Too soon for an ode to the linotype machine

How does one install a free virus protection software on a computer that can’t access the web?

Only one of my computers is working properly. Two of my computers can’t access the Web. One computer isn’t protected.

Oh, well. Who needs computers? I would be working just as hard if we were still in the days before computers and maybe I would be doing at least this well financially. I would be rewarded for being able to type very fast without mistakes.  But I’d be writing papers and reports and books that would be printed or copied from camera-ready pages. I remember starting my publishing career about 1961 submitting text that was transferred mechanically via a machine known as a linotype to “hot” metal and made into frames that were inked and impressed on paper. The headlines were set by hand on the “Ludlow” machine.

It’s time for a tribute to the good old linotype machine.

And to the remarkable man with an even more remarkable name, Ottmar Mergenthaler, from Germany. He is acclaimed for being as important to printing as Gutenberg, the man who invented “movable type” and made printing presses possible.

The invention sounds strange in the perspective of computer-generated files, but to combine stamping letters and casting them in metal in one step was a major breakthrough. I remember walking into the press when I was a college student eager to produce the next edition of the college newspaper and watching the linotype operator entering the text I’d brought over on half sheets. I can’t remember his name, but I can remember how he would sit with back ramrod straight and pound the keys in rapid sequence, seldom hitting the wrong one.

Each line of type that was set ended up in a mold filled with liquid metal where the stamp was made. For a great explanation of how it all worked, Woodside Press has created a delightful, well-illustrated website with easy-to-understand explanation of the linotype. Based in New York City, Woodside Press is one of the few printing companies that still use hot metal. Linotype, Monotype, and Ludlow are key tools at this press.

The secrets to my success

It was twenty years ago last summer when I settled in the family house in Southwest Idaho and began producing books for people. I’d like to tell the world (although the world is not listening) that it’s possible to make a good living doing what I do: writing, editing, web content, some design. The secrets to my success in sticking it out since 1988 are also open to the world and are as follows:

1. Love it. The more you love your work the easier it is to stick to it and do a good job.
2. Do it. It takes a lot of effort to build clientele, to sell services, to set prices and schedules. It’s hard to deal with cranky people or people who learned English in India. Just do it.
3. Go steady. One business that can give you enough income for 25 or 30 percent of your living expenses is a big boost. Try to fill up your client base so you don’t receive more than 30% from one client because it’s too much like being an employee except that you can lose your job a lot easier.
4. Lean on people. I couldn’t have done what I’ve done without great printers, a wonderful designer (my niece) who has been working with me for about 25 years or so. Luckily, she doesn’t depend on me for a huge chunk of her total income. Clients who give me repeat business (90% of my volume), community supporters who let me participate with them, relatives who invite me over, people at church who share fellowship. It’s okay to lean on people!
5. Plan to roll with the punches. Don’t set ironclad “rules” for how you will do business. Study trends. Pay attention to what’s going on. Listen, read, watch, learn. Change your way of working as you identify new ways that work better or pay off sooner.
6. Keep learning. Study, read, and collect all the knowledge you can about topics that interest you. Attend meetings, take classes, subscribe to magazines. When you stop loving the process of learning you might as well strap yourself to a wheelchair and vegetate.

That’s all there is, folks! Do your best. If you stumble, offer to make it right. Never pretend you know it all. Smile a lot. And stick to it.

JG

Work list

Projects on deck at Griffith Publishing…

Ghostwriting:

Sexual abuse, almost finished with changes by the author of record, and he says he’s almost finished with additional stories he wants to put in the book.

Escape from Poland, waiting to hear from the author of record.

Other projects:

HealthWorks newsletter: story list due Friday

Yellowstone Gazette: stories ready to research and write:

Highwaymen in the Gold Rush

The Reality of the Donner Summit Tragedy

COMPASS notes and information

Cornell University geochemistry textbook, pro bono

Next week I have meetings just about every day.

From Griffith Publishing

Work first, plan second…

It’s easy to plug along doing the jobs that scream the loudest for attention and never settle down to do some honest planning. Well, I want to get out of that trap and start planning every Monday morning. That’s what it is today, Monday morning—the day before national elections, whoopee!

1. Blogs. Do a blog in the morning and another one at night so they are renovated on a regular basis.

2. Working hours.

1. 8:30 to 12 noon Work on office stuff and email etc
2. 12 to 1:30 Do some housework and exercise. Run errands.
3. 1:30 to 3:30 Work
4. 3:30 to 4:30 break for lunch
5. 4:30 to 5:30 Review writing that needs to be done
6. 5:30 to 9 pm Try to put in 2-3 hours of heavy writing
7. 9 pm Slow down, draw, read, play the piano
8. Asleep by 10:30

That’s about eight hours of focused work every day. Now…What needs to be done this week?

• Work on Cliff’s book. Just get in there and do it!
• Roy is going to call me about 6 pm
• Clean off my desk
• Request senior discount with City of Caldwell
• Qualify for COMPASS work
  • Listen to CD
  • Study material on the Web

• Plan next HealthWorks (story list due Friday)
• Call Toshiba re problems with email (first identify the problems)
• Earthlink is still billing me. Call Qwest.
• Vote: McGee, Minick, LaRocco, Obama and guess on the rest

Work hard. Don’t complain. Work is fun!

Griffith Publishing