Arrivals - Part 3

I now have 100 copies each of The Secret Cellar, The Hitchhiker, and The ABZ Affair.



Now I can show you all three. I love how cover artist, Linda Sandow, used different palettes for each one and yet kept the tone similar and the wonderful intensity of the colors! Here are the fronts together.



And the backs:



I even like the spines together. How about a whole shelf full of these volumes? Maybe someday. I have plots for two more in my head already.



I also ordered padded mailers today. Linda and I will have a marathon signing session early next week and get these out to you if you've pre-ordered.

Only three more days at the reduced price and guaranteed autographs. Pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books for $24 (no discount after March 31), they will be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be pre-ordered at Books Leaving Footprints

See Arrivals - Part 2

Graphics and EPUB - JPG vs. PNG Formats

I've been beating my head against a wall for two days now trying to get the Dubois Files books to pass the EPUB check. This is the format needed for ebooks at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks and Overdrive. I do this through Smashwords.

Let me say right away that the Smashwords Style Guide is impressive. If you follow its excellent and careful directions, you are likely to have very little trouble getting books through the formatting checks. It can be used by anyone, whether you publish through Smashwords or not.

However... When I got to the part about adding images to the file some of the language seemed to have changed. I've always used jpg images (also jpeg extension- Joint Photographic Experts Group). But the guide said that png formatted (Portable Network Graphics) images seem to work better for EPUB. So I thought I'd go that route. These children's books have a lot of graphics and I wanted to minimize the headaches, right?

There is a difference in the formats. Jpg is "lossy," which means that some of the detail is lost when the file is compressed. Png is "lossless," which means it should withstand being moved across platforms with better resolution at the end point.

For an ebook on an average sized reader, tablet or phone, however, it's kind of a "who cares." These two images are jpg on the left and png on the right. Screens like these only support 96 pixels per inch anyway, so it doesn't matter if you've got an image with 300 ppi- it will get downshifted to 96 for display.


Anyway, I was still stuck on the wording that said png is the better choice. I spent all day yesterday and part of the day before trying to figure out errors like this one: The file 'tmp_f0de42d4eb6865730fa0631fca336cc0_9P8O4M_html_5895aa02.png' does not appear to match the media type image/png, as specified in the OPF file. (ERROR)

Yikes! Well, it turns out you can find out which image this is (I certainly didn't name any file like that!) with some maneuvering, but that just got tedious when the images were rejected over and over again. There seemed to be nothing I could do to correct the problem. I tried using two different converters in addition to my own graphics program. Still got the same errors.

Finally, I decided to go back and put the pictures back in as jpgs. Guess what? The whole thing passed on the first try.

So... if you, too, are beating your head against a wall some day over this, try the other format!

You can still pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books for $24 (no discount after March 31), they will be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be pre-ordered at Books Leaving Footprints



Formatting and more

Arrivals - Part 2

I guessed these might arrive today based on when I received notice that they had shipped. 100 copies of The Hitchhiker have joined those of The Secret Cellar. The spines look really nice side by side. I'll wait till I have all three to show that. But those won't be here tomorrow. There was a time lag while I got the formatting done on the third one.



Today I got Library of Congress Catalog Numbers assigned to the books. They won't be in this first printing, but that's ok. It's pretty easy to tweak files on CreateSpace.

I also updated my list of events where I'll be wearing my author hat this summer. You can see the full list at Meet the Author

If you want to pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books for $24 (no discount after March 31), they will be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be pre-ordered at Books Leaving Footprints




Formatting and more

Arrivals - Part 1

This doesn't need a lot of explanation! It doesn't matter how many books you've put together. Receiving that first case is always a rush! 100 copies of The Secret Cellar in my house. 30 sets of the three books are already sold. Is one or more coming to your house? Ten more days to pre-order.



The life of a writer has variables. Today I thought I was going to give myself a break. Instead, when I got home from work I learned that a man who was a good friend to the North Country Trail had died, and I was asked to write his obituary for The North Star (magazine of the North Country Trail Association). I write for them fairly often, but it's all volunteer, of course.

