Achievement Unlocked: Adobe InDesign (plus a Sneak Peek at Some Illustrations and Cover Designs)

I downloaded InDesign on Saturday and opened it thinking, Alright, here we go. How hard can this be?

Verdict: there’s a reason people take classes for this ish.

Starting Somewhere

InDesign is used for a lot of things, and in my world it’s used for laying out a digital representation of what readers are going to see when your book is splayed out in front of them in printed or digital form. It’s the program publishing companies use and from the moment we decided not to try for the traditional publication route for The Music of Pedro, I knew I was going to need to learn it at some point to satisfy my determination to keep this whole endeavor as profesh as possible.

It’s also the program my friend and fellow editor/writer/peculiar person (@abgates7) uses for the gorgeous queer lit journal he cofounded and which I now volunteer for as a copyeditor.

And I mean, come on, check it out, everything about these volumes is beautiful. I had a standard in front of me and a wealth of knowledge in my friend that I wanted to exploit. Like the champ he is, he gave me an InDesign walkthrough on Saturday and we arranged to talk again after I’d run the gauntlet of further self-education and emerged with a list of more questions.

Cue Sunday afternoon after hours of reading and YouTube tutorials and imagine my head on my desk and sinking feeling in my chest.

Here’s Your Elephant, Bekah. Start Eating.

It’s like walking into a craft store simply knowing that you want to have a pretty house. You feel your eyes get big as your wallet gasps and then you find yourself in the clearance section at the back of the store maybe picking out some beads. Are you frightened? Strangely, yes. Do you feel inadequate? You bet.

LT came through for me Sunday night: “Okay, stop crying. What are your questions?”

All right, I wasn’t crying yet, but the desire to start was in my throat and a negativity spiral was gaining steam. LT whips out his phone like Excalibur, googles up the same answers I’d been staring at all day, but he’s got the codes for all the technical lingo and he helps me finally nail down Master Pages and the Book feature in a matter of minutes.

Monday dawns with better footing, but I’m still trudging, making a list of more questions for LT when he gets back from work.

Tuesday breaks even brighter and I spend the day getting every chapter uploaded and prepped for the actual work of typesetting. I poke around with designing the front matter (copyright, title, dedication pages), and I’m starting to get excited. I watch more tutorials on tracking and kerning.

Wednesday is consumed with typesetting the first four chapters and I’m in a state of near bliss by the end of the day.

Deadlines are still on track and after another Q&A sesh with ABGates, I’ve discovered that yes, I’m actually enjoying myself! He says it can go one way or the other for people when it comes to typesetting. I asked him if I’ll always like it and he prophecies that the novelty will wear off by Chapter 50 and I’ll have reduced myself to an automaton for the remaining thirty-five chapters but I’m good with it.

Whatever it takes to finish, if I stay on track, I’ll be ready to order proofs by the first week of September!

My Work Desk

Deadlines printed out and tacked to the wall. My trusty Chicago Manual of Style at my left elbow, water at my right, Harry Potter décor all about me, and a Trolli worm for every page I finish typesetting.

What About the Art?

My cousin and graphic designer threw together some dazzling concepts for the cover this week. The sketches on the right one are placeholder images; they are not my bother’s, but Saint Down’s been hard at work amazing me with everything he sends me too.

Take a look and get excited. I know I am.