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Another Must-See: Croatia, Croatia, Croatia

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Almost five years ago, in the Fall of 2003, I spent a few weeks in Dubrovnik, Croatia, as well as along the Dalmation Coastline just above that city.  What a very special place that whole Riviera is!  I’ll share glimpses of it here by quoting from an article I submitted to the Aspen Times newspaper.  I had lived for several years in Aspen, Colorado, and even though the two cities are very different, I kept seeing comparisons.  I will just give you a few excerpts of a much longer article:

“It’s a long, long way from the last day of Snowmass Mountain’s ski season to the final days of summer in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but here I am, living a very affordable high life.  I have just arrived and comparisons with Aspen flood my mind at every turn.  Nine years in Aspen; only a few days here, but already I’m wishing that I could find some way to stay.

Both towns are embraced by imposing mountains.  Here, there’s a long and high mountain called Srd (Surge) running behind the town, and, where Aspen has Ajax Mountain on the other side, Dubrovnik has the sea. 

Oh what a sea it is!  So clean and clear and, instead of snow skiing, it offers every sort of water sport: water skiing, windsurfing, yachting, fishing, scuba diving and swimming.  We here in Dubrovnik watch this green water all the time as it changes constantly, just like the face of Ajax does with wind, sun, and the time of day.

Here, the Old Town dates back considerably longer than Aspen’s silver mining days, having been occupied since the 7th Century. History hung around visibly here and is still felt as a living, breathing entity.  These marble streets gleam and shine as if they have just been given a gloss of wax and they look like bright water in the lights of the night.”

(For more about this enchanted spot, please visit my blogsite at heyboomers.com)

“If there were more Dubrovniks in the world, only one of them would be the right one; this is the authentic only Dubrovnik of stones and light.  This open palm under the stars, extended to the world.”  Jure Kastelan.

Posted in 7th century old town, Croatia, Dubrovnik, heyboomers.com, Jure Kastelan, The best city in the world | 1 Comment »

Does Everybody Know About Macabi Skirts?

Friday, July 25th, 2008

I find myself recommending places that I discovered on my last RTW.  Here’s a thing that proved its worth and I’m thinking of ordering one or two more since I am, more than ever, motivated to lighten my luggage.  This is a very versatile , wear-like-iron, dry-in-a-flash, hiking and general use skirt which is really lightweight and good-looking.  You can catch me wearing one (though only the knees show) while riding a camel  in Egypt, if you go to see my blog headline at heyboomers.com.

This is the Macabi skirt….macabiskirt.com.  Cooler than most long pants and growing in popularity for trekking on mountain trails and then, wearing in the evening to dinner or to visit a temple or a spot where one must be nicely dressed.  I wore mine a lot during the year I was out traveling around the world, and it’s one of the few pieces that actually came back home with me, since I tended to give away and refill as I went. This will squash down into a purse, mash around, get slept in, and still come out unwrinkled.  Though my pocket zipper got stuck and I had to do surgery to get it working again, the skirt still looks brand new though it’s now three hard-wearing-years old.

Those DEEP pockets and the hidden zipper within one of them are one of the best features, as you can stash air tickets, passport, money, in the zipped back-of-pocket section, and still put your hands in and out of the regular outer portion without endangering your precious stuff.

It costs almost $80 but will live on in your wardrobe long after the cheaper stuff has come apart in your hands….or failed you in some way.

So much of the time, when we’re outside of the U.S., we are faced with the situation of needing to dress in a certain modest way in order to avoid offending great numbers of people.  The Macabi skirt will cruise you through every single situation, from walking through a conservative village to attending a swish party at an embassy (the black one would be best for this dressier function.).  When I spoke to classes in my grandchildrens’ elementary schools in Castledawson, Northern Ireland, I showed them all the trickey little things going into my RTW journey.  They loved the way I sewed $100 bills into my rain jacket’s seams for emergency use, but they were also charmed by one of the cardinal features of this Macabi skirt.

