Lovely Number Nine
Hello
there friend,
How are you? How are things? I hope you’ve been well.
I’m
writing with exciting news to share-I’ve published my latest book! The title is
“A Part of History.” It’s live online and available to purchase via Amazon.
How are you? How are things? I hope you’ve been well.
This
book proved to be more difficult than other titles in the past. One piece in
the book, “A Part of History”, had several photographs when I first shared it online. I picked a few of those photos to put in the book. However,
when I received my first proof, an advanced copy of the book, the photos weren’t
a good representation of what I had written.
Photographs
don’t always work in books. When you’re publishing a book in a fixed format,
which for my books is 6 inches wide by 9 inches tall, photographs fit on the
page, but are most often too small for the reader to see the item in the
photograph. I toiled for weeks on the photographs for that piece, inserting
different photos in with the text. I finally found a collection of photographs
that worked in harmony with the text.
I
also had some spacing issues in the book. I’m mindful about the margins and
spacing of every page. I’m also careful with the sizes of fonts, for both
headings and text, the layout of paragraphs in the piece, as well as the spaces
between paragraphs. However, I had a problem with the vertical spacing of the
paragraphs themselves. I had to reset the vertical spacing for every paragraph
on every page of the book, which proved to be a meticulous and exacting task.
If
you’ve not read my books before, my books are collections of the posts from
this blog. Believe it or not, it’s quite difficult to transpose the writing
into book form.
The
first thing I do is compile the writing from the blog into one document. After
that, I adjust the paragraphs on the page. I put a space between every
paragraph, to make it easier to read. I
will also split paragraphs to punctuate a certain passage, phrase, or idea. As
every page is integral to the project, I fill the page with text, top to
bottom. This process can take days or weeks to complete.
The
next step is to dissect the material for any copyright infringement. Books
cannot contain book titles, movie titles, lyrics, and photographs that aren’t
produced by the author, or purchased under copyright laws.
For
example, in one piece in this book, when I published it on this blog, I wrote
about watching the Harry Potter movies. I own the films and watch them every
year. However, in the book, I couldn’t use the words “Harry” or “Potter” in my
writing. I changed the phrase to read “the wizard movies.” I understand that it
might be confusing for the reader; it’s not my intention to be cryptic when
these issues arise. However, I need to be careful to not violate any copyright
laws.
I
went over this book with a fine-tooth comb, as I do with every project. However,
with the problems with the photographs and spacing, this book took more time
than past endeavors.
This
book had me going in circles. It seemed like the more errors I fixed, the more
errors I created. I felt like Sisyphus after a time, the character in Greek
mythology, doomed to forever roll a boulder uphill, only to have it roll back
down again upon nearing the top. If I didn’t finish, I could have dissected the
book ad infinitum. I had to come to a finishing point. I had to let it go.
The
book is done. Finally. Hallelujah! I poured my heart and soul into this book.
It’s done, and I’m proud of my effort on it. The book is a thing of beauty. I
can’t wait for you to read it.
Working
on this book taught me some valuable lessons:
First,
perfection is a goal. It’s just that, a goal, not a state of being. Perfection
is in the eye of the beholder. My level of perfection is different than the
reader. I shouldn’t run myself ragged trying to make the project “perfect.”
Second,
learn to let go. No one would ever see the “errors” that I saw in the project.
You can get too close to the material. Like there is a beginning to a project,
there has to be an end. There has to come a time when you’re happy with the
project, and you can release it into the world.
That
is exactly what it feels like, to publish a book, a release. It’s like releasing
a formerly injured hawk into the wild. The feeling when the hawk takes flight
again, after months of healing and nurturing, it’s breathtaking to behold.
The
book is out there in the world, flying through the skies, soaring to the moon. Who
knows where it will come to land.
This
is my ninth book published, the seventh writing collection published in
English. While I have published nine books, I know they will never sell
hundreds of millions of copies. I will never be a top the New York Times Best
Seller list. But I don’t need to be. I continue to write, and to publish my
work, for the pleasure of the project.
Now
that the book is done, it’s time to think about the next project! I’ll start
the next book earlier in the year, to give me adequate time to work on it. But
for now, it’s the holidays. I’ve earned some peace for now. That’s what I want
most for this holiday season, peace. You can’t wrap it, you can’t find it in a
store, you can’t buy it-you have to give it yourself when you need it most.
When
you’re finished with the book, feel free to send me your thoughts. Also, you could
write a review for the book on Amazon. Book reviews are worth their weight in
gold.
Thank
you friend, for hearing me and for listening. And thank you for your support of
this book, lovely number nine.
Peace,
and much love,
-Esperanza
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-Esperanza
email: lalunapress@gmail.com
website: https://linktr.ee/lalunapressllc
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