Jeff’s Big Day at Work
Friday, June 27th, 1997
Ha! You want nuts? I’ll give ya nuts!
Today I prepped three (3!) big technical books for printing. Three NEW EDITIONS! But it was MORE than that. Lots more!
Up at 7 a.m.
I did final manuscript proofing and edits and output complete proofs and camera ready copy depending on which book it was for. 1200 pages!
I prepared 20 transfer files (60 mb) for electronic publishing for the book that wasn’t being output as camera ready copy.
I input raw new editorial content (including graphics and equations, from handwritten pencil) for a vital new chapter section which had been forgotten and brought it through all proofing, composing stages.
I thought up and wrote vital editorial copy for the covers of all three books.
I created new marketing pieces for all three books. It was publicity within both books and add-on fliers for two (2!) vital new products for which *nothing* had been created yet! (–For 3 video series and several calculator program disks!) Plus a new sales campaign offering a special discount package ‘System’ for existing products, with proof of purchase, etc., etc. (But what to charge? How to describe? How to avoid snafu? Will it leave any customers in the lurch? Gotta consider all angles! Quick!) All of which we’d forgotten had to be included in the books. We were waiting to create and launch in next catalog being put together in a couple weeks, but the books and their included fliers had to be up to date, too! And we hadn’t even started on these projects yet! I had to create and make them good enough right now! And bring both computer transfer files and camera ready output of this new material to final readiness for all three books!
Innovation, creation, writing, editing, marketing, strategizing, computer output, transfer file prep. Three books. 1200 pages. All in a days’ work!
And the crux of it was done without a net! I output final proofs of the transfer files for our most important book (it’s being electro-published) and verified them myself! Recipe for disaster? Usually! But this time I have to make sure they’re good without having the editor look them over, because the editor went on vacation before the final output! I hope they’re correct! Usually, I just output, but now I get to do final verifying, too! Usually it can’t even physically be done. (Production can’t edit its own work. No accuracy! But this time there has to be! Ha! It makes me a little giddy thinking about it!)
(In the end, the new sales campaign got axed and delivery postponed a day. TOO MUCH!)
