Everything looks very much as it appeared on the earlier version of the cover and in the .pdf proofs I was poring over last week -- with two exceptions. On the back of the cover, there's a new tag line that (again) I wish I could claim I'd thought of myself:"Not your average old legend."
That's Jordan the Red right there in a nutshell (or close to it; when Jordan was actually trapped in a nutshell, in the "Rotwood Saga", he was much younger. Also much angrier. A nutshell is not a pleasant place to be, and causes famously bad dreams. But I digress).
On the front of the cover, there's a quote from Publishers Weekly. "A winning fantasy...satirical, rollicking adventure."
Now, this is a quote from when the novel was reviewed for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, last year; I'd like to think the novel has improved, through all the editing and attention it's received since then. But once again, it brings back to me how important and career-shaping that contest was for me -- my novel, whatever else may happen with it, has a Publishers Weekly review quote attached to it.
Exciting times. And now, back to work!
(Countdown: 4. Getting curious yet?)
Very exciting! I look forward to getting the book and reading your story once it's published.
ReplyDeleteSo explain this "galley proof" step--what happens and how long does it take?
The cover looks great. I've already got my copy pre-ordered. Can't wait.
ReplyDeleteLooks GREAT Ian! You should probably send at least ONE to your mother.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd send the rest to they type of people who can double check for errors (maybe your most helpful first readers--then they can both CHECK it, and KEEP one)
Thank you all! Yes, my mother has a copy (no way *that* wasn't happening), but I think the others are going to go to reviewers and folks in the fantasy/book world.
ReplyDeleteBagha, the galley proof (or often just called a galley) is an early version, done up to show exactly how the book will be laid out. All the text design (margin width, indent size, how section breaks are handled, etc.) is in place, and the pages are the way they'll appear in the final version. Before the galleys, all the work my editor and I have been doing has been with the manuscript version, which is like a text document on a computer. There's still an opportunity to catch and correct typos in a galley proof before it goes to print (that's what I was working on last week, and what a freelance proofreader was or still is doing outside of my scope), but beyond that, everything's now as it will be.
I'm not sure how much longer we'll be in the galley-proof stage before the book goes to print; I'll let you know when I find out. The next marker on the timeline as I know it is the release date, July 27.