You can convert it into pants…..a blousy, Indian-looking style…..or into shorts….just by snapping the hem up in certain ways.  This allows one to fish or wade in water, or to cool off when hiking, or to wow kindergardeners….or to ride camels and elephants.  Wear it over long pants or longjohns and you have a good cold weather outfit as well.  Plus, bugs don’t bite with cloth swishing over your legs.

Men don’t get left out of this equation, as there is a Macabi version for men called a MUG.  Lots of very guy-type guys out on the trail  or kayakers, or those working in the high country, swear by them, though they do take a certain amount of guff.  Any Scotsman would understand, and according to the website there’s a growing male fan club.

Anyway, check it out.  It could become the item you choose to wear almost everyday out there on the road. 

They have a most unique two-piece jacket, as well, which I haven’t tried, but I sure am going to.  I’ve never ever seen this design anywhere.  It’s a great new idea.  After you’ve had a look at it, or better yet, bought one…… you can stump all your friends by asking them to figure out how a jacket can be two separate pieces and not just be a novelty pain in the neck, but actually useful that way.  Can you answer that question without peeking?  Didn’t think so!  (Here’s a hint: It’s actually a three-in-one.)

Still as clear as mud?  Just go have a look!  And stock up for your next big trek.

Besides, don’t you need some new duds for uni?  Back to school is right around the corner. 

Posted in 1, great travel clothing, The deal of the Millennium | No Comments »

I Am Of The Underwired Generation

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Ha!  Caught ya lookin!  I’ll bet you thought this post was all about bras, didn’t you?  Well, nope, it isn’t……in fact, I never have been underwired in that way, and never will be.  My ribs get in the way.  Now that you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, I’ll explain myself. 

In this case, it’s computer-savvy-ness that I’m talking about.  I can barely skid along the surface of the ice with all the technology we have going on all around our ears these days.  Scratch that surface and I fall in and flounder almost every time.  Obviously, I do use one or I wouldn’t be here blogging away and certainly, I wouldn’t have come this far along on producing a book.  So, I have learned what I need to know as I go, but one little test and I’m in over my head, wishing for a geek.

This brain was born too long ago to have grown up in a comfort zone with anything having the prefix of cyber.  I’m still just a little wary of it….as in afraid I’ll erase or choke something with the push of a button.  And as in a rather large lack of curiosity about what is under the hood.  All I want is for the car to run and if it doesn’t or if it needs a new gadget applied, well, duh?  Where are those geeks when you need them?

I think I’ve really done a number on myself by ordering the Microsoft Office Suite 2007. It was an impulse buy, but one I’ve been needing to make for quite awhile if I’m going to consider myself a writer of any dimension.  Yup, here we are marching into 2009, so I’ll probably soon be outdated again, anyway, but at least not so far as I have been.  So, I own the thing, but it’s still not installed because I have to get 2003 out of there and I’m scared to touch it.  Oh, where is my ten-year-old grandson when I need him?  Way off in Colorado, that’s where.  But, he could do this with his eyes shut……in his sleep…….with one hand tied behind him.

Brains are different now than they were in “My Day.”  Pretty soon, we Dodos will all be dead…..yes we will!  Another fifteen, twenty years, max, for most of us, and we will have cleared the stage and left things to the natural-born robo-minds.  Then, the geeks will have no one to rescue. 

I can’t even imagine the possibilities that will be unleashed when today’s babies grow up.  Their parents are so much the Wired Generation accustomed to tiny objects in their hands that text and call and play games with them.

I don’t even aspire to that stuff.  The big and the basic is almost too much for me.  I think that’s one reason why rough travel is so appealing. It isn’t wired very much……I was about to say it isn’t wired at all, but it is.  Nowadays, we all make airlines, hotel and hostel reservations and do all sorts of advance research, plus blogging and emailing, at the ubiquitous internet cafes all over the world and on our multiple computers at home……how did we ever get along without them?…… but, even those now qualify as rough categories. 

