Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Family Keeper book

Hello, again. It's about time.

At last blog, I reported that I was working with an artist on my book. Well, that didn't work out for many reasons. So I went to the trusty internet and pulled out photos of hummingbirds, the new stars of my book. Now I could move on.

I finally finished my "final" draft of my Family Keeper book. I sent it to the publisher, had many conversations, sent my credit card info and said YES when they asked if they should proceed. WAAHOO! I finally did it.

It's in Word Perfect, not the ideal choice for publishing this type of book, so I am worried about formatting problems. I have gone over it, word-by-word, line-by-line and dot-by-dot. Perfect. Until I find out differently.

Somewhere along the way, I went from a company with a cookbook division (because no one else handles the "cookbook" style 3-ring binders) to their press division to their self-publishing division.

Along with those moves, came a change in their requirements. I was ready to send everything in all done when I found that I needed the self publishing division which had.......new requirements for margins....a real biggie when you are working with uber formatting. I went through over 300 pages removing 2 dots on every line and 1 line on every page. That is called patience and persistence.

In about 2 weeks, I should have a copy of the proofs to correct at $1 or $2 a page or correction or something, plus $40 for the corrected proofs. I hope its already perfect.

As I am working on this blog, my daughter Alycia is working on a webpage for me as we each sit silently on our ends of the phone "conversation." When the page is up, very roughly at this point, I will add a link to this blog.

Below is a preview of the book.

Table of Contents

Emergency Section
Call 911
Emergency contacts
Location of utility shut-offs
Professional contacts
Family sections (One section for each family member, each numbered separately)
Personal Info and Identification
Where are my records kept
Financial Information
Health
Immunizations
Medical conditions and illnesses
Eye and dental information
Family medical history
Medical Directory
Sacred (LDS ordinances and church callings and another section for non-LDS)
Military
Marriage and family
Homes
Education
Employment
Interests and activities
Significant events and travel
Resume of my life experiences
Things I’d like my family to know
Extra Pages
Special occasions
Year in review
School schedule
Addresses
Extra note pages