DONE DONE DONE

The day has finally arrived--the book is DONE.

Outline: Done. How did I want the information organized? I tried several formats before deciding on the final one.
Research: Done. This included phone interviews, e-mails, Facebook, Dodd Center for Research, American Morgan Horse Association, National Museum of the Morgan Horse, UConn Horse barn, UConn School of Ag Department of Animal Science, UVM, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.
Illustrations: Done. About 20 of 'em--loose, freehand pencil sketches to add contrast to the photographs I obtained.
Manuscript: Done. I rewrote the whole dang book about six times.
Final Editing: Done. I met with my editor several times and made even more changes. We also labored over the sources page and the index.
Photo Scanning: Done. A big pile of archives from the Department of Animal Science---all scanned and looking brand new.
Photo Permissions: Done. May I? Thank you.
Final Design, Indexing and Layout: Done. Many, many hours of formatting, moving around, seeing what looks good, changing, tweaking, re-formatting, adding, converting, pagination. Whew.
ISBN: Purchased. That part was pretty easy.

I will never look at a book the same way again! Wow, it's A LOT of work.

Off to the publisher in about two weeks. First, I need to do a little celebrating and exhaling.

THANK YOU!  

Next blog entry will be some purchasing information. I hope you are all as eager to see this book as I am!

Heels down, eyes UP...

 ....We're headed for that final fence!

All that's left is the spine and back cover design and we're set to go.

Welcome to the world of independent publishing! It's all DIY, here! My goodness, I am learning much. Can't wait to get my 'baby' to the publisher.

I would like to take a moment to thank my wonderful graphic designer husband, Steve, for devoting most of his weekends to the book's design. Even when it was sunny and warm--he was in his office, designing away.

THANK YOU, sweetie!

He will now be known as Steve the Index Master. (That index was a BEAR. Took many hours, even with a program).

Onward!

Art Opening--You're Invited!

Hello Friends of Sound the Bugle Studio,

I hope this blog post finds you well.

Mark your calendars!

You are invited to help me welcome the warmth and beauty of May at my art opening at the Lily Pad gallery, 34 North St., Willimantic CT., on Thursday, May 9 from 5-7pm.

Lots of my equine art will be there—charcoal drawings and big, vibrant paintings—including my portrait of the UConn-bred Morgan stallion, UC Doc Daniels. This painting will be featured on the cover of my soon-to-be-published book, My Horse, My Heart: The Morgan Horses of the University of Connecticut.

Come on out and enjoy the art! I would love to see you!

Very best wishes,

Helen

THE BOOK COVER!

Above is very probably the FINAL DESIGN for the book cover.

Many thanks to my designer husband for being so awesome. Love!

UC Ringmaster print and updates!

YES!

Final photo permission came through, just need to draft a letter. Easy!

The text and illustrations are all formatted and looking pretty.

My editor meets with me on April 9 to get those dang chapter notes in. Oh, and the index.

Still on track for May for a publication-ready PDF!

In the meantime, work on my second book is nearly done. Here is my blog post on my UC Ringmaster print--I am offering it ahead of the book's publication. A portion of the proceeds will go to UConn's Morgan horse breeding program. It's my way of saying 'thank you' to my alma mater, in the memory of its greatest son, UC Ringmaster.

Go here to find out more:
UC Ringmaster print!

And as always, thank YOU.

Galloping along....

The book design moves forward.

My designer fired the afterburners this past weekend and got in ALL of the photos and ilustrations. He's also prettying it up and adding page embellishments and graphics.

This book looks GOOD.

Almost time to start my third book! YAY! (Watch for a big announcement--and new book blog!)

I think I am addicted to this whole 'book writing' thing.

Thanks for following along and cheering me on. Still shooting for May for a publication-ready PDF.

Here's my designer husband hard at work. Yes, that is Godzilla on his desk:

moving forward....

....My Horse, My Heart is coming to life....

Look at this--it makes my heart skip a beat or two.

It's a BOOK.

How blessed am I to be married to a graphic designer?

Yes, good book design takes time--and it takes even more time when life happens all around you and book design is limited to weekends.

Only laundry is on the 'to-do' list this weekend, so yesterday my husband spent about seven hours doing wonderful design stuff to my book. Today, he will easily spend another seven or eight hours clicking on that mouse, moving stuff around, cropping, sizing and just simply being brilliant. The photos and illustrations could be in the book today. All of them.

That's really kind of awesome. *smile*