These days you can publish a book anywhere… even in your own home! Read on, in this blog series Publish A Book in 21 Days—and see if I can do it myself! (Photo taken in the village of Tarradeau, at a goat cheese farm)
la maison d'édition (may-zon-day-dee-syon)
: publishing house
No help with a fancy house publisher for my next book…. But that doesn't mean we are all not having a blast editing it together! I can't thank you enough for your help, all who are reading now, in looking over today's story selections and letting me know if there are any needed changes! Meantime, why not forward today's post to someone who loves to write? Or who is interested in the book-publishing process?
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A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
The behind-the-scenes stories that are taking place as I rush, to speed-publish, would make a lively novella—or memoirella—of their own.
There are the nightly calls to Mexico, for one, in which I spend a lot of time keeping an enthusiastic Book Director in line.
"I think you should keep the SONGE story," Mom votes. "The writing may be awkward, but is a record of your growth as an écrivaine—is that the word, Honey?—anyway…the story marks the moment when you began to pay attention to the rhythm of words! Oh, by the way, did you see Nancy's website? You've got to watch the video!" and with that Mom is off on other tangent, talking about all of the people she has encountered in the comments boxes, those readers-editors who are helping with the speed publishing project (psst, dear Reader, I'm talking to you. Are you helping, too? I hope so!).
"Mom, keep to the subject. There's no time for this! We need to talk about the book's title. And there's the back cover to think about… and what about book blurbs? We need to ask readers for those!" I try to channel my Book Director's energy. God knows there is plenty of it!
"Now I've been thinking about that…." Mom says, calmly, and I notice how she has downshifted her gears, lest I suspect for one moment that she can't center herself… in time to center me!
"I have your book Wish, Prune, Pray here, and I've been looking at it… What a cover! By the way, you have got to republish that book! The intro takes my breath away! Here let me read it to you…"
When my French husband shared with me an announcement for a vineyard in the Rhone Valley, a fluttering in his voice told me that this time would be different…
From behind the computer screen, where I fed my own passion—writing—I listened to a renewed enthusiasm coming from Jean-Marc. As he stood before the window of my office, I noticed a change coming over him. Where once darkeness gathered beneath his brows—the shadows of an unfulfilled dream—light now shined, this, from behind the window to his inner farmer's soul…
"Mom! We don't have time for this!" I barked, interrupting her reading. There are only 16 days left! Now let's keep focused! Besides, we've already done an intro for this book, it's the ESPOIR story—remember? Moving on now to chapter order: I'll need to bring in all of the characters in the first five chapters. We've met Jean-Marc and the kids in the opening stories. I now need an anecdote about my mother-in-law… and a story about you, bien sûr!"
"OK," Mom answers, and I can actually hear her bed sheets ruffle as she straightens up, determined to do her best to keep her energy focused this time.
"Honey, she says, sliding again… "that Bruce—he sure knows his stuff! So glad we have HIM on board."
"I know. Did you see his website?"
"He has a website?" And with that, Mom has managed to pull us off topic once again, until we are talking about all of the interesting people we meet in the comments area, and wouldn't it be cool to publish the comments box?
"Mom," I say, "you are high and I am obsessed!" Neither of us gets our feelings hurt as I call our behavior for what it is … just a little bit manic…; instead, we break out in laughter and shake off this latest burst of creation-frenzy.
Apart from the creative lapses, Mom is proving to be a savvy and efficient assistant. "You'll need to work on more than two stories per post if you want to have enough chapters to fill this book!" With that, she's given us all extra work (from now on there will be three stories per post to edit!).
"And, personally, I still don't think that's enough," Mom puffs, driving in her point.
The other day she sent a list of twenty stories for inclusion into this project. I was humbled to realize that she had taken hours and hours to scour the archives (this she downplayed: "But all of your faithful readers are doing the same. Don't you realize that?); she was busy looking for stories that fit into the 5-point criteria I had drawn up, on Day One of Le Défi.
More than book director, Mom has been Doting Nurse and Spiritual Advisor—for if I threw myself into this whirlwind project, part of that was to take my mind off other worries. Bref, between chapter-editing and book design, I've spent a fair amount of time staring into the mirror, obsessing about the healing process. Each time I do, an old English idiom pops into my mind: "A watched pot never boils."
I think I much prefer a different, French, expression: Le temps guérit toutes les blessures….
