Sun-dappled Bluelines

Straight from the typesetting department

of Gibbering Gnome Press:

Here be the completed bluelines to the print edition of The Dragondain. I took this pic from Gibbering Gnome Press’s natural light studio (also known as my porch). I’ve burned the publication files to disc. Tomorrow, I’ll have another sample cover made—for correction verification—then it’s straight off to the printer. I’m really hoping this will be the only round of corrections, but I never really know until the boxes start appearing—like magic—in Gibbering Gnome Press’s loading dock (also known as my garage). For example, this time I had to change things around in the front matter to acknowledge that I’d won a Moonbeam award, which I still find hard to believe! Part of me thinks that if I see it in print, then maybe the news will get through my thick head and into my wee little brain. It’s so surreal. Maybe . . . maybe I’m in the Matrix! Now that seems much more likely. Yeah, that’s gotta be it: I’m in the Matrix! That explains SO much. I can’t wait to start dodging bullets in slow mo! Or run up walls and jump off buildings. Welp, off to go practice my new powers. Wish me luck!

Read Full Post »

THE MOON COIN Adds New Content for eReader Devices and Apps

New Content for eReader Devices and Apps!

..

Amazon introduced a new Kindle format with the release of their Kindle Fire, called KF8. It allows me to do things I couldn’t do when The Moon Coin first debuted in September of last year. With KF8 I can embed fonts and add fun formatting features that heretofore were only available on the iPad. If you already own The Moon Coin and you want to get these new features and content, just email kdp-support@amazon.com. Include your Kindle account email and tell them that you want to re-download The Moon Coin. They’ll email you back with instructions. It’s completely free. The new content (cover, map, and character pages) is available for all the Kindle Reader Devices and Apps.

..

If you have an iPad, simply open the iBooks app, hit the edit button, tap on the old version, hit the delete button and then download it again. Very intuitive. I didn’t even have to google that one.

..

The update has gone live for the Nook devices (Barnes & Noble), too!

First up: it’s got a new cover!

..

DropCaps at the beginning of every new chapter! Yay! (For the Kindles, this feature only works if your device supports the new KF8 format.)

..

This map of Treling, which was made for the print edition, is now available for all eReader devices and apps , and if you have the iPad, Nook Color, or Kindle Fire: it’s in color! Whoo-hoo!

..

These character pages were another addition planned for the print edition that’s now included with the eBooks. And if you have a Kindle Fire  or iPad, then you’ll get to see the character names in sporty SmallCaps! These are the features that make typesetters drool, people! 🙂

..

❍

Free Sneak Preview!

Six chapters formatted for ePub, Mobi, or PDF.

Please share these files with your friends. Enjoy.

❍

..

Copyright © 2011 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

..

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

Read Full Post »

Blue-lines!!!

Some pics of the blue-lines the printer sent me:

..

Technically, these are digital proofs, but they’ve been made to look exactly like traditional blue-lines burned from negatives, which I think is really cool! (Although dang hard to read!) Each page is a separate piece of paper, double-sided, formatted, and paginated exactly as it will appear in the book—except, of course, the light blue will be replaced by black ink! 🙂

..

I love the Gibbering Gnome Press colophon (that’s the little silhouette thingy above the press name) Carolyn designed.

..

This map of Treling is new for the print edition.

..

The pages with illustrations are on normal paper so I can spec the color.

..

..

..

..

Paperback and eBook now available:

Amazon and Second Looks Books.

..

Click HERE to Read Reviews of The Moon Coin.

..

❍

..

Copyright © 2011 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

..

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

Read Full Post »

Typesetting THE MOON COIN: The Print Edition

These are some screen shots from CS Indesign 5.5.

..

When I was working on the eBook version of The Moon Coin, I was very limited in what I could do. Since then, Amazon has introduced a new Kindle .Mobi format that promises a slew of new features, including embedded fonts. After I finish evaluating what that means for users of older kindles, I may adopt that new format later this year. Similarly, Apple has recently introduced iAuthor, a new proprietary software program to build their ebooks. It also promises a slew of new features.

..

First up, a presentation shot.

Click HERE or the image directly above to enlarge.

..

Here’s a detail shot of the graphic elements in the header.

Click HERE or the image directly above to enlarge.

..

Here’s a detail shot of the graphic elements in the footer.

Click HERE or the image directly above to enlarge.

Read Full Post »

From Indesign to iPad, Kindle, and Nook: Typesetting eBooks

Once the book is properly formatted within Indesign, it can be exported to the various formats needed to go to Amazon, Apple, and Barnes and Noble. Each format has its quirks and bugs—the iPad has trouble centering text; the Kindle doesn’t know what to do with DropCaps: and the Nook likes to chop off the last hyphenated syllable of the last word in a sentence (centered text only; go figure); just to name a few. Of the three, the iPad currently offers the most robust formatting.

Here is a screen shot of the finished EPUB file running in iBooks on my iPad:

..

..

This is what happens when you turn the iPad onto its side:

..

..

Preview: The Moon Coin.

Six chapters formatted for ePub, Mobi, or PDF.

Please share these files with your friends. Enjoy.

..

Paperback and eBook now available:

Amazon and Second Looks Books.

❍

..

Copyright © 2011 by Richard Due. All rights reserved.

..

Gibbering Gnome Press, A Division of Ingenious Inventions Run Amok, Ink^®

The Moon Realm^®

Read Full Post »