I just burned the CD-ROM for the printer, containing the 246-page final text and the cover, which turned out very well. I don’t think I’ll get in trouble for posting an image of it here. It’s done! 6 years ago

The client flooded me with corrections today. I’ve got everything I need to get the main text and subtext into layout. Amazing. They also approved the revised cost estimate and sent me a PDF file of one diagram I was missing. Incredible. And they’ve chosen a tentative title, too. Unbelievable!

But the best news is that last night at a networking event I met a local printer who may be able to save me as much as full week out of the production cycle. We made an appointment to me meet on Friday morning. I’ll bring samples of what I need and we’ll get a tight cost estimate. If she can meet the price my printer in Tennessee has quoted, I’ll do the work here. The only downside is that the bindery is in Minnesota, but she assures me that it will not increase cost or time. They have preferred shipping with FedEx. I am jazzed by all this good news! 6 years ago

Now I’m just waiting for the shit to hit the fan and every edit to come back and haunt me. 6 years ago

It most certainly was a weekend of labor, culminating today in the completion of the editing of the basic draft of the book I’ve been working on since May. It weighs in at a hefty 85,870 words, with 48 historical footnotes, 31 pages of photos, and a 30-page Appendix.

All that remains now (I say “all” tongue in cheek) is the insertion of photo captions, scanning of 15 charts, receipt of a client-written introduction, page layouts, cover design selection, client approval, submission to the printer, proofreading of galleys, final production, binding and delivery…and we still have five weeks to wrap it up.

Oh, did I mention there isn’t a title yet? But at least I’ve done the hardest part, turning more than a hundred thousand words worth of transcripts collected over a 15-year period into a tightly edited, very readable narrative.

So the ball is out of my court for the moment. I’ve popped the tab on a Miller Lite, and I’m going to take a well deserved break. Tomorrow, it’s back to my day job. Then next weekend, maybe I can wash the car, watch Notre Dame football, fire up the BBQ, and spend some quality time with my significant other like most non-editing folks do. 6 years ago

I just got back the transcript of a supporting interview I commissioned in New Hampshire using a personal historian who lives in in Vermont. It cost a several hundred extra dollars for the additional 3,000-odd words, but the client insisted and its her checkbook. Now I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. The main text (all 54,228 words of it) is complete, and the remaining 16,000 words or so will be done this weekend, if all goes well (knocking on wood). So tell me: Why, when I am so close to being free of this burden, have I sent a proposal to a guy in Toronto to do his grandmother’s autobiography? I am stark-raving bonkers! 6 years ago

And it looks like there will be at least 20,000 more. The client has just approved expanding the length (and cost) of the book, including an additional 15 pages of charts for the Appendix. More work for me. Oh joy. There goes Labor Day weekend. 6 years ago

I figure I’ve got at least another 15,000 words to go to finish the main text, and with the appendices and other sections, that could be doubled. Still no feedback from the client on chapters One through Seven. The clock is ticking. And so is the meter. My original estimate put the book at around 200 pages finished and bound. Now it looks like closer to 300. That will impact the cost, as well as the time required to publish. And it still has to be finished and delivered by October 12th. I just wrote to the client with a schedule for the remaining tasks, along with a warning that we’ll be going over budget. Let’s see what she replies. 6 years ago

I think I can have the main text completed by August 18th, then start to work on the introduction and appendices (there are several). The game plan is to have the manuscript in for design September 3rd. The client says she cannot find the first three chapters, so I’ve resent them. She’ll start reading the first seven chapters this weekend. Why have I been stressing about getting this done? She obviously isn’t. 6 years ago

I announced the publication today. It was a rather subdued affair because of the death of several participants and friends. 6 years ago

BHW—(4)
br1tt0n—(4)
d3p8ydt—(4)
bf0ster—(4)
kf0ster—(4)
h0yr8p—(4)
kn8ds3n—(4)
l3v41—(4)
m3lv1ll3—(4)
p4ss4n4nt3—(4)
p4yn3—(4)
p1ngr33—(4)
pl0fk3r—(4)
r31n3r—(4)
r0bs0n—(4)
r0chb3rg—(4)
r0ss—(4)
st33l3br4ckb3rns3n—(4)
w4ll3nf3ls—(4)
w1ll14ms—(4)

I am entirely sure you are not interested,
but when they all reach 4, I proof it. 6 years ago

Tables suck. Especially foreign languages, presented with diacritical marks, placed in tables. With Footnotes.

What’s wrong with you people? 6 years ago

I just sent chapters four and five to the client for review. God, this is going slowly. I grossly underestimated the complexity of the task. It’s not like I haven’t done it before; it’s just that I haven’t done it this way before. If I ever accept another project of this sort, the fee will be double and I’ll hire subeditors. 6 years ago

I’ve set the entire book. If you are a skilled copy editor with no need of money and hours to kill. Call me. I think we could be friends. 6 years ago

Somebody else wrote this line:
“The modern state is legitimate only if its taxation is in agreement with rules.”

