So, a brief update. Last time, I was asked to rewrite the manuscript to reflect more of Crowood's corporate style, so it lost some of me, and gained some of them. Publishers provide a huge list of corporate text and number requirements, and these all have to be met.This time, the manuscript was accepted without amendment. It's a different take, because it has to be. Each publisher requires any book to fit their range, and this is why they control the title, the covers, and the style & content. My Crowood book was very much a hands on experience, whereas this one is not. This time it's more of a storybook walk through, up to 1997, with more detail on the long door cars up to 2020. Plenty has already been written on that period from 1909 by various experts, which has alllowed me to ruthlessly condense the history into chapter 1.
With the Crowood book, 25 out of 250 images were bounced, as not meeting the standards, but because most of the images came from my library, it was possible to either photo edit or retake, sometimes after a partial dismantle of my Roadster just for a few photos.So although I'm not expert I do have a few photo edit skills, mainly using Gimp. This time, 23 images out of 100 were bounced. This was more challenging because I have had to source specific images from various contacts, and some of the older ones are just not repeatable. When certain images are scarce, and one example is of Plus 8s being built in the factory, having to re-source takes time, although 98% of my contacts have been able to supply amazing shots which are probably unpublished. For the images which failed on size and quality, I discovered a site caled "Upscale Media by Pixelbin. This is not free, but allows up to 8X upscaling and a sharpening option. There's an annual sub, or a unit credit cost, which is not terrible. I then put these images into Gimp to check "Print Size", and do anything else necessary. This might make me sound like an expert, I'm definately not.
Last time I managed to upload everything into the cloud somehow. This time I sent a memory stick, but for the image upgrades used Drop Box for the first time. I'll soon be an IT expert at this rate.
The title will be "Modern Traditional Morgans 1997-2020" The publisher is Amberley. No idea yet when the release date will be. In case you are wondering, I have Simon's permission to talk about my book on TM.
Finally, we all have a book in us, don't we? This all started here in TM, when someone who is long gone, but an author, told me that I should write a book. It was several years before that happened for all the usual reasons why people never get on with it. This time it began with a link from a commissioning editor at Amberley Publishers, forwarded by JohnV6. I didn't just jump in either, because it's a big deal, when a contract and deadlines are involved. But over a few days and a few discussions with Amberley, and a few discussions with MrsW, I decided take the plunge, because winter is perfect for being indoors, and rambling on.
If anybody out there is contemplating a book, I'm happy to share my experiences, just ask!
