Monthly Archives: January 2012

eBook Production

20 Friday Jan 2012

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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
[Mahatma Gandhi]

I’ve been following various news blurbs and discussions about the iBooks Author software release. The main dissenting voices have discussed the Apple license stipulation that the books produced in iBooks Author are only to be sold in the iBook store (or something to that effect). These discussions display varying degrees of alarm. Other that that, I’ve read little else against Apple’s new, free software. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. I was delighted when I could trade my bottle of rubber cement for a waxing machine back when I pasted up art boards for print production. When I saw how clean a Linotronic printed out a ruled line, I never again used a ruling pen. So I’m certainly going to give iBooks Author a try. My publishing production output is too small to use Adobe© Digital Publishing Suite in order to get a book prepared for the iBook store in the form I imagined.

My one self-imposed rule has always been, only move to a new technology if it meets or improves upon the industry standards. If I can produce a nicely designed, bug-free, multimedia, interactive eBook to sell in the iBook store with iBooks Author without having to stand on my head and hold my mouth right, then I’ll do it. Then I’ll lay out the book in other ways to sell in other places which takes me to my next point…

2. Books used to be produced only in hard cover. Then they went into two versions, hard cover and paperback. Now books are often published in multiple versions—hard cover, paperback, PDF format, ePub, Kindle format, etc. I just assume I’ll be producing books in multiple formats. This often requires specialized layouts, and tweaking electronic files differently depending upon where the book will be sold. I bend one way to fix an eBook to sell on Amazon, and another way to sell on Barnes & Noble. For images, print requires a higher resolution than other publishing routes. I try to do whatever sells a good quality book.

3. InDesign will continue to be my layout application of choice I am sure (I used to say that about Quark XPress). However, I can already see how I can use the assets (photos, text, illustrations, etc.) that I use in an InDesign layout to assemble an iBook Author book.

The bottom line? I’ll keep my eye on my goal and stay flexible in considering solutions to production issues.

iBooks Author

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Favorite Things, Review, Thoughts, Writing

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Without the playing with fantasy
no creative work has ever yet come to birth.
The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.
[Carl Jung]

I’ve been waiting for this since 1961. Back then I had a summer job through an Indiana University research grant. In the study, one group of children sat in a traditional classroom to learn reading skills. The members of the other group received individual instruction using a mechanical device. The device used scrolled paper to lead the student through practice cycles. I was a machine facilitator. On the bus ride home after each session, I dreamed of a science-fiction device that would replace the clunky machine.

I was a nursing instructor in the early 70s when I took a course about developing self-instructional packages. I even wrote a package that focused upon learning how to compose and evaluate a plan in a variety of settings. Since it was non-linear, I realized I needed to have control over the book design process so I went back to school. I studied graphic design and have focused upon publication design ever since.

When I bought my first personal computer in 1982 (4k and no hard drive or software), I taught myself basic programming so I could compose small learning packages. I recall that my first program had something to do with multiplication tables. When it worked, I thought about the twenty years of baby steps I’d taken toward the kind of learning tool I dreamed about in 1961.

Having spent hours formatting eBooks in the past couple of years, and searching for ways to create interactive, enhanced books without having to learn programming, I told myself that we are getting close. Then I read the news on my iPad last night and saw an article about iBooks Author. I fell asleep and dreamed of the science-fiction device I used to think about riding the bus. In the middle of the night, I awoke and knew I’d not go back to sleep until I fired up my computer and installed iBooks Author.

When I opened this software, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I am familiar with the interface because it is similar to other Apple applications so I only have to learn some details. Then I’ll kick start my imagination, and I am on my way to doing what I dreamed about 50 years ago.

5 Thoughts for 2012

12 Thursday Jan 2012

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There is a fountain of youth:
it is your mind, your talents,
the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.
When you learn to tap this source,
you will truly have defeated age.
[Sophia Loren]

By this time next year, I will have passed my 70th birthday. Seven decades of observing life in this world has influenced my opinions. I’m not saying that my opinions are wise or even accurate, but they do reflect what I have experienced since 1942, and will likely influence the course of my seventh decade. Here are five (in no particular order):

1. … about work and retirement: I love my work. By work, I mean, the way I earn my living. I illustrate, design publications of many sorts (print, electronic, etc.), design needle art patterns, and teach the skills I’ve learned over the years. Except for the decade I worked as a nurse, I’ve been self-employed most of my adulthood. Every job I finished left me out of work until I found another project to do. Fortunately most of my jobs overlapped so I have kept a roof over my head and food on my table. I have also had fun, been motivated to keep learning, and have been enriched by the creative people who are my clients. Why would I want to retire?

2. … about politics and governing: Winston Churchill said a couple of things I keep in mind, especially during an election year:

Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

I am thankful that the governments of the USA (state and national) try to function as democracies. Even so, it is messy. It brings out the best in a few people and the worst in most people. I’ve learned over the years that it isn’t bad to see the worst in some people—some folks’ worst isn’t all that bad. The trouble is, many people express poorly researched or totally ignorant opinions. Even worse, some of those people are candidates. That is why I love to study history. It puts current events into a tolerable perspective. History is replete with examples of arrogance, folly, and small-mindedness. At least our era is maintaining some sort of tradition. Will Roger’s words are timeless:

This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived shows we are a super nation.

3. … about civility: I think that civility starts at home so I am constantly having to be a gatekeeper for my thoughts and words. Lack of civility seems to grow out of being irrationally judgmental and self-serving. Unfortunately, I observe the lack of civility every time I go out into the world, even if it is just through my TV. I agree with Emmylou Harris’ words:

As citizens we have to be more thoughtful and more educated and more informed. I turn on the TV and I see these grown people screaming at each other, and I think, well, if we don’t get our civility back, we’re in trouble.

I often eat at a local cafe and overhear other conversations. My reaction to the lack of civility is downright uncivil. That brings me back to where I started with this. The only thing I can do about the lack of civility in our society is to strive to be civil myself. I imagine civility is related somehow to grace and forgiveness.

4. … about creativity: I believe everyone is creative. Some people haven’t nurtured the creative part of their human nature, but I believe it is still there. For me, one idea crowds out another in such rapid succession that I feel like I need to shift my mind into low gear to capture even one. It is a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it is a positive, soaring experience that puts the frosting on the cake of life. It is a curse in that it is hard to sort the better ideas from the rest, and it takes so long to bring even one idea into a tangible state. If I were boiled down to my essence, I pray that essence would be love and gratitude wrapped in creativity.

5. … about maturing: I’ve never been afraid of aging, but I’ve often been afraid I’d never truly mature. I have a friend who says, “Some folks live forty years, and other folks live one year forty times.” My perspective has certainly changed over the years so I haven’t lived the same year over and over. I’ve learned from most of my mistakes. My seventh decade was the best of all (so far) so I look at tomorrow with anticipation rather than dread. Also, I’ve finally learned to fill the present moment with my best effort.