If you want to pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books for $24 (no discount after March 31), they will be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be pre-ordered at Books Leaving Footprints




Formatting and more

That One Tiny Thing- Ha!

 
Remember, I said I had one tiny thing to do and The ABZ Affair would be ready to be sent off for approval. Ha!

I started by proofreading the crafts, and as I suspected, it was a good thing I didn't try to do that last night. There was a fair amount more to do on those.

This lengthened the book by a few pages, and that changed the size of the cover, so I had to fix that.

Then I remembered that I wanted to find a better font for the map. I didn't like the one I was using, but the commercial use was free. Did you know that you can't just use any font you want in a book? For a lot of them you are supposed to purchase a commercial license. But I found one I liked that has no restrictions, so I redid the text on the map. I like the results much better. I'll swap them out in the first two books before I order more copies.

Then I also remembered that I wanted to tweak the illustration with the forklift just a little bit, so I did that.

After that.... I did the one tiny thing, which actually took a couple of hours, a general floor plan of the canning factory.

Then, the cover file had to be converted to a pdf, which took forever for some reason today.

But.. ta-DA! By 4:30 I had the whole thing uploaded to CreateSpace and proofed. Clicked the button to have it approved. Hoping everything goes well, and I can order these books tomorrow.

But, I just did one tiny thing, right?

Cases of the first two, The Secret Cellar and The Hitchhiker, have already shipped!

map of the East South River Road Neighborhood for The ABZ Affair


Illustrations for The ABZ Affair

ABZ Affair - Almost There

 
So close to being done with The ABZ Affair! I got the two craft/skill sections done today, but that's about all. It takes a long time to describe things so that a ten-year-old can read and follow the directions. Hope I've succeeded! This is a coder/decoder for a simple substitution code.

the substitution coder/decoder wheel craft in The ABZ Affair

the template coder/decoder craft in The ABZ Affair

This one is a lot more complicated, but it's also a lot tougher to crack. This book was aimed at kids who like a challenging puzzle, and since there are two crafts per book, anyone who doesn't want to try this still has the other one to make.

I illustrated these two crafts with photos.

Wrote the Acknowledgements section. Now I think there is just one tiny, tiny thing to do, and I can send it off to be approved.

Interior Illustrations - The ABZ Affair

 

the friends eat lunch sitting on the playground merry-go-round


Joe-Pye weed and boneset


George drives the forklift


Cora slides the deadbolt

The interior illustrations are now complete, but I still have two secret code graphics to do for the craft/skill pages. Those will be tomorrow.

If you want to pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books for $24 (no discount after March 31), they will be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be pre-ordered at Books Leaving Footprints



Illustrations - The Hitchhiker

The ABZ Affair - Full Cover for Paperback

My goal is to get the third Dubois Files book, The ABZ Affair, fully formatted and approved this weekend so I can order copies. That will keep me busy for sure! Today I got the cover completed.

This is not as simple as it sounds. In order to get the correct size template to design it, I had to know how many pages the book was. To get that number I had to know how many illustrations I was going to use. So that had to be decided, and temporary placeholders put in the text. I also had to write the text for the back cover.

It says, "George Harris liked writing messages in secret code. In August of 1953, he learned one that was tough to crack, and taught it to his sister Ruby, and then to his friends Jimmie Mosher and Cora Dubois.
When the four of them were offered a job picking up trash at the Cherry Pit Junction canning factory, someone listened in on their conversation and stole a coder.
The children were playing games, but what were the adults up to?"

That took a while to write. The plots of kids books are not too complex, so by telling these details, we're almost halfway through the book! Have to keep some secrets.

Meanwhile, my brain just continues to spin. I have the basic plot for Dubois Files #4 worked out. Thanks to some brainstorming with my friend Ester, she solved the problem of how to keep the kids in the ending.

I came up with the singular event that sets the plot for my potential technothriller in motion. That idea's been cooking for a long time, and it's certainly not on the front burner, but now that I have a key piece of the action... my brain won't let it rest.

So, tomorrow will be all about illustrations for The ABZ Affair. That's the last big project. Oh yeah, and headers/footers and page numbers.