So, that which becomes familiar to us is rough, like an old shoe, and we can enjoy it easily, without getting all “het up” about it.  But, that which is new and strange to us, even though it could ultimately save us a whole lot of time and effort, usually makes life so difficult for awhile and wastes a lot of our time sending us into dead ends that the older we get, the more we put off trying to use it.  And the less we see a reason for needing to use it.  That’s why you will possibly always have an underwired generation of some sort.

I’ve found my sticking point and made peace with it.  Where will yours come along?  And when?  If that’s unthinkable to you now, don’t worry, you’ll be happy with yourself just the way you are.

Posted in Not your grandmother's bra, When enough is enough | No Comments »

My RTW Good-Spots-To-Go Discoveries

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

I spent all weekend proofing and correcting my manuscript and now have sent it back to my editor for finalizing, so I am fresh from a read-through of the hard copy.  I’ll share with you a few of the destinations that I found very refreshing and not so crowded.  Some of them are a bit off the beaten path:

SLOVENIA –

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, is a really darling place.  It seems quite small because the best part of it is focused on the little river/canal going right through the Old Town. Shops and cafes cluster beside the water and it’s just pleasant to be there. It’s a university town, so has a younger atmosphere.  I stayed in the Fluxus Hostel, which is relatively new, and right downtown, for around $26 for a coed bunk.  (30 beds, 1 bathroom, lots of stairs to climb to the entry, hard-to-follow directions to get there, but overall good).  This city makes a good jumping off place for all of Slovenia, which has mountains (skiing in the winter) and gorgeous coastline.

Piran, Slovenia – On the coast right at the top of the Istrian Peninsula is a wonderful medieval town on the order of some found along the Dalmation coastline in Croatia.  It is great for water sports, boating, swimming, biking. A housing accommodations office rents rooms and apartments for reasonable rates. Laid back, great food, and a different beach vacation. 

Dreznica – (Drez-nitza) is a very small village in the mountains of Slovenia, very near Trieste on the Italian border.  The closest small town is Kobarid, Slovenia.  Any War Buffs – 1st and 2nd World Wars – will love this area because lots happened here and they have preserved the history very well in museums.  Ernest Hemingway mentions Kobarid (Cappareto) in his Farewell To Arms. 

The high massifs that encircle Dreznica were scenes of some of the fighting and a million bones are still up there.  Villagers have collected so many artifacts that one of them has an attic museum to display them.  An earthquake caused most houses to need rebuilding, so now, they are quite nice and new and many have added rental accommodations, so rooms are plentiful and cheap and really nice. There’s hiking, paragliding and mountain-biking in a country, farm atmosphere. Glorious pastoral mountain views.

Right within the little village are houses cheek by jowl with their barns, tractors parked up close, chicken houses and a vegetable or flower garden, all on one building lot. Higgledy-piggledly lanes and buildings sitting every which way, just like they sprang up in the old days before city planning.  A waterfall to hike to, a huge mountain to climb. Hayfields glowing green in the setting sun. A church on a hill centerpiece in a photo-op village. The most loved and tended-to cemetary in the entire world, right next door….the cuddled dearly-departed. Ten dollar four-course dinners in the place’s only restaurant. Michelin Guide eating in Kobarid. Italy eight miles away. It doesn’t get much better than this!

You don’t need a car. Your host will meet you at the bus in Kobarid and you can get around by hitch-hiking if you don’t want to hoof it.  I learned of this village through the hostel listings on BootsnAll. 

Anyway, I highly recommend all of Slovenia.  It’s just a beautiful, spectacular, outdoors country.

More on other good places that linger on in memory on future posts. 

Posted in a good farm vacation, Slovenian Chamber of Commerce | No Comments »

Do My Trains Run On Time?

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

Have any of you been struck by the fact that trains in far-flung parts of the world run on much tighter, much more accurate, schedules than a particular train company beginning with an A, which monopolizes the tracks in the North American country also beginning with an A (or a U….. as in U.S.of A.) In India and all over Eastern Europe, I found the train system very efficient and on time. But, when I rode ours down the West Coast, we were running four to six hours late.

