Gerry's Setting Notes

Dear all.

I am in a condundrum, I was approached by a magazine publisher in
Europe some time ago to publish my two setting books. Well lately I
have combined both of them into ONE SETTING BOOK. Now I get a letter
a few days ago, they want me to re-write ALL OF THESE 77+ ESSAYS
INTO “THIRD PERSON”. Not too mention to go over all of my pictures,
all 1,000+ and to retake them all AGAIN to be MORE easily used in
their printing process…I feel that I need two lifetimes to get this
going, many of them are 2-3++ years old. I am in the process of
adding more essays to my collection…third person and pictures of
300 dpi…duh? I know what my answer will be, “what say you, oh wise
Orchidians!”… I am a setter/ teacher/ author…still but still
working at the bench even at my ripe young age of…“Heinz 57+7”…do
I need all of this to get ahead? May of you have bought my books and
my notes, and have had no complaints from any of you…should I apply
myself to this new daunting task?.. I rest my case…Gerry!

BTW, any personal ideas or thoughts can be sent offline

Tell them to go where sun does not shine and publish it yourself.
There are internet companies who do these things. Search on “on
demand publishing” and you will find them You should have no problem
selling it.

Leonid Surpin

How much are they going to pay you? If it is financially worthwhile
for you, then hire someone to edit and rewrite. It would be easier
for another person to go over this material. You can go over it after
this person has edited.

If they’re not paying don’t do it. “cui bono” as Cassius once said.

KPK

Do it if you get paid BIG bucks. Otherwise it’s not worth it. If
they publish them, what will YOU get out of it?

David

David Geller
www.JewelerProfit.com

I guess alot of this decision depends on how bad that you want the
sale. It sure sounds like a large undertaking, to rewrite-reshoot,
all of this. So is it worth it?

Ed in Kokomo

Congratulations, Gerry, you’ve interested a real publisher. It’s
only natural that they’d want to clean up your writing a bit, to put
out a product they can be proud of. While your first-person style may
be able to get your message across to your satisfaction, how do you
respond to a jeweler who says “heck, I can jest squarsh this setting
some so’s the stone won’t fall out”. Editors feel the same way when
faced with a piece of writing that meanders through the first,
second, and third persons and back in a single paragraph (I haven’t
read your book, but I have seen other efforts that suffered from
this). Likewise, the photos you’ve got may convey the crucial
but fall short on aesthetic grounds. If I were you, I’d
ask for help. Let their editor work over your prose; just make sure
you read it over before publication to make sure they haven’t changed
the meaning in any essential way. If they want better photos, let
them hire a photographer to work with you on them. While your books
might function as-is, don’t take offense if someone wants to take
them to the next level. But if they won’t help to do it, then you
have to decide if you can justify spending the time and effort to
satisfy their aesthetic criteria.

Andrew Werby

Hi Gerry,

That sounds typical of publishers nowadays - my brother just had a
book published and he ended up rewriting most of it a couple of
times - still doesn’t make sense to me and now includes a load of
typos that weren’t in the original draft…

My advice would be to find another publisher - and try to make it
one that is used to publishing practical books - maybe Dover
Publications?

Best wishes,

Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK

Self publishing or ‘vanity press’ or ‘on demand’ publishing means
you pay for everything yourself.

KPK

My advice would be to find another publisher - and try to make it
one that is used to publishing practical books - maybe Dover
Publications? 

Dover is generally a re-publisher. I don’t think they publish
original work.

KPK

Leonid

I JUST LOVE YOUR FANTASTIC ATTITUDE… in my humbled opinion…my
other choice of words would be…“GO YE FORTH AND MULTIPLY”…I have
been for the past two weeks doing more in collecting pictures and
realizing the same attitude as you. I have been receiving many emails
about making changes in my writing style…good for them, but IF I
CHANGE MY STYLE (or writing 2nd -> 3rd person) IT ISN’T ME ANY MORE,
RIGHT?

Leonid, only last night in my writing room, I thought about just
putting EVERYTHING on two DVD’s with a great looking plastic mailing
cover, and be damed with it! I’m never going to make everyone happy,
just a few at a time. I will even, when completing this formidable
task advertise it with JCK and others to promote this vast collection
of written essays. …thanks for your great honesty…

Gerry!

Self publishing or 'vanity press' or 'on demand' publishing means
you pay for everything yourself. 

Book Surge is owned by Amozon.com, and is an On-demand publisher.
While I have not used this service, I have talked with the staff.
They pay a fair commission to Authors, something that is hard to
find in the industry. You can contact them at surge@booksurge.com

Rick Hamilton

The jewellery book publisher WILL DO ALL OF THE RE-WRITING for
me…:>) I am leaving every to them to sort and also figure what to
do and how to arrange the text and glossary…As I said to them this
morning…I write and take pictures…and you can do the rest…but
nicely put…all of my essays and 1,000 pictures almost fit a full
DVD…not a CD, only 3.8 G’s of setting stuff ! I even wrote to her
at the European/German company, that I nearly gave up and would have
put it on a shelf…so to speak! So now the “die is cast” and the rest
is with them to muddle through. Thank you Orchid gang of many, all so
very much for all of your kind words in letting me see the brighter
side in this daunting task. It all works out happily in the end, its
been a rough week for this…fondest regards to you all…

Gerry!..:>)

Gerry’s post was purely having to do with, he wrote an article, a
magazine wants to publish the article and wants him to re-write the
article. He’s not publishing anything for resale.

If he’s going to spend days rewriting, there needs to be something
in it for him. Having the “honor” of being published is past him now.

He’s been getting Kinko’s to print for him, which has served him
well.

David Geller
JewelerProfit
www.JewelerProfit.com

The jewellery book publisher WILL DO ALL OF THE RE-WRITING for
me.....:>) I am leaving every to them to sort and also figure what
to 

Congratulations! How wonderful to be courted and to have help with
such a large project! Thank you for sharing your setting knowledge
with the world.

Elaine