The Hitchhiker - Full Cover for Paperback

Painful Expenses- Or Why I Buy ISBNs

"If you want to make an omelet you have to break some eggs." I'm sure you've heard that before.

This is a week of painful expenses. All of them are good and necessary, and are almost certain to be recouped. But right now, things are tight and it hurts to break those eggs!

I have ordered 100 copies each of The Secret Cellar and The Hitchhiker, and will do the same for The ABZ Affair as soon as the proof is approved. But the big expense is a new block of ISBNs. Those are International Standard Book Numbers. You have to have them if you want to sell your book anywhere except maybe out of the back of your car. They assign a unique number to every edition of every book.

I've previously purchased two blocks of 10. Yes, that's 20 numbers, and I've used them all. Needed two more for The ABZ Affair. When you buy a block of 10, they currently cost about $30 each. When you buy a block of $100, they currently cost about $6 each. Yes, you read that right. It's a HUGE difference if you can afford the larger block and think you will use them. I know I'll need more then ten almost instantly. If I manage to get each of my mysteries in audio format, that's 8 more right there and I'll be out again. So I did it. Bought 100.

But why not just use the free ISBNs provided by CreateSpace if you print through their service?

Here are my reasons.
1. I object on principal to Amazon ruling the world- they own CreateSpace.

Now let's be a little more practical.

2. You can only print at CreateSpace with one of their ISBNs. Right now, I'm content with their service, but they aren't the only POD printer in the universe. If I change my mind, I don't have to use another ISBN.

3. If I use a CreateSpace ISBN it will show them as the publisher. I have my own legally registered publishing company, Books Leaving Footprints, and I want that imprint to appear in my books

Back to work! That's my big accomplishment for the day. Oh, I did get Bowker (the service that lists your ISBNs and the info about each title) to add the Anastasia Raven Mysteries and Dubois Files series to my info, and I've started the formatting for The ABZ Affair. I know it's not much, but today was a full work day as well, and I'm going out this evening.

Interior Illustrations - The Hitchhiker

Jimmie calls Cora on the phone


Veli's locket


The wheelbarrow race- Beth and Laszlo


The interior illustrations for The Hitchhiker are done. In fact, the whole book has now been sent through the CreateSpace approval process. Maybe it will even make it through on the first try. I can always hope.

Did some computer graphic things for The ABZ Affair, and some flyers to hand out to people.

Writers' Group tonight!

If you want to pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books for $24 (no discount after March 31), they will now be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be pre-ordered at Books Leaving Footprints



The Hitchhiker- full cover for paperback

The Hitchhiker - Full Cover for Paperback

 


I had to work at the paper a couple of hours in the middle of the day. That's ok... I'll take all the money I can get between now and the end of that job.

After having the cover for the paperback of The Secret Cellar rejected twice (!!) I was getting frustrated. But, the fault was mine. I wasn't paying attention, and the bottom of the g on my name was hanging into the area where no text is allowed. It's been submitted again, and hopefully this time will be good.

As you can see, I got the cover for the paperback of The Hitchhiker ready to go as well. This time, I'm pretty sure I haven't made any dumb mistakes.

Also, I submitted my entry to the contest I mentioned.

Got the second craft/skill for The Hitchhiker written up- the cherry soup.

And, I did another illustration. Just one more to go for The Hitchhiker, and then I think that book will be complete. I'd like to get it done tonight. Earlier, it felt like my brain was turning to mush, but I may have gotten my second wind.

If you want to pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books, they will now be signed by the cover artist Linda J. Sandow, as well as by me. Signed sets can be preordered at a discount at Books Leaving Footprints



See The Secret Cellar - Full Cover for Paperback

The ABZ Affair- Color Cover

 


I am trying really hard to get these three books all formatted for paperback by the end of Wednesday. Still not sure if I'll make it!

Today, I received color cover art from Linda J. Sandow for The ABZ Affair, so although it's not the full size scan, I can show you what that cover will really look like! Don't you just want to know what's going to happen to George and Jimmie when the man comes through the door?