That kind of thinking worries me. 6 years ago

For another weekend. And the next one too. On Monday, 7/31, I have to ship something off to the person who commissioned this. It may only be half. I’m still soooo far behind. 6 years ago

“The ill wind he had held behind him, he released in her face.”

Yep, someone wrote that. 6 years ago

As I edit, one thing consistently pisses me off. The use of “common era.” As in, 1974 C.E. not A.D. 1974. Why?
First, it’s ugly. CE and BCE are not the same length, nor do they have that nice framing effect found in the Christian era. (Witness, A.D. 1974. but 32 B.C.)
Secondly, it’s not “common.” It’s “Christian.” What’s so common about it when Israel uses AM (Anno Mundi) and ulam al-Arabiya uses AH (After Hegira).
Thirdly, it’s euro-normative. I think the thinking ran that if Jesus is not mentioned - even in an abbreviation - then no one can be offended. Wrong. The book contains God, not G-d. Prophets are mentioned without P.B.U.H. There is no bismAllah. I take one look at the book and I know it was written by and for the Christian world.
Fourth, I don’t feel particularly inclined to vette EVERY reference to alternative dating systems. I let astronomical dating stand. I let S.E. (Seleucid Era) stand. I kept regnal years of Nabonidus.
Moreover, the use of “Common Era” perpetuates a grievous error - there is no year 0. I think Christians have been sulking in shame for a few millennia that a) they miscalculated Jesus’ birth b) they didn’t put in a zero c) they didn’t calculate from the Resurrection - notice that Muslims calculate from Hegira, not Mohammed’s birth. What the hell is so great about Jesus’ birth?

Who the hell invented C.E.? I would blame this on the UN and their crappy ideas, but I know for a fact the UN has declared A.D. to be standard. (Which should tell you something about the UN’s understanding of the Arab world.) I can tell you only generally who invented CE—a self-loather. Damn, do I hate a self-loather. I hate him more than he hates himself.

Once upon a time, people had balls. I remember reading a book dated to the “twenty-sixth year of the republic.” And this was an American book. France also had a “republican era.” But weasely renamings of existing epochs? That shit is as lame as daylight savings time.

It’s the little things that make you want shariyah… 6 years ago

I’m in work on Sunday.
Crap.
I’m making progress, but I will be so happy to be done. 6 years ago

I am way behind on a book project I accepted in May and now the deadline is looming. I was surprised to see someone else with this goal. Misery loves company, so here I am. I’ve got a fulltime day job and this commitment keeps getting pushed aside. This has got to get done, even if I need to take a day or two off work to finish it. 6 years ago

I feel like this project is eating my life. Anxiety dreams, moodiness. This week, I’ve actually been feeling like I may get done. That’s good because I have to start getting ready for work in Paris. I’m scheduled to give an “intervention” on 18 December. I have a topic, albeit not a great one. Perhaps it is “groundbreaking” but I only have the courage to do it because someone else went before me. Nonetheless, I have some new info.

So, I have a goal to get my proofs ready by mid-August. Then I owe the printer some money. That’s okay, because I am cash rich these days. Even losing money, I’ll be happy to get my sanity back. 6 years ago

An “italian project” has kept me tied up for the past week. I finished - by my deadline - on friday. And the Italians thanked me very much.
More than you wanted to know: I tried and tried to get an extension on the project so I could substantially rework it, but no one ever responded to me. This has occurred previously with my colleagues. If someone could provide a clue about Italian schedules, I would be ever so grateful. I think I’ve got the first half—its not that they’re later than anyone else, its just that they don’t make excuses, apologize and lie about it afterwards. But would they be upset with my tardiness? Also, why does everyone have a habit of disappearing when negotiation looks rocky? 6 years ago

I have largely finished problematic Chapter 2. I will wait for the author of Chapter 7 to resubmit with source text. So, this week I may move on to Chapter 8.

Sadly, this project has taken over my life and I made too little progress on “the German Project” to meet deadlines (more than 43 Things really is too many!). 6 years ago

The author can’t really resubmit.
Dammit. 6 years ago

I finished Chapter 4, but it will need a fair amount of work, I think.
I finished Chapter 5.
I asked the author of Chapter 6 to resubmit.
Tomorrow, Chapter 7. 6 years ago

Eeek: I’m not finished with Chapter 1. It’s all typed in, but its not consistent. All logograms must be \textsc{}, not mathematical fonts.

Chapter 2 is still hung up.
Chapter 3 is tentatively finished.
Chapter 4—this afternoon. 7 years ago

An even 20 chapters.
I think I may have finished Chapter 1.
Chapter 2 is momentarily stalled.
I am fast at work on Chapter 3.
And Wednesday stalls out with the 20 of the 30 pages edited. 7 years ago

I am editing a book of scholarly articles. I hope to be finished by 26 June. That’s not a lot of time. Today, I must learn how to make graphs in TeX. 7 years ago