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Friday 29 January 2010

My page proofs have arrived!

At last I can see what the inside of my book will look like and how it will read when it is printed. I am relieved to see the type is nice and easy to read and the chapter headings in a lovely appropriate olde-worlde type. Few people realise how much difference the design of the inside of a book can make, but recently I have become obsessed with it. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief!

It is strange to be enjoying reading my own book again, as I had semi-forgotten it, being immersed in the next. But it is also a frightening process as I discover a lot more editing I should have done, and which it is now too late for, as it is set in type. Above is a corrected page proof of To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I guess in 1927 when there were no computers, the writer was allowed to make more generous alterations to the text.

But it is one step nearer to having my book in my hand, so time for a little glass of wine...

5 comments:

  1. Enjoy the moment, Deborah! There's nothing quite like watching the developing stages of your first book. (A bit like the first baby, tho' when I try to tell mine - now aged 38 - how wonderful it all was, he makes shrugging, don't-be-so-sentimental noises. At least a book will never do that).

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  2. You must be SO excited Deborah! I think a LARGE glass of champagne would be in order! You are right too about the layout and font inside - if its too crammed up and small people simply won't read it, however good the story!

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  3. How wonderful for you to know you are some much closer to seeing it on the bookshelf.

    Thank you for sharing this moment with us too.

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  4. The proofs were probably the turning point for me--the moment I realized that it was really a book.

    Sure, it was nice holding my first author's copy of the printed book. But it still wasn't quite the amazing change I felt as seeing my words set up for the printer. But maybe I'm weird.

    Enjoy that glasss of wine. Hell, have two. A first novel only happens once in your life.

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  5. Thanks for your good wishes everyone!

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