Now, what does this have to do with book production?  Well, all the cars in my particular book production choo-choo train don’t quite match up yet, as far as when they will each be finished, so I can’t quite predict my arrival time into the hands of the printers. 

The book cover design is 99% finished, except that they can’t convert my ISBN number into a bar code for that little white box on the back of the book.  Plus, I don’t yet know the exact number of my pages and that is very crucial to getting the right spine width measurement. Nitty-gritty, but very necessary. 

The interior manuscript is still on my computer getting last minute corrections before going back to my editor for a final check and preparation into finished manuscript form.  Except that she doesn’t have the Adobe Acrobat software and can’t convert the manuscript from Word to a PDF file required by Lightning Source, my printer.  I must farm out that operation and my Lightning representative, Natalie, has sent me some names to contact for that.

I guess I’m feeling nervous as a first-time small publisher and I’m wanting this little train of mine to roll smoothly into the station…on time… (though, truly, I don’t have a deadline to meet, just an event to coordinate)…and not yet knowing how long all these independent operations are going to take.  Being a first timer, tiptoeing into the big time, I guess it’s just symptoms of stage fright at this point.  Pretty soon, all of this preparation will lead to something.  That’s where the rubber finally meets the road and I get a look at this object called a book that I have been slaving over for quite awhile now.

You deal with each part separately for so long: 

The writing – story, grammar, punctuation, layout, meaning…in one department;

The exterior – cover design and those necessary few words…in another department; 

The official numbers and categories that must be applied for from a number of departments,

 as well as new things that keep revealing themselves.

Those are the carriages that will make up my particular train. The station is Lightning Source, my printer.  The cars must be completed and hitched together professionally before they can truly be called a train, qualified to roll into the station.  Here’s where I come into my own as a Publishing Company, Hey Boomers Media.

I want my train to run on time.  The next few weeks will tell the story.

Posted in 1 | No Comments »

A New Wrinkle In Time

Monday, July 14th, 2008

This travel book of mine,  Hey Boomers, Dust Off Your Backpacks: Travel The World On A Limited Budget, is gradually taking shape and I’m aiming to send it to my printer, Lightning Source for POD (Print On Demand) publishing, before the end of July.  But, a new glitch has just appeared.  I don’t think it’s too serious. 

As the book nears completion and the corrected manuscript becomes ready to send back to my editor for checking and putting into final shape, I find that she’s not equipped to convert the file into PDF which must be done before sending the material to the printer.  Of course, I had hired her to do the copyediting, a prior step, and neither one of us thought this far ahead.  However, when I downloaded instructions from Lightning Source and sent those to her, she realized that they require Adobe Acrobat for the file conversion and she doesn’t have that.  It’s an expensive piece of software.

So, I will need to farm that task out as soon as I have a perfected manuscript.  Okay.  There must be people for hire to do that.  It’s just one more step in the learning curve.

I sent Lightning’s cover template instructions to my cover designers at the same time and I hope there are no wrinkles in their ability to put that together in a form my printer can use.  But they are a big firm, so I doubt if there will be a problem there.

So, this blog is the story of all of the steps that I’m discovering as I go along, which are necessary when one decides to publish their own book.  Now, I find a new step just as I leave town for a few days.  I think it will be easy to solve and rapid to achieve when I find someone with the right equipment. Not really a problem in all of the farming out of duties that lie behind the finished product.

I don’t think I have mentioned the acquiring of the ISBN number.  That was easy but had to be done in advance in order to have it in time to give to my cover designers before they wrapped things up.  It’s the bar code for the white space on the back and is assigned by bowker.com. Costly, at $275, but that is for a string of ten numbers, useful for all of the versions such as ebooks, audio books, large print, kindle, that I might also make of this title.  Or, I can use up any remaining numbers on the next book I write.  It makes no economic sense to buy a single ISBN number as the cost is far more.

There are quite a few of these numbers and symbols that you might apply for and add to the book, some of which state price, Library of Congress numbers, and designations used by book stores, each of which must be applied for independently.  Publishing houses have whole departments to handle these details for each book.  You don’t necessarily need them all if you are self-publishing and are not trying for the distribution to libraries and bookstores.

