“I was born at a very early age,” one of my would-be authors noted. I was, too.
When I started studying I was in college, and my professors did their best to impress on me that things were changing, that I’d better listen up and keep in step. I was lucky because I had a portable typewriter. When I became editor of my college’s student newspaper, I was amazed by the latest equipment at the printing press. Linotype, hot metal, metal frames where the newly set type fit exactly with the aid of small pieces of metal for “leading.” Tres magnifique.
I leaped out of college to use a fancy “Selectric” typewriter that was faster and prettier than anything I’d typed on before. Later, after five years in Africa where the equivalent of writing for the local newspaper consisted of banging on drums, I was introduced to the world of computers.
In the summer of 1984 when I started graduate work on my MBA degree at Cal State LA, the computer was a rare but coveted possession. I’d taken a chunk of savings and other funds from my years in Africa, including payment for stolen goods, and had bought my own PC for $10,000 for a lightweight metal box with a fan and a small collection of circuit boards in one corner. Only two software programs, WordStar and Lotus 1-2-3 were available at that time. I even bought a printer with output in little dots.
This put me above everybody else in the MBA program. With a computer and a good command of the English language, I was the envy of the class.
Now I have three computers, any one of which can hold more data and run more programs than a thousand or more like my 1984 model.
But things are still changing, almost as fast as when I landed on American soil back in 1984 and began running to catch up.
Since 1988 I’ve been editing and designing books for self-publishing authors. Tonight I’m putting the finishing touches on a book when the author whispers from his vantage point a couple of thousand miles away, “Of course you can put the book in one file, can’t you? Lightning Source requires that.”
To tell the truth, I’ve never needed to do that. I send two files to the computer: one for the text, and one for the front pages. My graphic designer usually sends the cover art separately. I’ve dealt with three major book printing companies, and they’ve never said, “We have to have your book in one file.”
So I got motivated.
Trial and error, search and find, add and delete. After twenty minutes of hard mental work, I figured out that FrameMaker is happy to put those two files in one book. It worked!
I’ve tried to figure this out several times, but the solution has always eluded me. Now, with the author breathing rapidly, the learning curve gentled out for me.
Still learning. Things keep changing. We have to run to keep up, even when our joints are stiff and our eyes are fading and our muscles are flabby. As long as we can, we’ve got to keep up. Or try to.
