time tracking: what are the numbers telling you
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 […]
time tracking: are you doin’ it?
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 […]
what is workflow? and who cares, anyway?
When you are designing and laying out a 350 page book with 150+ photos [or even a 120 page book with 40 photos], you can easily become confused and be more prone to making errors unless you can go into what I call “factory mode”, where you need only concentrate on execution, not on solving […]
working with a designer-part two
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
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 […]
partnering for profit
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 […]
personal histories and freedom of speech
“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” That was A. J. Liebling’s cynical remark in the early 20th century decrying the monopoly of William Randolph Hearst to control and influence the news. As we celebrate National Freedom of Speech Week, I’m wondering how Liebling would view our world of everyone […]
why not design the book yourself?
This is a question I hear frequently from personal historians and others who are writing non-fiction books that will either be privately published or self-published and marketed. [For the purposes of this discussion, let’s consider design all the things that happen in between finishing a manuscript and delivering the digital files to the printer.] The […]