As I’m learning, every book is a real labor of love and can cost as much in time as it does in do-re-mi.  It’s also quite easy to get pretty tired of the whole darned project before you have anything to show for it.  But, this is birth and what pregnant woman doesn’t say the same things once in awhile?

Posted in self-publishing delays | No Comments »

No Book Is Spineless

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Book cover design comes in three parts.  Naturally, the most important is the front cover because that is the face of your child.  That carries the whole identity.  The back cover provides the intrigued reader with a reason to open the book and dip into your tasty offerings, much like the back of a movie DVD does these days.  If it doesn’t carry a very compelling reason for you to spend your precious time and money on it, then back on the shelf it goes.

That’s why my last post sounded a wee bit alarmed.  It was my advertising copy being messed with.  Well, I think it’s getting straightened out now and they have sent two different versions according to my detailed instructions.  I’m now going through the survey stage again and consulting with family and friends about which one to choose.  So, I have confidence that soon the back cover will look as good as the front now does.

The third necessary element to any book is its spine.  With POD publishing, especially when you plan to bypass the regular book store distribution and simply sell on Amazon and a personal blogsite, the spine and the back cover are, technically, not as vital.  On a bookstore shelf they are just as important as the front cover, because shoppers will often only see the spine at first, and then they will always read the back before making their buying decision.

However, a book is a book is a book.  And all three of its elements must be the best that you can make them, regardless of their marketing.  I have a current, probably minor, spine dilemma.

The cover will be completed before the manuscript is.  Right now, I’m still doing the rewrite.  And after that, it goes back to my editor. Therefore, I don’t have an exact count on the final number of pages.  That number, plus the width and weight of the paper that I will chose from the printer, all determine the width that the spine must be.  POD printing requires that the file with the cover art on it be ready to go….ready to slap right on that digital press the minute it arrives.  There is no chance to fiddle with expanding or shrinking the size allowed once we find out the exact width that the spine must be.

And yet, it’s not fair to delay finalizing the account with the cover designers once their work is finished.  The money is now held in escrow by elance and requires a clearance from me to release.  Then, I will receive the camera-ready art work and we are done.  How do I try to figure out my book’s future measurements?  Good question and today I will call the printer’s representative in the hope that she can provide the magic answer. 

I guess it’s like building anything.  You have to orchestrate some very delicate professional arrangements.  A roof can’t go on until the lower part is done.  So, the quiet little…modest little… spine is, quite literally, central to the whole book and will have its fifteen minutes of fame before all is said and done.

Posted in Spinelessnes is not an option | No Comments »

Unanticipated Glitches On Candid Camera

Sunday, July 6th, 2008

I had a “Duh!” moment the other day when I received the first draft of the book’s back cover design.  It was my own fault for assuming that everyone at the South American design company which I had hired over the internet; would just naturally speak English, simply because the project manager who communicates with me does.  Over the course of the weeks that we have worked together, I have sent several versions of the written material which I wanted them to use on the back cover. 

It was basically the same few short paragraphs, but I had tightened it up over time and I wanted to be sure that this latest version was the one that they used.  So, in my wordy way, I wrote two paragraphs to instruct them to delete all past versions and only use this one.  Plus, I discussed the two photo possibilities which I was sending for the author’s picture which I wanted on the back of the book.  To make sure they could tell which version this was, I placed that day’s date, in large numbers, at the top of the message.  Then, separated by a number of spaces…..I gave them the updated material that I wanted to be worked into a pleasing design on the back cover of my book.

Woops!  Not a good idea.  When I first eyeballed the samples sent the next day, I was struck by how absolutely jammed in all of the copy seemed to be.  It was a square block, chock full of words that covered the entire area.  Then, I looked more closely and realized that my long instructions had been featured in the most important section of the cover and my date “July 1, 2008” was right there in the big numerals, as if it had some relation to a book which wouldn’t even be printed until August.  