***
Bon, we all have a lot of work to do now—so no more side-trekking. Here are three (are you reading, Mom?), yes three stories that need your attention. Would you kindly volunteer to read one (or more) of them, and to point out any typos in the corresponding comments boxes. Mille mercis!
EPUISER: Mom teaches us to sweep, during a lesson in "lightening up"
TRAINEAU: Our golden retriever "The Drag Queen"
NOYAU: My mother-in-law finds a job for her lonely neighbor
Coming next, THE BOOK COVER! Here's a preview. What do you think? I used a photo, taken in Grignan (when my aunt and uncle came to visit) — and played around in Google's Picasa, until I found the typography I liked (does the lettering look amateur? Any suggestions? I think I need to color in my name with a different hue….)
Please share your thoughts about the stories, the project, the book cover or title, today's post, my mom, or anything that strikes your fancy, here, in the comments box.
I know: my name is a little large… you can blame the Book Director (my proud mom) for this detail! P.S. notice the subtitle, which I hope speaks about the life lessons that are learned… in the process of learning French….
And here's my beautiful Book Director-Mom, here in Roussillon, where she participated with me at the local book fair.
This picture speaks volumes. In my usual author event cluelessness, I have thrown a bedcover over the table and scrambled to find as many books as I could, from my personal stock. The results were dismal, and I wanted to hide under the bedcover (literally…) as all of the professional authors set up their stands with lovely lace table cloths and books-à-gogo… Mom, do you have any comments to add, regarding this image? (Photo taken 2 or 3 years ago.)
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Kristin:
Like the look of the book cover. You might try using variations of the same typeface either the sans serif that your name is in or the typeface you have used for “vingnettes.” I would probably make your name a bit smaller and keep the typeface colors all the same.
Edie from Savannah
Or “Blooming in Provence” – you get the drift.
Truly love the cover!
77 & setting sun in Hobe Sound, FL
Oh my…what wonderful input and advice…for now with a cold from Sandy in CO just simply:
All the best…love the cover photo and of course the beautiful photo of you and Jules.
Admire your courage and energy Kristin…just trying to keep up. When my head clears hope to be more helpful. Always you inspire me as I have yet to start my first book! Happy writing, editing and formatting…follow your heart and intuition and yes much of the great advice as well. I wish you the very best.
Kristin,
I love the cover, great photo (very inviting) and title! I do agree, though, that French should be capitalized. That’s all I would change.
You will probably have as many different opinions regarding your book as people who write in…How not to be overwhelmed by all that imput!
J’aime bien the cover but think your name should be a different color, periwinkle blue or deep green like the vine.
Kristin—Your name, as author, should be in a lighter color than the title of the book. And I would completely skip “learning more than the French language”—-every French book doesn’t have to relate to language and yours certainly does not—so why even include it as a suggestion?
From an interior designer and book author in the U.S.A.
Love the picture of you and Jules, but would crop it differently so that “l’etrangere” (to us) in the background is not in the picture.
Am thinking about the title and subtitle.
I think “Vignettes from Provence” is good. It may not be what you end up with: I like all the brainstorming and think it should continue. The subtitle is unnecessary and seems somewhat self-deprecating. Your name in the title font, slightly smaller–perfect.
The picture of you and your mom is gorgeous, and I imagine that the others at the fair envied your flair!
Brava!
I LOVE your book cover! Did you really do it all yourself?
My only hesitation is the subtitle “learning more than the French language” especially in that strange font, leaves me with a creepy feeling, like it’s a horror story. It seems out of place with the elegance of the rest of the cover.
I love the picture for the cover, really makes me want to pick the book up and read. I’m swamped and feeling guilty (almost) that I don’t have time to read the stories so I’m doing my best to keep up and will buy the book to read the stories.
You must be very confused by now!! 🙂
OK …for my two cents worth ( and you can ignore me if you like!)… while I love the cover photo I am wondering if the elegant greyed off look is reminding me too much of Paris rather than Provence. My memory of Provence is of a wonderful light and softly saturated colours. What do you think if you were to warm the yellow up a little and maybe saturate the colour slightly? Also wondering if the title text could perhaps be a warmer red….these colours may also catch the “eye” a little better as a book cover. Perhaps your name could remain in the darker red but a little smaller( as you mentioned) and have a play with using the title text with it ( maybe, maybe not…)
Also I rather like the idea of a French title “Vignettes de Provence” as suggested by Suzanne. We all love the exotic sound of the French language and don’t need Franglish! As for the word “Vignettes” I enjoy the story behind the use of this word….has a slight tang of the vineyard in it as well! ….just a few thoughts…. 🙂
Vous êtes magnifiques toutes les deux <3
Hi Kristin,
I am loving the cover and the title!
