O-kay. Been a while since I updated and the projected Xmas completion date came, and, quietly went. To make a long story short, too much chi was sucked out of me by some insane (and I do mean insane) drama having to do with all of the sheer weirdness that are some of the factions of Valentino fans. My energy level sank and all through December I could not even look at the book. So the book sat, and so did I. Believe me, there is nothing more strange than fans of dead movie stars, I've spent the last several months silently screaming "Jane! Get me off this crazy thing!!!" I've now been able to put that all aside and on ignore, thank God. But, a crazy does have a giant red target on my back.
Well, the last few weeks have been very busy for me. I am, at this moment, PDF printing the semi-complete book for proofing/correction/layout adjustments and possible editing of any images. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions on how to overcome the pdf freeware issue. Silly me, a 30 day trial download of Acrobat 9 is working peachy-keen.
If I do say so myself, I think the book looks really nice. While I originally thought I'd have 150-200 images tops, it looks like the final product will be 300-350 photos! The book file itself is huge, just shy of 3Gb. Once I get the guts (words) input, that may take it over the top. The next hurdle will be uploading the behemoth to blurb. I've already contacted them about the book size and they've assured me we'll find a way to get it uploaded.
In the end, blurb upped the price of HB again and in this cruddy economy I decided to opt for the PB edition. The boon for that was I was able to increase the actual page count and lower the price. It's still going to be more expensive than your average PB book of this ilk. I'm at the mercy of blurb with this. Their base price is $50.95 and I'm tacking an additional $2 as my commission. Not much, and in fact, I will have to sell 3 copies to make $1 as blurb also charges $5 month for having the book in their store. Ah well, I never was in this for the money or the glory.
That said, later this year, for the real Valentino geeks, I will offer a large scale blurb HB edition at a hefty price, signed, numbered and limited edition of 50 copies. That will take years to sell.
To make a long and drawn out story short. The PB should be done, live and on sale by March.
Now, I appreciate all the support from everyone on LoT and I want to say right now. Nobody, and I mean nobody is obliged to buy one. I'm not posting here trolling for sales. It's a niche book and I've always said, if I sell 100, I will consider it a job well done.
At this moment, the book signing at a certain Hollywood bookstore will probably be in late April to coincide with the TCM film festival. I will not be attending that (the expensive film fest), I can't afford it, alas. I'll post more about that once the details are ironed out.
Anyway, once this is all done, what am I going to do with all my spare time and the hundreds and hundreds of photos I've got? Maybe I'll treat myself to Disneyland, I think that's the ticket!