Progress towards publishing.

Option 1. My manuscript is now definitely with a publisher for a read through.

Option 2. I went to see a large printer group in Wiltshire where I talked through the preparation for, litho printed, sewn book and actually walked round the factory to see the process at work, also compared with the digital option.

I understand much better now what's involved and what deadlines to work to. The place gave me a good buzz and afterwards I walked through the offices were loads of people working and dealing with the client side. I would be assigned someone to look after my book and liaise with me.

It was made clear to me that it did not matter what font style I use as it will be changed for a book type face and also how I lay it out in Royale size will also be changed. All my footnotes will have to be stripped out and also the photos and diagrams even though I am putting them in with the text. I also need 100gsm coated paper to do this. I now have the margins and layout size of the dust jacket so I can rough something up but the printer will design it for me.

I need to get my ISBN numbers ordered and with a batch of 10 the printer suggested I start thinking of my next book! When we talked I found I had 2 new book ideas already. I'll need an ISBN per edition, one for a hard back, one for a ebook which the printer can organise too. It is nice to feel in control. If I want spaces between paragraphs as I am doing here I need to hit the return key twice otherwise all double spacing will be ignored.

Is anything reading this? Oh and an index, has to be left till all the text is edited and proof read and then I will do it by hand. I am also planning a Glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.

That's enough for today.

Influences and big issues.

It turns out there is more to connect Arthur with Doug than I first thought.
Doug was finishing his degree in electronics in 1945 when he was called up. He had chosen to study electronics at Oregon University because he was fascinated by radar and the secrecy that surrounded it during wartime. So he joined the Navy to train as an engineer technician. He sailed for the Philippines just as Japan surrendered. It was there in a thatched library he read about the concept of setting goals and working on big problems to assist mankind.

Doug's career was centred on collective intelligence via the interactive computer. He was 20 years ahead of his time.
"Douglas Engelbart never really gets credit for the larger contribution that he worked to create: an integrative and comprehensive framework that ties together the technological and social aspects of personal computing technology."
He was a new kind of person. This resonates so well with Arthur.

Arthur once said" he was concerned that certain parts of the world were progressing rapidly and becoming richer. These parts may become greedy and full of fear. The other parts of the world are caught in the spiral of hunger and poverty. He wished and hoped that people like us would balance the world."

Anyhow I wanted to share these thoughts because we are in a very serious place in the world's history - our politicians do not know how to handle the problems we face example: by 2017 official figures show we will have to find £70 billion just to pay the interest on the National Debt the equivalent of today's budget for Defence and Education put together. WHOW. 

'Follow My Dreams My Life & Times Arthur Ivor Llewelyn'

 

copyright Miranda Andrews 2013

I thought I had sent my manuscript to the publishers via a "send large files" service as at 13.8MB it is too large to send by email.
When I received an email from the publisher saying they were still waiting to receive the manuscript I at first thought that meant back from the editor; then I thought OMG perhaps they never received it in the first place. It always pays to check and check again.

'Follow My Dreams'

To check out the book follow the link below

http://followmydreams.co.uk 

Christina's video

R.I.P.

Christina's video, about her now late father's (Doug Engelbart) vision, is 39 mins long and well worth watching.
http://bcove.me/9dfr3p56

His vision and radical approach took years to be recognised - he was even advised to keep his ideas under wraps in case he got fired; his greatest breakthrough innovation, according to Christina, was improving the human condition to unleash the human potential to solving the world's problems.

Politicians take note!

Another famous visionary
Like Arthur, Douglas was years ahead of his time. I wonder if Arthur knew him. I am going to try and find out. His daughter Christina has written a biography about him.

Douglas Engelbart born on a farm outside Portland Oregon; a radar technician during WW2 in the US Navy he invented the first version of the computer mouse in the 60’s that was not widely used until the 60’s when the patent had run out died aged 88 on 3rd July 2013.

Among Engelbart's other key developments, along with his colleagues at the Stanford Research Institute and his own lab, the Augmentation Research Centre, was the use of multiple windows. Engelbart's lab also helped develop ARPANet, the government research network that led to the internet.

As a graduate student in electrical engineering at UC Berkeley after World War II Doug Engelbart began to imagine ways in which all sorts of information could be displayed on the screens of cathode ray tubes like the ones he had used as a radar technician during the war, and he dreamed of "flying" through a variety of information spaces.

At the heart of this vision was the computer as an extension of human communication capabilities and resource for the augmentation of human intellect.
http://www.dougengelbart.org/vision/paradigm-map.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/englebart.html

Believe in yourself.

