Mozark
Press has been a sponsor of the Sedalia Walk to End Alzheimer’s for more than a
decade. Each year, I make a monetary donation and provide free books at the
walk. The books are a compilation of the previous year’s blog posts.
I
know it sounds easy to just take what you’ve already written, slap it into a
book, and publish it. I’ve always found it to be more complicated than that.
One
of the first decisions to make is a title for the book. For the 2023 book, I
had chosen a title midway through the year. Music was so important to Jim and
it’s an important part of my life since I’ve learned to play the ukulele and
joined the family band. With that in mind, I chose Music for the Soul as the title for this year’s book.
The process for a simple blog book: After
I plug the book into a template, format, and edit it—then I fix the formatting,
and edit again. I write an introduction and the back page matter.
Of
course, every book has to have a cover. Until last year, my husband downloaded
a template based on the exact page count, and used a fancy-smancy program to
design the cover. Often this process took longer than formatting the book
itself. Lately, we have used a free cover layout and modified it to suit our
vision. That also turned out to be a lengthy process as we modified their
cover—sometimes trying to fit that hypothetical square peg into a mythical
round hole.
Once
the cover was finished and the table of contents and pagination were correct, I
uploaded the book to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). In a few short minutes, a
digital proof copy was available for review. After about 24 hours, I received a
notification that the digital copy of the book was approved for publication.
Without
fail, I have always found more errors on the printed page than I ever could on
a PC screen. To speed up the process, I ordered a copy from Amazon Prime. I
don’t have to pay shipping and received the book in two days.
I
read through the printed copy and marked multiple corrections with red ink and
colorful Post-it page markers. After I finished, I painstakingly made the
corrections and hoped that I didn’t make more mistakes while updating the
manuscript.
What
I have described are the mechanics of publishing a book. As I read the stories
that I wrote the previous year, sometimes, it was almost as if I was reading
them for the first time. The stories jogged my memory about events, thoughts,
and feelings that were on my mind as various events unfurled.
The
creative process of writing and publishing my blog posts is an integral part of
who I am. The blog always brings me full circle. I explore the beginning as I
remember Jim before dementia. I remember the middle when I talk about
caregiving, dementia, and our journey through the decade of loss. In April, I
remember the end when Jim left this world. Then, finally, I talk about picking
up the pieces—and a new beginning.
I’ve heard people say that writing and
publishing a book is like birthing a baby. Sometimes the process is painful,
but the joy makes it all worthwhile.
My
box of books arrived the last day of August, so I don’t have the angst of
wondering if they will arrive before the September 16 Walk to End Alzheimer’s. I breathe a sigh of
relief to realize that my legal bookmaking is over for a while.
Copyright © Aug
2023 by L.S. Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
#ENDALZ