MY MUSKOKA

ByLee Ann

The scope of Muskoka’s Main Street is a territory along the 172 kilometre length of the colonization road, stretching from Washago to just south of Lake Nipissing. My personal Muskoka is firmly anchored in a one-acre cottage property that hugs the shore of Green Bay on Three Mile Lake.

Green Bay, Three Mile Lake, Muskoka

This property has been owned by only two families in the past 150 years. The Shea family – one of the first to settle in Watt Township – took possession of it in about 1862, as part of their 200 acres of free grant land. Just over 100 years later, the Sheas subdivided their land and the lot was bought by my in-laws, Joan and Don Smith.

I love the sense of history that I get from roaming the property. I can stand on the strip of beach in the exact spot where a photo from Bert Shea’s memoir shows the pioneer Sheas in two canoes carved from one massive tree taken off Long Point. They grew wheat on our lot; I can imagine William Shea launching his canoe full of grain in 1863, to be taken over water and portage to Gravenhurst and then by pack over the Muskoka Road to Washago and the closest grist mill.

I can also picture my father-in-law sawing a hole through the ice on a winter trip to the cottage (one of my rare winter trips). And my children as babies sitting in the shallow water, their diapers swelling up to alarming proportions. I can hear the chatter that accompanied my sister and I stirring vats of macaroni salad for “Cousin Fest.”

In Muskoka, it’s all about the land, isn’t it? The craggy grey rock with its distinctive pink grain, rising in sheer cliffs or, as on our lot, poking out from the thin, sandy soil. It’s also about the trees: the mixed hardwood forests that still tower out of that inhospitable base. The Sheas named Green Bay not for the colour of the water in late summer, but for the trees that ringed the bay, and still do. 

Maybe above all else, Muskoka is about the lakes. The whole of Green Bay was once the playground of the pioneer Shea and Veitch families. Imagine having that as your back yard! I can imagine it. Because part of this bay is my Muskoka, rooted in Muskoka pioneer history and now Smith family history.

I used to define my Muskoka within this boundary. Muskoka’s Main Street has given me an even richer scope.

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!

MUSKOKA ROAD END TO END: How Not to Take Pictures

ByLee Ann

Geoff and I just returned from another venture along the Muskoka Road, this time to take pictures of me on the road. Amazingly, after all this time, I had no pictures of me on the road. 

Lee Ann at the start of the MCR (Washago)

 We also took the opportunity to take some “today” shots of the main streets of six Muskoka-Parry Sound towns, matching today’s view with that of historical photos I have in the book. A very cool comparison, especially when some buildings are still standing!

Washago 1903

One thing of note, though, is that 19th century photographers invariably stood in the middle of the road when taking “main street” pictures. Not a good idea with today’s traffic. We had to take turns standing guard for each other, when trying to get the same vantage point.

Washago 2012

Oh – a word of advice for those of you considering a venture where you drive 370 kilometres to Muskoka, then a further 170+ kms from one end of a road to the other, through at least six towns over two days, taking 63 photos. Check the settings on your camera.

Yes! Imagine my horror when I uploaded 63 very blue pictures to my computer. That’s what you get when the camera is set for incandescent light.

O.M.G. Somehow they did not look blue on the camera screen .

Luckily all my photos will be black and white in the book, so I am saved.

Onwards!

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BABY BOOMER IN THE BLOGOSPHERE: Book Marketing in the 21st Century

ByLee Ann

I’m about to take a giant leap forward in the online world.

My friends and family will LOL about this, knowing that I have only very recently got a smart phone and I don’t even have email on it. Queen of the Baby Steps, that’s me.

When it comes to Muskoka’s Main Street, though, I paid close attention to what the Writers’ Union of Canada’s recent webinar advised about the opportunities in the land of the Internet. Of course I have a website. I even have a blog – not bad for a baby-boomer! What I want to do next is to extend my reach a bit, and use the Internet to make the book as interesting and as visible as possible.

My friend Lynn is my technical guru and hand-holder in this process. She builds websites that are “smooth, elegant, bright and beautiful” – what more could anyone want? I already love the new look she’s put together for me. Stay tuned for the launch of the revamped look!

Beyond the flash will be lots of substance, including:

  • An interactive map of the Muskoka Road,
  • ‘Share’ buttons for Facebook and Twitter users, although I am not a big Facebook user myself and I do not tweet,
  • A ‘pinnable’ book cover icon for Pinterest users. 

But wait, there’s more! I will create a Facebook page for the book, beef up my LinkedIn information, and research book bloggers to see if it makes sense to approach any of them.

And you thought all a writer had to do was write.

BOOK MARKETING, Part 1: WRITERS AS PUBLICISTS

ByLee Ann

Muskoka’s Main Street is expected to hit the market in late spring of this year. Although I’m still busy editing the manuscript, it’s not too early to start thinking about how I will help the book find its readers.

Books do not find their way into the hands of readers on their own, or by magic, or just through the efforts of publishers and bookstores. Writers must be very active in promoting their books. This goes for all writers, self-published or not. And the book market is a complex world these days, traditional and electronic, filled with as many opportunities as you can create for yourself.  

I recently attended my first ever webinar – a seminar presented over the web – run by the Writers Union of Canada. Called “How to Be Your Own Publicist,” it offered ideas both traditional and electronic, and spurred my thinking about what would suit my book, my potential readers and my personality.

The big question is: who are my readers? I’ve already done some thinking about that. “Are You My Reader?”

Second question: Where can I find my readers? At the bookstore, yes, and I will certainly help my publisher’s efforts by approaching  bookstores, particularly those in the Ottawa area that are known to support local authors. Bookstores are not the only place to sell books, though. For me there’s also:

  • Writers’ festivals in Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing and Ottawa
  • Book clubs, both physical and virtual
  • Historical societies and libraries, and even
  • Magazines, where I can write articles related to the topics and themes of the book.

Publishers don’t usually do book launches any more; instead of one big splash they tend to organize several smaller events and readings. I expect to participate in many of these, and to host some of my own in Ottawa and Muskoka.

Over the next couple of months, my publisher and I will come up with a promotion plan for Main Street. Meanwhile, I’m looking into the online world for other opportunities to spread the news about this exciting new book! More on that next time.

NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY PHOTOS

ByLee Ann

My book designer has provided more historical photos for me to consider. Over two dozen of them – many are fabulous shots of the Muskoka Road, the villages that grew up along it, and the trains and steamboats that competed with it.

I am rich with photos! And drowning in detail once again as I struggle to keep track of which ones I want, which ones get replaced, and where they all go. There are captions to write or re-write, sources to cite, new permissions to obtain.

I did have fun suggesting which photos I thought should be used for the beginning of each chapter. This gave me the pleasure of looking at my favourite shots again.