My one beautiful and genuinely heartfelt quotation from a big name recommending me and my book was put into a single font, no italics, and stacked into a square shape…… looking quite like the ingredients list on the side of a salad dressing jar.

Clearly, this was a case of a Spanish-speaking artistic designer trying very hard to cram in all of this unreasonably long business, that some *#*!!* airhead in America wanted on the back of her obviously egotistical book.

Viewed in that light, they didn’t do half bad.  They managed to get it all in.  How long did that take?

Except that I saw no need to announce to every book buyer a few inside design-related instructions that had simply passed back and forth during the summer of this year.  It was like engraving the words of an instructional post-it note onto an award plaque and then expecting it to be meaningful years later on the shelf of some hero. 

Tip: It’s wonderful that we can now solicit universal bids and work way outside of our own country’s borders; but we can’t just relax about it and make the assumption that our language is easy for them to deal with.  Particularly, if you communicate with someone who is not doing the actual work, but who might simply be the portal for all of their English language business.  This is less vital in matters that don’t involve very many words, such as pure graphics, but I would think twice….and more…..before hiring someone in such a situation to do your copyediting.  In my case, 100-200 words were pushing the envelope farther than it was set up for.

Anyway, this is all very correctable and my memos are already sent out to them concerning it.  I don’t mean to make fun of them, and I do see how it happened.  But, I set out here on this blog to give the whole unvarnished* truth about such a venture as I have embarked upon.  So, the seller must beware in my case, because this is Candid Camera. 

*Well, almost unvarnished. I did change history a bit on an earlier blog’s fuss, feeling that I’d been a little harsh.  Mama relented, but Mama’s going to tell it like it is from now on!

Posted in Sp much copy/so little space | No Comments »

99% Finished on The Book’s Front Cover

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

The good news is…….that after a few more corrections, I’ll be signing off on a beautiful front cover.  I’m very happy with it and am especially glad that I persisted on a rainy day to retake the photo that I’d suggested using for the cover.  It’s a portrait of my backpack, slung casually on a rustic wooden bench, with lovely greenery in the background.  The first shot was a hurried job taken on a sunny day with my Kodak Easy Share camera and not a whole lot of preparation or forethought.  My lightweight walking shoes and a water bottle were also posed beside the pack, suggesting that I was about to take off for places unknown.

After a few attempts, my professional designers and I settled on the colors, the border, the style of the lettering and even the words to use.  Everyone to whom I showed the resulting sample really liked the effect and our only remaining question seemed to be whether to use white or yellow letters on the title.

Then, I began to think like a photographer’s assistant.  Previously, I’ve never claimed much photographic understanding or inclination, being strictly a point and shoot sort of person.  But, as I looked at my original picture, taken in my characteristic off-the-cuff way, I began to wish that several things could be different.  The umbrella pole and base didn’t add a thing.  My shoes looked rather strange because they aren’t hiking boots, though they are comfortable and lightweight and they did walk around the world with me.  Authentic, but tired and grey-looking.  What could I do to better “telegraph” the idea of backpacking?

So, I ran to the thrift shop thinking they might have a pair of boots that I could use as props.  Imagine my wonder and delight at finding a beautiful new pair of American Eagle Outfitters hightop hiking boots in a rich brown color with red laces and red ankle lining and gorgeous thick rubber treads.   They turned out to be one size too small, but that was alright as they’re much to heavy for my present use and I’m not doing mountain walking any more.  I didn’t really need them for myself.  The best thing was the $3 price tag!  

I set up the shot again and took many pictures before I realized that the afternoon sun was too harsh.  The next morning was rainy but I kept running out whenever the sun popped from behind the clouds.  Still too bright.  I was moving plants, setting up my scene, trimming brown leaves off the ferns, and fretting over boot placement.  Nature demonstrated that wet wood is much more attractive than sun-bleached surface, so when the bench and the floor dried out too much, I got the garden hose and wet it down again.  Then, in a rush of brains to the head, I figured out that the greenery would be much prettier under a slightly overcast sky because it won’t be so blindingly lighted.  I’m sure that there is much camera wizardry around to solve all this but I’m a dodo in that department.  I was barely coming into my own as a photographer’s assistant.  Even when the photographer was me.

