Titles!

Okay, we've got that series titled. At least for the time being.

Which is probably long-term as well, because we've told the cover designer what words to work with (she already has the images). Type selection begins with the actual words that will be dominant, because individual letterforms can make or break a choice of typefaces. For example, many knitting book titles require a face that has especially graceful shapes for its K and g. Some letters tend to be more appealing in one type design than another. So we don't want to go changing critical words later—and besides, after we've worked so hard to get the title to work within all the necessary constraints, it's time to get really serious about completing the book that will go with the title.

By the end of January 2006 (for a fall 2007 release), we need to have (1) title, (2) author name, (3) publication month, (4) trim size, (5) preliminary, yet close-to-final, cover design, (6) page count, (7) illustration counts (separate and specific counts for photos and drawings), (8) cover price, (9) descriptive catalog copy, (10) reviews or quotes, if possible (no, we don't have anything like a real book yet with which to solicit these), (11) carton quantity (which we really don't know until the book ships from the printer a month before pub date), and (12) marketing/publicity plan.

Some of these are easy (author name and bio). Some we just pull out of the air and then have to live with (trim size and pub date and title). Some demand careful, educated guesses (illustration counts). Some push us to make firm decisions with insufficient information (cover price, when the costs of paper and freight will not be known for about ten more months). Some require us to make up numbers that we have an opportunity to modify later, although they need to be in the right neighborhood (carton quantity). Some necessitate a whole lot of work (page count).

But we've got a title for this book, and for the two others in the same series that will follow it.

The author is Donna Druchunas, who wrote our recently released Arctic Lace.

The next three books of Donna's that we will be publishing are almost certainly going to be called:

Ethnic Knitting: Discovery
The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and The Andes

Ethnic Knitting: Exploration
Lithuania, Iceland, and Ireland

Ethnic Knitting: Adventure
Bavaria, Japan, and Turkey

Now I need to get that first book fully edited and laid out. It's in process. . . . I was working on the layout for pages 56 through 62 this afternoon, juggling type and tables to see how I am going to fit some specific worksheets within the text block of a 7x9-inch trim size. But that's the size the book "feels" like it wants to be, so that's what we've decided on.

We have items 1, 2, 3 (October), and 4.

Onward, banners flying, in quest of items 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, or reasonable facsimiles thereof. . . .

Comments

[Leslie]

I thought you would go with Ethnic Knitting, though I almost submitted Bohemian Knitting except that limits everything, doesn't it?

Fun to read the insider stuff about publishing...

[Donna Druchunas]

"By the end of January 2006 (for a fall 2007 release)"

You mean Jan, 07, right? or we're already a year behind!

[Deborah Robson]

Bohemian is how I feel. Does leave out a few global realms.

Donna and note on my January 2006: GAAAA! (runs screaming into the night).

Yes. January 2007. That's challenging enough.

[Judy P]

This series of books sounds fascinating. Love reading about the process.