Ready for the publisher, two weeks early!

The manuscript is ready for the publisher! I’m delighted. 220 pages of manuscript have been reformatted per the publisher’s requirements, 136 images are numbered and organized and sitting neatly in a folder, and the captions are in a separate file, as requested. I’ve answered the marketing survey, written various lengths of author bio and book description, and I am ready to submit my package. And two weeks early! Not only am I ecstatic to have it done, I’m downright smug about getting it done far before the deadline. Another on-time delivery for this project manager!

Here’s a pic of the final draft:

You may have noticed a title change. I decided that Dream It, Make It! was a bit too light and fluffy for a serious book. Master Your Craft does a much better job of communicating what the book is about: taking your design and construction skills to the next level, and growing as an artisan. It’s still only a working title, and will probably change again before publication, but I like it a lot.

There is still a lot to be done on the book, but this is a huge step forward. The next steps are for the publisher to verify that all the pieces are there, it’s of publishable quality, and write the catalog entry. That will take 3-6 weeks. After that, it’s on to editing, revisions, layout, proofing, and all the other myriad tasks that need doing to create a physical book.

(I had no idea it was so complicated when I signed up for this!)

During this process, I’ll also be doing a lot of marketing legwork. The publisher has asked me to suggest magazines, bloggers, and other venues that might review or help publicize the book; organizations that might help with creating “buzz” about the book; and, of course bookstores, schools, and other places that might be interested in selling copies of the book. I haven’t started putting together all that information yet – but I don’t think it needs to be delivered with the rest of the book package. I’m hoping not, since I still have to catch up on my digital painting class.

And the cats? I have the feeling that Fritz will be very sad to see the book completed. After all, what could be more enjoyable than harassing the printer for half an hour, as it cranks out another copy of my manuscript?