Unlike some people, I don't glue myself to the phone. Most of the time, I can't answer the phone because I am in the glass studio usually in the middle of making a bead. It's not like I can stop at a moment's notice, run to answer the phone, and finish the bead later. With other art mediums, the flexibility may be there. As to my cell phone, half the time it's not even charged or on. I just use it for emergencies and to call my husband. Most of the time, I am working in the studio, so the cell phone stays in the car. I have a "pay as you go" cellphone so my costs are minimal!I had a phone appointment with my editor to talk about the next steps of the book this afternoon. By the way, this is the only way to get a hold of me - send me an email that you will call on a certain day, at a certain time. Is that bad of me or just being very organized? Back to the book - because the book projects are quite technical and geared towards intermediate/advance beaders (with some chain and wire included), the concern was how many of the thirty projects would fit in the book. You see, publishers allot a certain page count to books usually in multiples of 16. I learned this today. Surprisingly I didn't ask how many pages my
book was going to be from the beginning. Before I spoke to my editor, I had gone through some of the page counts of recent books from Interweave. I saw 112, 128 and 240. Most of the books were in the range of 112 or 128 pages. So this was one of the questions I finally inquired with my editor. It turns out my book will be *144* pages. This is spectacular news, especially because most Interweave books average 112 and 128. Even with 144 pages, we will not be able to fit in all thirty projects. Oh well.So the phonecall was to discuss the priorities. Eighteen of the thirty projects were selected to be definite "in the book" category. Eight projects were selected as optional additions should there be extra pages. The remainder projects from these eight not selected will most likely be snatched up by Beadwork magazine. All great news because if I take the time to design a project, I would like it to be published. Four projects were not selected based on several factors which I agree with. Two were not related to the theme as closely as the chosen projects, one was similar to that published already in BW, and the last one had a component that would be difficult to find (even if I really liked this design especially). I think the "jury" selected the projects I would have if I had to omit some.
So I am a bit jazzed today because we are moving forward. The projects are now with the technical editor who will tweak my instructions and condense them. I tend to be a bit wordy with my instructions to make sure I cover everything. After the TE is done, I get to give it a once over. Interweave will be taking test shots for potential covers in the next few weeks. I like the fact that they are keeping me in the loop throughout the process and will send me the photos for my opinion in two weeks. Then the layout editor jumps in and I will have a final once over by end of this year to get it ready for a Spring 2008 launch at Bead Expo Portland!
Of all the editors I've worked with, I would have to say that I am immensely impressed by the professionalism, openness, and approachability of the Interweave team. Everyone I've worked with have been so nice.
