And It’s Go For Printing

OMG this is nerve wracking!

I’ve reviewed the final hardcopy proof from my printer, Swallowtail Print and it’s now approved for printing.

They sent me a full copy of the book, unbound (so all pages are separate) to check. The video below shows what it looks like spread about the lounge. There are 167 pages all told, and over 180 photographs.

Even though I’ve read through it a million times, I still found the odd typo here and there. I think one goes blind to it after a while.

To ensure I caught every little error, I’ve had several external proof readers including my wife Suzie, and friends Elizabeth and Kayte. They have been vital in honing the text, making it cleaner and crisper, and spotting mistakes. I’m sure something will sneak through, but I hope we’ve minimised the chances with all the checks we’ve done.

Today I approved the final version for the printer, so it will now move to the next stage of physical printing, hardcover production, and binding. In 3-4 weeks I’ll receive a pallet of boxes containing 250 first edition Skye At Night books, and hope like crazy that you’ll all buy the lot and I have to do another print run of 500 or 1000 or more.

I’m targeting an average of £10/book profit after printing and distribution costs. All that profit will be donated to the Skye Mountain Rescue Team. The amount varies depending on whether orders will come through this website (lowest cost), through Amazon (more expensive) or from a physical retailer. More on this later.

The whole process of producing an actual physical book has been fascinating and not for the faint-hearted.

I’ve used Lightroom’s Book module to handle the layout and format of the book. This is rather more restrictive compared to a fully featured publishing package, but it has the amazing advantage of reflecting changes (e.g. adjusting exposure or saturation) in any images immediately into the book layout. It also makes it seamless and easy to add more images without having to export them from one application and import them the publishing package.

There are some downsides, such as not supporting CMYK and not allowing much flexibility for page size and cover design. Text placement is rather rudimentary and there’s no spell checker.

However, with an excellent printer like Swallowtail Print, it’s not an issue as they are able to handle format conversion for me which is a huge relief.

Getting the images on paper to look right is also a hard job, as a screen emits light and paper reflects it. Correct screen brightness and calibration is a pain but I got it all pretty close and I doubt anyone is going to either notice or complain.

Now I wait to see the first copies. After five years of work I’m as nervous as a nervous thing. Keep an eye on this website and Insta & Facebook for when sales go live. Please be good, please be good, please be good….

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