Sarah Ettritch's Blog, page 28

Proof Out!

What the heck does Proof Out mean? Lightning Source, the printer I use, has printed and shipped a copy of The Salbine Sisters for my inspection. I'll receive it later today or on Tuesday. Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving, so no deliveries on that day.

I've read about how writers dance, scream, and generally rejoice when they hold that first copy of a book in their hands, but it doesn't happen that way for me. I'm wearing my publisher hat when the proof arrives. My primary focus is the quality of the physical book.

Are the colours on the cover okay? Is the barcode sharp? I'll proof the back cover blurb—yet again. Inside, is there a problem with pagination? Do centred elements look centred? Is everything correct on the copyright page (again, I've already proofed it several times, but you can never do it enough). Is the print dark enough? Is it The Salbine Sisters? Don't laugh—it's not unusual for a printer to mix up covers and interiors when two books with the same trim size are printed around the same time.

When reviewing the proof, I'm all business, and I actually prefer it that way. I prefer to be emotionally detached.

If the proof does pass my inspection, all that remains is to approve it with Lightning Source. At that point, it will be released into the wild. The Kindle and Smashwords versions are sitting on my hard drive, ready to go. I plan to upload them to Amazon and Smashwords on the same day I give the green light to Lightning Source, so the eBook could be available as early as next week—at Smashwords. It might take longer to appear in the Kindle store. The print book will slowly make its way to online stores, a process that can take several weeks.

A problem with the proof will delay things by about a week or so.

The Salbine Sisters—coming soon!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

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Mini-Review: Outwitting History

Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books is Aaron Lansky's account of how he (and those working with him) managed to collect millions of Yiddish books, thereby rescuing them from landfills, water damage, and obscurity. Lansky is the founder of the National Yiddish Book Center, which has thousands of Yiddish books online, and due to print on demand, can now print and ship books that almost disappeared from history.

Based on the book blurb, I expected to read engaging stories about the obstacles Lansky faced, the people who helped him rescue the books, and those who donated their books. I wasn't disappointed. Lansky is a wonderful storyteller—you'll laugh, you'll be humbled, you'll feel uplifted, and you'll want to weep.

I gained a greater appreciation for books as important historical objects that are sometimes the only surviving record of a culture. So many Yiddish books were destroyed during the Second World War that it's amazing (some would say divine intervention) that any survived. Apparently four caches of Yiddish books were buried to hide them from the Nazis, but only three of those caches have been found.

As I read the stories and about how important the Yiddish books were to their owners—how they worried about what would happen to them after they died; how well-thumbed the books were; how sometimes they were the only surviving words of someone murdered by the Nazis, or the only surviving witnesses to atrocities committed during the war—I couldn't help but think about eBooks and how intangible they are. Most of the eBooks around today probably won't be readable in 10 years. Sure, they can be converted from format to format, but they'll be so easy to wipe out, should any power ever decide to do that.

Amazon has already demonstrated its ability to remove books from Kindles, but that's trivial when compared to the possibility that a movement like the Nazis could destroy an entire category of books because it's offended by them. Wipe key servers and confiscate eReaders and you're done–just like that. The books are gone forever. Can you bury a cache of eBooks that people can recover and read 50 years later? I can't even read the floppy disks I have lying around. My computers haven't had floppy disk drives for several years now.

My concern about eBooks may sound paranoid, but given human history, it really isn't. I'm not knocking eBooks or suggesting that they're inferior to print books. But if eBooks had been prominent during the Second World War, it's likely that all those Yiddish books would have been lost forever, as if the communities and cultures had never existed, and the horrors some of the books describe had never happened.

If you appreciate literature and books in any way, shape, or form, Outwitting History is a great read.

Bonus for Canadians: Lansky was studying at McGill University when he answered "the call" to save Yiddish books, so some of his stories take place in Montreal.

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Proofreading Purgatory

I'm in the middle of proofreading the typeset version of The Salbine Sisters (aka the "galleys"). Contrary to what some may believe, writers aren't so enamoured with their stories that they can read them over and over again with enthusiasm. After proofreading Rymellan 1, I remember telling the book designer that if there were still errors in the text, someone else would have to tell me about them. I had no intention of ever reading those stories again (not for a long while, anyway).

Writers...

Rymellan Fiction: Shields Down

I've just posted the latest story to Rymellan Fiction, called Shields Down. If you haven't been following along, I'd recommend that you start with The Dance.

Enjoy!

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Announcement: The Salbine Sisters

I'm pleased to finally announce my fantasy novel The Salbine Sisters. Rather than boring you with the details here, I'll send you over to the novel's website, where you can find information about the characters and lore, read an excerpt, and check out the cover Patty Henderson designed.

Barring any unforeseen problems, I'll release the novel in November. The eBook versions might be available in October.

Anyway, head on over to The Salbine Sisters and check it out. Spread the news! Share the...

Labour Day Weekend Tour

Here we are, already at Labour Day weekend. If you've visited the About page, you'll know I live in Toronto. Last Labour Day weekend, someone named Dave shot a video of downtown Toronto from the top of a double-decker tour bus. If you're in the mood for a tour, sit back and have a look. You can hear the guide describing the sights and almost imagine you're there.

Dave sneaked in a political message around the 8-minute mark that gave me a laugh. If you blink, you'll miss it.

Enjoy the long...

Kindle: A Tragic Romance

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I'd read a book published in 1904. I came across it on AbeBooks, and the description intrigued me enough to find it on eBay and buy it. It didn't come cheap, but it was cheaper than the copy available on AbeBooks.

After reading it, I decided to give it a new title and publish it to the Kindle. You can find it here: A Tragic Romance.

It's an interesting story for 1904, though I can't tell you why without giving away the surprise ending. I set the Kindle...

Bits and Bobs

A bit of a grab bag today:

Tracy Borman's Elizabeth's Women

I finished reading Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen. If you're interested in Elizabeth I or the Tudor period, definitely pick it up. It focuses on the women around Elizabeth, so even if you've read several books about Elizabeth herself, this one offers a new perspective. I learned more about Ann Boleyn and the other women in Elizabeth's life than I have from other books.

Next up: Outwitting...

Fashion Sense for Writers

For reasons that I'll make clear in a future post, I recently finished reading a book published in 1904. It wasn't the first story I'd read from the early 20th century, so I wasn't surprised at how many writing "rules" the author broke.

I come across a lot of sites and blog posts that talk about writing rules as if they were on the tablets Moses brought down from the mountain. I'm talking about rules like:

Avoid adverbsAlways use "said." Any other dialogue tag is distractingDon't head hopDon't...

Random Video Day #1

I don't have much to say today, other than that I've updated the WIP page and added a Coming Up section.

So I'll do a random video day. This one has been making the rounds on Facebook. Prepare to smile, and have a great weekend!

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