Permissions et al

This is the website of the place I am going to print my book. I chose them because:
a)They do small print runs with competitive pricing.
b)They offer a lot of (currently free) advice on the processes.
c)They reply promptly and give straightforward answers.
d)They offer assistance with the marketing and selling side - at a parallel website, sellmybook.co.nz - which I haven't explore in detail yet.

I have had some fast replies to my requests for permissions to use (in every case short) quotes from other writers. They are surprisingly specific and detailed and so far all three agree to my use and tell me how to word the acknowledgement.

Most of my time at the moment is going into figuring out this blogging business. This bit, creating posts, is easy enough but other parts have me floundering around. For example, I got my photo onto my profile, then accidentally removed it and now I'm having trouble getting it back. It's in the second post, that's easy, it's getting it into the profile that is the challenge. Something to do with getting the URL right. The help files are, I think, written by and for people who don't need the instructions spelt out as fully as I do.

Moving along

Making haste slowly with this project.

Have been talking with Jill, about page layout and fonts and how I want the pages to look. Find I have opinions about this! Seriph fonts (the ones with little flicks like Times New Roman) are best for text. Garamond and Bookman are my favourites at the moment, they have a slightly old-fashioned look which I like. Jill is exploring variations on Bookman.

Haven't done anything about checking out whether I can use the cover image I like.

Have written and emailed off to the relevant publishers for permissions to use quotes from other writers. Seven of them. The web makes this kind of thing easy. I got advice from the New Zealand Society of Authors (recommend them to any nz writer) then did searches on 'permissions author's name'and in every case found a place with the instructions I needed. Some I could do online. In order to fill the 'publisher' space I had to name a publisher, so rather than just using my own name I invented PJ Press (PJ being the first initials of both myself and my partner) and have permission to use a friend's post office box for an address different from my own residential one. So it's PJ Press, P O Box 2, Paekakariki, 5258, New Zealand. Not that I want to hide anything but I think I might be taken more seriously or something if the publisher information is different.

Jill, the friend who will do the book layout, can do it over christmas and new year holidays, so that is the time frame I am working to.

I have done yet another read through of the ms, correcting minor errors - there are always more! I'll get a clean copy printed. My next job is to assemble the information needed for those beginning pages. I have a model for this from a website that works with writers to publish their work. I'll say more about them next time, after I have asked for permission to do a link to their website.

That's it for now.