20, the final manuscript, all illustrations and cover material need to be in the book designer’s hands.
  • By April 30, the book goes to the printer.

Between now and March 20, lots happens:

  1. Substantive Edit. In this process the editor reviews the structure and content of the manuscript and suggests reorganization or changes to clarify the text.
  2. Introduction and cover ‘blurbs’. These are endorsements of the book by people who have knowledge of the area, topic, or are writers of similar kinds of books.
  3. About the Writer, About This Book. These are short blurbs for the cover, and used in press releases.
  4. Author Photos. (Two of them.)
  5. Final decisions on illustrations. I’ve submitted over 90 photos and maps (not counting the custom maps). Both my book designer and my publisher have ideas for others that should be included.
  6. Copy Edit. This is a detailed, line by line review for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanics of style, plus consistency of language usage and of facts.

All of these are collaborative efforts between me, the publisher and book designer. Some of this work has already started, like changes to photos and maps, and preliminary book design. 

When all is final, I will see a “proof” of the book before it goes to print.

Meanwhile, we also start marketing. And did I mention the interactive website? Stay tuned – there’s more than new paint and light fixtures going on around here!

MUSKOKA’S MAIN STREET: The Subtitle

ByLee Ann

Subtitles for non-fiction books generally follow a formula: Title (usually in the form of a clever phrase or ‘hook’), then a colon, then the Subtitle (which usually explains what the book is about.) Here are two examples:

  • Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada by Donica Belisle, and
  • Boys and Girls in No Man’s Land: English Canadian Children and the First World War by Susan R. Fisher

It takes some time and effort to find a title that really nails the essence of a book and also helps it appeal to as wide a readership as possible. My very first draft of this was Muskoka’s Main Street: The Muskoka Colonization Road. Although we were both happy  with the title, my publisher and I wanted to expand the subtitle to include several key elements about the road, and also to draw in readers beyond the boundaries of Muskoka. So the subtitle evolved to “150 Years of Life Along an Ontario Colonization Road.”

I still wasn’t sure it captured enough essential elements of the book. So I turned to my trusted writers, Lynn and Jen, and we conducted a brainstorm session via email. (My facilitator friends will be interested to know this process worked fine, although without the same energy level as a live brainstorming session.)

The measure of a successful brainstorm is not the quality but the quantity of the ideas. No idea is “bad”‘; they all contribute to getting to a solution. Every suggestion sparks something else.

I started the ball rolling with several options, they responded with new suggestions, with combining some options, and suggesting elements they felt were essential, like including the phrase “Muskoka Colonization Road.” Over the course of two days, we played with about 20 different options, variations and permutations, until one emerged that met the criteria and satisfied all of us.

You may or may not agree with the final choice – and it may change again before final printing – but here is a peek at some of the ideas we went through to decide on a subtitle.

  • Courage and Adventure on the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • Free Land and  Heartache on the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • Personalities and Perils on the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • The Story of the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • Stories of Courage and Adventure on the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • An Ontario Colonization Roads Success Story
  • How a Pioneer Road Carved the Canadian Shield and Opened Up Ontario’s Cottage Country
  • 150 Years of History and Adventure on the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • The Surveyors, Settlers and Entrepreneurs Who Built the Muskoka Colonization Road
  • The Surveyors, Settlers and Entrepreneurs Who Carved a Road Through the Canadian Shield
  • The Surveyors, Settlers and Entrepreneurs Who Carved a Community in the Canadian Shield
  • The Surveyors, Settlers and Entrepreneurs Who Opened Up  Ontario’s Cottage Country
  • The Adventure Story of One Ontario Colonization Road
  • What it Took To Open up Ontario One Colonization Road at a Time

See how the process works? And how we built on ideas? And all the elements we were trying to include?

The final choice is this: Muskoka’s Main Street: 150 Years of Courage and Adventure Along the Muskoka Colonization Road. It captures the history, the name of the road and two key human elements – courage and adventure – at the heart of the book.

 What do you think?

REVISING THE MANUSCRIPT, PART 4: Surgical Removal of Darlings

ByLee Ann

“Kill all your darlings” is a piece of writing advice that is attributed to a couple of sources. American writer William Faulkner is most often credited, but he apparently paraphrased British writer Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s recommendation to “murder your darlings”. In any case, the advice is to delete anything you write that you particularly like, the logic being that if you like is so much you obviously are not being objective and therefore it must not be as good as you think. So cut it.

I’ve never liked this idea. I prefer the following formula: Draft 2 = Draft 1 – 10%. I believe any piece of writing can be culled by 10% and will be better for it. To me, using the formula allows for a more judicious pruning, not just a brute chopping of anything I think is particularly well written.

Before I finished my research for Muskoka’s Main Street, I still believed what many sources told me: that the road ended up in North Bay. During the time I was hunting down the truth about that, I did quite a bit of research on North Bay and learned some really interesting things about it. None of which is particularly relevant to my story, now that I know the road went nowhere near North Bay. But I like what I wrote, so I’ve kept it in. Until today, when I took out my literary surgical instruments.

So here are 344 words about the origins of NorthBay, which you will not be reading in Muskoka’s Main Street.

Sorry, darlings.

REVISING THE MANUSCRIPT PART 3: Stuffing a Rag Doll

ByLee Ann

I never had a rag doll when I was a little girl; mine was the era of plastic Barbie and Ken. I’ve been thinking, though, that this round of editing is very much like stuffing a rag doll – say, one that is well-loved but getting a bit flabby.

I’m slicing into the manuscript and adding more detail in various parts. Some are at the heart of the story (road elevations, expanded detail about some of the settlements along the way) and some provide additional supporting information (steamboat lines).

Slice, open, stuff, close. My rag doll of a manuscript is fuller now, although maybe a little lumpy. “Editing Part 4” will involve a general review, to make sure the extra padding is all smoothed out and has resulted in a plumped-up, complete story.

Hmmm. Maybe this isn’t like a rag doll after all. Maybe it’s more like Botox Barbie!

REVISING THE MANUSCRIPT, Part 2

ByLee Ann

This is what revision looks like. It’s messy and it takes up a lot of room on my dining room table. Spread out over the work area you can see:

  • Five manuscript critiques, each one giving me suggestions for change, questions to clarify, corrections and more detail.
  • Maps, to help orient myself and provide accurate descriptions to my readers
  • Laptop for Internet access, to find yet more information in answer to the questions.

This is the Big Review. It resulted in a manuscript about 12,000 words longer than the first draft. You can see the new total in the word counter at the right-hand side of the blog.

I now move on to Final Review. This involves one more read-through of the entire manuscript. My cartographer Gary, who has been drawing the custom maps for the book, has double and triple-checked the route of the Muskoka Road using all his resources: topographical maps, aerial maps, Google maps. Rewrites will result! I’ll also be adding more detail about things like the Canadian Shield in Muskoka (almost a character in its own right), steamships, and the villages at the north end of the Muskoka Road. I’ll be double and triple-checking all the distances and dates I’ve cited in the book, and reviewing my  files to make sure I’ve included everything I have learned over the past year and a half of research.

At this stage as well, I’m putting together what is known as the “front matter” and “back matter” of the book: the preface, acknowledgements, dedication, bibliography.

And yes, there are still a few key illustrations I need to track down.

Am I sick of revision? No – and good thing too. Once it’s submitted to the publisher, the first thing that happens is a whole new round of editing.