After three separate photo shoots, I had some pictures that I was pleased with and I sent them off to my design team, suggesting that we try the new arrangement with all of the elements that we had settled upon.  WOW!  It’s beautiful!  At least, I think so.  Haven’t had time to run it by the family and friends yet, but they’ve got to love it too, because they liked the last one which is now only a pale copy.

And so it goes.  Tomorrow I shall chronicle the achy-breaky story of the early days of the Back Cover Design and you will see that these things go through a true evolution which probably can’t be avoided.  The moral of the story is that anyone who sets foot in this whole book production world must keep their hands firmly on the wheel and be ready to drive through anything.  You must be the book’s creator every step of the way.  But, if you can figure things out as you go along, you will really have something to be proud of in the end. 

Posted in camera wizardry for dodos, thrift shop hiking boots | No Comments »

Time For My Friends To Weigh In On Book Covers

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Last night, my best friend, Fawn Germer (fawngermer.com & hardwonwisdom.com) came over to see the two current test versions of my book cover design.  She absolutely loved the way it is shaping up.  NetMen Corp. of Buenas Aires, Argentina, is doing a wonderful job and are very patient with my running suggestions to try this and that, tweaking little things as we go and sending several versions so that I can see which looks best. 

We sent out the picture in an email to several trusted friends, and came up with votes all over the map.   The two designs are very similar, but have different color lettering, font size, boldness, placement of certain elements, and that sort of thing.  But, the features that each friend voted on were inconclusive.  Somebody voted on each feature version.  Guess they all were good.  That’s how you know that you can’t lose, no matter which combination you choose.

So, I guess it’s up to me to make the final call.  This is really fun! 

Think of it.  Prior to the digital age, no one could have achieved anything like this.  Back when an artist chisled your design into a wooden block, there was no tapping him on the shoulder and saying, “Let’s try it another way.”  Plus, your artist wouldn’t be thousands of miles away, either.  He’d be near enough to throw his carving tool at you.  Now, it takes talented hands only a few minutes on the keyboard and you have sheer magic.

But, one of the wonderfully understanding features of many of the elance.com bids that I received for this project was a devotion to making sure that the customer was satisfied in every case.  They promised to allow unlimited submissions (within reason, of course).   So it’s okay to play a bit of tennis to make sure everything is the best it can be.  I guess if it’s all one-sided, where the customer simply wants to see endless ideas and doesn’t pass on any of them, then that wouldn’t be at all fair or within the terms of the contract.  But, we hit upon the perfect idea in the second round and are simply serving back and forth on the one design.  Thank goodness, family, friends, and professional advisors like it as well as I do.  And, I surely hope to goodness that one day, you too will eyeball their fine design as you hold a copy of my book in your hand.

Since Fawn is my mentor and inspiration on this whole book project, it was about time that she got a chance to read and approve of my back cover copy too.  Especially, since she’s the only one (so far) whom I am quoting.  The quote is one she has given me frequently, usually when we’re taking twelve mile hikes along the waterfront for exercise.  She’s training for a three-day, sixty-mile Breast Cancer walk in October.  I just go along on some of the shorter practice ones to stay in shape.  That’s when we talk about writing and book publishing and where I caught the bug.  She’s always flying hither and yon to give her huge motivational seminars to executive women and corporations, so I try not the pester her too much about all the nitty-gritty.  I hire professionals to do that…..after she tells me where to find them. 

But, last night it was time to solicit her opinion before she flies out of town tomorrow.  Yessss……I have her seal of approval.  We’ll make it.  (How I want to pepper this with exclamation points, as I always do.  They are the salt and seasoning of writing, are they not?)  Never. Never. Never.  According to both of my editors: Fawn and Lynn.  Sigh.  I shall try to behave.

What was the wonderful quote that Fawn gave me to put on the back cover of my book?  Ahhhhh, you shall have to buy a copy of my slim volume to find out.  

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