Also, I tried the Hungarian Cherry Soup recipe that will go in The Hitchhiker (It's good, but then... I like pretty much anything with cherries.)

One illustration for The Hitchhiker is done, and I'm actually pretty happy with it. Another one is researched and reference pictures ready to print.

Struggled with more formatting for the cover to The Secret Cellar. I must have used the wrong template by accident because it was rejected. I usually get covers through on the first try. Oh, well. Now I wait again.

I got the ISBN numbers for the paperback and ebooks of The Hitchhiker registered with Bowker. I have to buy another block of numbers. Yikes. Those are a big expense, but one has to have them. And every format has to have its own number. It's significantly cheaper the more you buy, but coughing up the money for 100 of them would really hurt. I'm sure I'd eventually use them, though. Once I start putting books in audio format that will gobble up a pile right there. Might bite the bullet.

If you want to pre-order (through March 31) the set of the first three Dubios Files books, we've just sweetened the pot. They will now also be signed by the cover artist, as well as by me. Unless you are local, this may be your only chance to get copies signed by both of us. Signed sets can be preordered at a discount at Books Leaving Footprints



Oh, and I did another writerly thing that involves a contest and a deadline. Will tell more when the time is appropriate.

Formatting and More- The Dubois Files

 


I'm into crunch time! There is so much work to do on these first three books beyond writing that I sure hope I can have them available on March 31. For sure, they will be out as e-books by that date, and available to order paperbacks from Amazon. But in order for me to have paper copies in hand on that date I need to order them in the next week.

Today, I formatted the text of The Hitchhiker (without any screw-ups on the page numbering or headers and footers. I may have tamed that learning beast).

Also, I did the illustration above for the craft/skill in The Hitchhiker.

Found some reference pictures for another illustration in the same book.

There was also one more big craft/skill graphic to do in The Secret Cellar, and I got that done, too!

I also tweaked one of the interior illustrations for The Secret Cellar. I just have to insert that in the text, and that book will be ready to submit for printing approval. That was a big goal of the day... so I'd feel like I'm getting somewhere.

Release date March 31, 2018. Signed sets can be preordered at a discount at Books Leaving Footprints

The Secret Cellar - Full Cover for Paperback

 


Closing in on finishing all formatting for The Secret Cellar. Here's what the full cover for the print version will look like. Cover art by Linda J. Sandow.

I paid money to get my scanner to talk to my computer again, but it was well worth it. The scanner is a pretty good one, and I wasn't willing to call it a dead lump of plastic again.

I'll get it hooked up soon... maybe tonight, and then I can scan the illustrations and get them finalized.

Release date March 31, 2018. Signed sets can be preordered at a discount at Books Leaving Footprints

The Secret Cellar - Interior Illustrations

Here are the four interior illustrations that will go in The Secret Cellar. The drawings are done, the digitalization is not. I'm having no luck with scanner communications. So, just to get a feel for how they would work, I took photos. But this makes them look smudgier than they will be. Nevertheless, they give you an idea. The full color covers are being done by Linda J. Sandow, but I'm doing the interior illustrations.

Text that goes with this sketch: "The truck was bouncing so hard they lay down with heads cradled on their arms and their feet braced against the cab. The damaged bicycle bounced too and kept jabbing the boys in the ribs and legs. Jimmie wanted to hide his eyes, but he couldn't stop watching "



Text that goes with this sketch: "Cora loosened some more dirt and brushed it away with her hand. Carefully, to keep from getting cut on its sharp edges, she tossed another can aside and then pulled a beautiful dark blue bottle from the hole."



Text that goes with this sketch: "Meanwhile, Laszlo began digging one of the corner holes. He was a barrel-chested boy and very strong for his size.
He would thrust the post-hole digger into the ground, then pull the two handles apart. This made the shovel ends pinch together. He had to lift the tool out of the hole while holding the handles tight, or the dirt would drop out."


Text that goes with this sketch: "He set the lantern on a sturdy keg so it couldn't easily tip over and start a fire."



Release date March 31, 2018. Preorder for a discount and signed copies at Books Leaving Footprints