The basic idea here is that Lulu (and CreateSpace) makes it feasible for even the smallest public libraries to either publish books (community histories, etc.) that might only reach a few dozen people, to provide publication assistance for patrons to prepare books that might literally never sell a copy except to the author (genealogy is the immediate and obvious case, but there are others). And to do so with little or no monetary investment, including no upfront investment for the books themselves.
Needed:
- Full-fledged lesson plan/speaking notes, ideally in two forms (one-hour in person/online, three-hour in-person?)
- Word2007 template for 6×9 book, with sample .docx using that template and explaining elements
- Ideally, a Mac-friendly version and/or a Word2003 version
- Even more ideally, an OpenOffice version (if that’s feasible–if OO has the chops for this)
- A PoD book setting forth the whole scenario and serving as an example, very high priced on its own with a substantial discount for workshop attendees (or bulk purchases)
- Does this need a color book as well?
Book coverage:
- Describing each element of the template
- A typography overview, with notes on changing the template and lots of examples
- A page and book layout overview, with notes on elements (and chapter changes)
- Notes on copyfitting and typographic elegance
- Notes on photos and charts, and the Excel trick
- Notes on front matter and back matter
- PDF issues
- Notes on cover alternatives
- Quick notes on alternative tools
- When does the PoD option make sense?
- Maybe notes on pricing, etc.–and the difference between PoD and vanity publishing.
- Possibly other elements below
Workshop coverage:
Part 1: 30-45 minutes?
- Possible uses [expand on this!]
- Thinking about production options
- What you don’t get with Lulu et al (copy editing, layout help, marketing, promotion)
- What to do about those missing elements
- Example pricing & release scenarios
- The toolkit–basics and extensions
- The nature of the template(s)
Part 2: 60-90 minutes?
- Thinking about a book project
- Working with the templates
- Step-by-step through the elements of a book
- Content and organization
- Refinement levels
- When is 6×9 wrong? When do you need color?
- The hazards of dense photo management in Word2007
- Details and trickery: Copyfitting etc.
Part 3: 45-60 minutes
- Putting it all together
- Cover refinement for wraparound covers
- Checking the test copy
- Thinking about sales & promotion
- Discussion and other issues
What else? Is this a reasonable workshop?
Notes
On one hand, I bring a fair amount of value to this one, given amateur typographic and layout experience (good enough that I produced the camera-ready copy for two ALA Editions books and several earlier G.K. Hall/Knowledge Industry books), my own experiences with Lulu, my copyfitting experience with C&I. There should be thousands of libraries that could use the information.
On the other–I did a LITA regional workshop on desktop publishing in 1994 (I still have a copy of the workbook, including a magnificently and deliberately atrocious “do what I say” chapter). It seemed promising at the time. It happened twice, and was pretty much a disaster (partly because I wasn’t a great workshop presenter, mostly because very few people ever signed up).
Quick evaluation
- Medium-scale effort (all new material), except that adding Macintosh and OpenOffice templates might be difficult.
- Medium value added: Experience with PoD, some layout/typographic experience, some copyfitting experience.
- Upfront: No money as such, but book preparation
- Value to the field: Potentially high
- Monetary rewards: Unclear, and might involve travel
- Personal rewards: Moderate–I’d like to see more libraries doing this.
Comments?
In the interests of a silly but amusing experiment, I am obliged to note that this post has nothing whatsoever to do with Kindle 2, Amazon, text-to-speech, 23 things or Authors Guild. It also has no specific references to Kansas or Nebraska.
How did I get all four of these up so rapidly? I remembered Word2007’s “new post” feature. Since I already had the four discussions in a Word document, it was just a matter of cut, copy and post…