Look what arrived this past Friday. Not one, but two proofs!
Just in case you don’t know, a proof is a version of a book (or journal) that can be previewed before publication. The proofs I received state “Not for Resale” on the covers, but the interiors are all the exact same as what the published versions will be as long as they are approved.
My 12-year-old daughter did all of the illustrations for Aah! Blown Away, Crash!, and I enjoyed seeing her reaction as she looked through the proof and saw all of her own illustrations in print.
We scrutinized each of the pages to determine if any changes needed to be made. In the end, we decided to update a total of eleven of the pages.
The colors we see on the computer screen appear a little different in print. For example, the blue my daughter chose for the water appears as a vibrant blue on our computer screen. In print, though, it appears much darker.
We were concerned the blue would be too dark to read the text on the page. So, we decided to adjust the color, which meant my daughter had to adjust the color of the water on multiple pages.
She also had to update the back of the cover with the new color.
We found a few other details that also needed to be fixed. For example, on one of the pages, part of the text was “stuck behind a cloud”.
It amazed me how fast my daughter was able to fix each of the pages on her computer program. Once all of the changes had been made, I reuploaded all of the files and ordered a new proof.
The updated proof should arrive within the next couple of weeks. We had chosen to create a softcover version first, but we will also be creating a hardcover version of Aah! Blown Away, Crash! once we ensure the interior files for the softcover version are accurate.
Our goal is to have the hardcover and softcover version of Aah! Blown Away, Crash!: An Alphabet Misadventure published in the beginning of June. Stay tuned for more details!
The other proof that arrived is a journal called Baby’s First Years: A Three Year Journal. I love the way the front cover turned out, which was designed by my daughter using an image by Mylene2401 from Pixabay.
It is a journal for new parents to record short daily passages for their baby’s first three years. Each page is divided into three journal entries, one for each year that occurs on that page’s indicated date.
Instead of copying and pasting the exact same pages throughout the entire journal, I decided to include different pictures for each of the months.
I tried to keep the pictures relevant to the time of the year and age of the child.
The back of the journal includes two pages to record special days and an additional two pages to record any extra notes.
I’m hoping this journal will help parents to not stress over filling an entire baby book with nitty-gritty details. Instead, parents can spend just a few minutes each day of the year to write a couple of sentences (or notes) documenting milestones, places visited, family activities, current events, or whatever else may be on their mind. If they miss a day, it’s okay to continue on whatever date it is, which I think is great for the sleep-deprived new parent.
I noticed there is hyphen missing on the spine, but it will be updated soon.
The journal is a total of 375 pages long and will be available as a 6” x 9” softcover version in the very near future!
I intend to give this journal as a gift to two expecting moms I know. (Hopefully it will be available before their new bundles of joy are here…I’m cutting it really close on time with one!)
What are your thoughts on the proofs?
Brigitte Brulz 