Looks great!
Chris
Good luck with your book, we have just published a bilingual book “Dear France, sweet country of my childhood – Chère France, doux pays de mon enfance” and loved the experience of putting it together and then promoting it and meeting our readers.
A bientot !
Oh, dear, I dont know where to begin. Thank you MILLE FOIS. Im taking every word into consideration… that is, my Book Director and I are 🙂
Suzanne, Yes, I really did make it on my own: so simple with the free program Picasa by Google. A tip is to find a very simple image and to keep things simple, I thinks 🙂
Mom would like a bold frame around the image (I like it as is, and if Moms reading… then this is the first shes heard of it!) Ive changed the name font and even the title…. I ADORE Bettys suggestion!! And all of the windows suggestion, following Sandys suggestion, are so apropos (sp?) !
no time to read the stories just now, but i love the cover, the title, the font…but maybe your name could be script so it looks as if you signed it and it is differentiated a bit from the rest?
You are too hard on yourself, the table cover for your book signing is beautiful. Ok, more books would have been nice…but quit beating yourself up! Do the best with what you can at the time and let it go.
The cover looks great- a “pick me up and read me” image; I agree with some others that the subtitle is not necessary; if you do keep it, however, try a different font or pull it up (just a bit) off the window sill it looks like it is resting on. Your name is good as is, but would be even more effective if you could blend in a bit more grey on the bottom, so your name could be read even more easily. Can’t do that? Then leave it alone, and don’t worry.
Thanks for the shout out, Jules. I designed my entire book alone using iPages, and my son did the trailer. You can get this done!
Ditto to many of the comments above – the font for your name should be softer – smaller and similar to the title and subtitle.
The subtitle should be a little further from the door – it is hard to read.
The picture is perfect – the chair is inviting the reader to come and sit down with you. The windows are the eyes into your vignettes and the door is an open invitation to join you.
Sorry that I have not been reading the past stories and helping you with the editing, but I have been too busy.
Bon chance.
Kristin,
A good print on demand company with a lot of helpful hints on their website is http://www1.lightningsource.com/
A friend of mine has used them for five books starting with some very modest print runs and building up over time to some revenue generating qunatities.
Looking at the comments here you have inspired so many people with so much love which is such a special gift.
OMG! Just catching up on your blog and as requested, thought I would post a comment about your beautiful book cover to see that you have already been inundated!! Read all the comments and the only thng I would like to add is just lift the subtitle a couple of mm’s up, so it moves away from the shadow of the window and door – otherwise fab! (It’s the old ad industry person in me rearing it’s pedantic head) Good luck with the countdown.
Thank you, Rupert. I had really wanted to use Lightening Source, but, at the time, could not figure out how to get my hands on a good book template, or how to fulfill the technical requirements for a book cover… and the ISBN thing (a little trickier to obtain, when living in France). I should try again. Meantime, I am using another service, which I will write about soon…
wish i had more time to read your stories, but just a quick comment on the book cover. i love the photo, the title font and color. i’d agree with the commenters about the title itself though, something a bit more eye-catching, maybe alliterative? if i come up with a good suggestion, i shall let you know! also the font of your name does not mesh with the rest. the size is great, but i’d try looking at another serifed font at least-does the one of the title look odd? the color of your name looks like it needs to either be black or match the title. good luck!
Love the cover photo and the title (once “french” is capitalized)! Good luck!
I agree that the title needs to be stronger. From a publishing professional, keep in mind that the title should evoke emotion and the subtitle should provide information. You write with candor, humor, and honesty. Show that in your title as well. Perhaps even use the title of one of the vignettes as your book’s title.
Kristin, I would LOVE to help you with your book cover. It’s what I do for a living and I could at least help you with the technical aspect. Please e-mail via our site if you’d like to consider it: http://www.TLCGraphics.com
for your name on the cover – suggestion (your name, a rich deeper blue tone) compliment blue tones in photo.