Let’s suppose you were a builder and a potential client says, I’d like you to build me a structure out of this particular material that’s this size with this kind of a roof, one door, and four windows. How much would that cost?
You go back to the office, look up prices for materials, figure out [...]
Can people trust your pricing?
July 13, 2010 – 4:20 pm
thinking about [profitable] book design & production
July 9, 2010 – 8:58 am
It’s been almost a year since I introduced this blog with my first post What is Book Thinking to orient readers to this site. Here’s what I wrote:
… I plan to share what I have learned about how to think about a book project, organize its content [particularly images], design and produce it—and make a [...]
speaking of e-books
June 8, 2010 – 2:39 pm
With the recent release of the iPad and the latest iPhone, there’s been a lot of buzz lately about e-books. Here I offer up some thoughts on the subject.
You do realize, don’t you, that the “book” part of “e-book” is a metaphor? It’s used to describe a way of presenting text through electronic devices. I [...]
project rhythms
May 18, 2010 – 4:23 pm
I’m in the initial design stage of one project and in the final review/revision cycle of another so I’ve been thinking about project rhythms a lot lately. Here’s what it sounds like in my head:
The beginning of a project needs a generous amount of calendar time at the beginning. If you’ve estimated 8 hours for [...]
writing effective tasks and milestones
May 11, 2010 – 1:35 pm
Warning: today’s post is a wee bit geeky, but if you do as I suggest, it will make your project management life so much better. [Like cod liver oil in orange juice – tastes yukky but good for you. At least that’s what my mother used to tell me.]
Last week I did a teleclass [...]
time tracking: what are the numbers telling you
April 6, 2010 – 10:33 am
Last week I wrote about the importance of keeping track of all the time you spend on a project: billable and not billable, productive and spinning-your-wheels, brilliantly executed and fatally flawed. This week I want to show you the next step in my process: categorizing and analyzing the time.
I used to have much finer divisions [...]
time tracking: are you doin’ it?
March 31, 2010 – 11:06 am
I just spent most of a gorgeous Sunday afternoon figuring out how much time a project actually took compared to the proposal estimate. That part was easy: twice as long. Gulp!
Now the more difficult question: how much of this was “beyond scope” and can be billed, how much was attributable to poor estimating on my [...]
working with a designer-part two
November 17, 2009 – 10:58 am
In working with a designer-part one I offered some suggestions on how to begin to select a book designer. That post ended with arranging a time to talk to them on the phone to find out more. So what is it you want to find out? [No, actually, “What will it cost me to do [...]
working with a designer-part one
October 25, 2009 – 7:13 am
Yesterday I had a great time being a Speed Coach at the Association of Personal Historians’ Conference Town Square. I met people who have great work and personal experience and skills that they are now bringing to the field of preserving the stories of individuals, families, businesses, organizations and communities.
Because they haven’t worked in print [...]
partnering for profit
October 22, 2009 – 9:23 pm
Being among a small community of book designers within the Association of Personal Historians [APH], we often discuss among ourselves how to find more opportunities to partner with writers on book projects.
On Saturday, October 24, I will be part of a panel discussion at the APH Annual Conference in Valley Forge, PA, entitled “Partnering for [...]