I recently went to a great book event called 'Way With Words' down in Devon at a place called Dartington Hall. It was very well organised. A three week event I dipped into for two days and listened to about a dozen excellent speakers who had written biographies, or novels, and I learned a lot. I also met some very interesting people in the audiences many of whom where attending this event for the 19th year. One comment really set me thinking "who is going to read your book?" Incidentally a good tip for authors, as they really look after you at Dartington.www.wayswithwords.co.uk

Returning mentally invigorated I know have reached a bit of a down period except that I was delighted that Tony Benn has agreed to read the Chapter about Mintech in which he features as my Dad worked with him and went to Russia on a trade mission.

So I need to pep myself up and I am reminded of something my Dad once wrote to me when he was encouraging me to persevere "The easy way has not been my way nor will it be yours".

For a girl born on a Saturday I know I have to work hard for my living!

So to all you writers out there: keep persevering.

Checklist for my biography manuscript.

INDEX
I will need to compile an index of key people, places and topics when I know the exact page layout, but I can get started on this because whatever publishing option I choose, I will have to pay for or self-compile the INDEX.

ISBN number
Soon, I need to think about whether to obtain and ISBN number; in fact I will have to buy a block of 10 from Nielson. Info readily obtainable on the web.

I will also need to get a barcode sorted for the price and ISBN details which I can do when I know what route to take. A sticky label will be a good flexible choice for the pricing info.

COVER DESIGN
I will need to have a cover design done professionally again based on the choice of binding and dimensions of the final book. I intend to have the first print run as hard cover of at least 300 copies.
The printer has offered a print designer but I think this is the one aspect that you must be happy with and in control. I have some ideas for the cover but if anyone reading this has any ideas or knows a good designer - not too expensive in the £500-£1000 range I would be interested in a contact email. Linked to the cover design I will need a few posters and flyers for book launches.

ADVANCE ORDERS
I am compiling a list of everyone who has said they would like a copy when my book is finished and I am approaching independents bookshops who might be interested in selling and promoting my book and other likely venues such as Duxford Airfield. I have set up my website http://followmydreams.co.uk with this in mind to encourage visitors to sign up for a copy on line. I do not know the pricing but am guessing it will be in the region of £25 per copy.

Keep reading and if you have comments or ideas please join in my blog.

How to publish?
I have been working on this aspect since March 2013 when I had finished my first draft and approached an old established self publisher, some people would call it vanity publishing but this publisher is an old established publisher of biographies and memoirs and their deal seems very reasonable compared to most. I was quoted about £8,500 for them to produce 500 copies (30 I would keep) and then 65% royalty on net sales and a buy back of so much per book.

I have been resisting paying this large amount while I look at other options, talk to friends who have been through this process and learned some of the ropes; bought a copy of Writer's and Artist's Yearbook - a must - and updated it this year only to find the articles are the same but some of the publishers listed are new, and following websites with helpful advice from established writers.

I have also been talking to one of the largest printers in the country and to a proof reader and type-setter to gauge the cost of doing it all myself.

Last but most important I have been hoping to attract a publisher to bear the cost and I am waiting for an answer from one such who are currently reading my manuscript having shown interest. Wish me luck.

Since March I have redrafted the manuscript many times, paid for a critique and then revised my book accordingly as I agreed with all the comments and suggestions, particularly to take out the detailed technical descriptions and numbered points and make it more readable prose.

I have also converted the manuscript into Royale size (6" wide by 9" high approx. which the new version Office 365 enabled me to do , to see how many pages I would end up with and it worked out at about 450 counting one page two sides in 12pt Calibri font so dyslectics can read it too. 

Hello my name is Miranda.
I am writing this blog to share with all budding writers my new venture into writing a book.

I never intended to write this book!

My father was writing up his memoirs when he finally retired aged 80+ and he ran out of time before he finished the task. As he had asked me to help with searching for some of his old files, from Bomber Command post war days, at the National Archives in Kew, I grew interested in what my father had done through the WW2 developing airborne radar and indeed what had he done all his life.
By the time he died in 2006 I knew how he intended to compose his story, he had mapped out the heading and started to make notes for all the chapters.

It has taken me seven years to go through all his voluminous archives: papers  letters, notebooks, diaries and mementos. I have now succeeded in writing his story which turned out to be a fascinating account of his life and times and is what everyone likes to read; an extraordinary account of an ordinary man.
He does spill some beans as one of his old colleagues hoped he would and I learnt so much more about the man who was my father.

Check out the Book website on http://followmydreams.co.uk