The Dreaded Red Pen

Well, I had my first editing session and, well, I LOVED IT. I love Kris, my project manager/editor. She is smart and creative.  We laughed and tapped and made a mess of my manuscript. She actually used a soft pink pen and the markings were minimal. They were actually the parts of the story/poem that I kept stumbling over and I was hoping she was just going to fix it and say, “There.” Instead, we sat there tapping away (literally) making sure the story had cadence. Hmm. That is a tough one. We all have our own cadence when we read but we have to find the middle ground to avoid stumbling on the words. Myself, Paul (not musically inclined- though likes to sing.”Likes” being the key word) and his Dad (who writes music) felt the cadence worked. But I understood what Kris was getting at. So the pink pen became a blue pen and the paper was ridiculously scrawled on. It looked like a football playbook gone wrong. We managed to make our corrections though I don’t have think I have the correct tap cadence and we mapped out the pages. It will be a 32 page book in landscape. Unfortunately, due to costs, construction and flow of the pages, I won’t be able to publish the book with an actual flip. I thought flipping the book over gave it an extra bit of creativeness but they said it would cost a lot to do it and it might take away from the story trying to figure out how to read the book. I still think it is a neat idea and makes the book and story even more creative. 

So I was fired up after the meeting. My creative juices were flowing. I am anxious for the illustrator part to come into play. I want to see my book come alive. Patience. 

I have made the corrections and sent them back to Kris. She will look them over as well as send them to Ryan, a musician, to double check the cadence. We will make whatever corrections are left and then start laying out the text the way we want it in the book (I think). I am going to try to document and take photos of all of the steps in the process of publishing my book for vanity sake as well as for anyone who finds it interesting. I would have if someone I knew had done it. 

“Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with short steps.”

 Hans Christian Andersen quotes