All at once, the sequel!

My previous blog post described 2014 as “the year everything happened at once.”  Yesterday that seemed to happen in miniature, in regards to the proofs for both Star Power & The Ninth Wormhole and the second Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire omnibus.  While visiting our friends to see their newborn for the first time, I was informed that both the physical proofs for the Dominic Deegan book had arrived at my doorstep (which I was far away from) and that there was a minor issue with the proof for The Ninth Wormhole.  Having two major projects require my attention at once sent me into a minor anxiety attack, which is bad when you’re cradling you’re friends’ child.

Needing to review a pair of proofs may not be a big deal for some people, but for me it’s the most stressful part of the book printing process.  It probably has something to do with a past experience of mine, where I learned that every single page of a book was messed up and it was all my fault.  It’s a painstaking look at every single page.  It’s revisiting years of work to make sure you remember everything is in its proper order.  It’s a revelation of how much more work you need to do on a book you’ve already spent a significant amount of time on.  Did the printer get everything I sent them in the right order, or do I need to go back and make a ton of corrections?  Will there be things on the printed page that my monitor was unable to detect?  Will a digital proof ease my various anxieties about this whole process, or should I request a physical proof?  How much extra will a second physical proof cost me to ease those same anxieties?  Even after the proof is approved, will the printer make a mistake anyway?  Why am I talking to myself?

Today’s blog post is a little late because, as you can see, two proofs needing my attention takes up a significant amount of time, even over a day.  While The Ninth Wormhole didn’t take me all that long to review, the seven hundred forty pages of the second Dominic Deegan omnibus was much more of a time commitment.  And by the way, you can still pre-order the Dominic Deegan omnibus!