Quote of the Month
"I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. I had pieces that were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out.”
- Erica Jong, Author
Reaching the Finish Line
This month was all about moving books across the finish line. I'd say it was the busiest month in Long Overdue history.
We are proud to represent these four books and it's exciting just how different the genres are, from a horror novel set in 1800s Northern Michigan to a work of historical fiction/memoir set in WWII Florence to a work of non-fiction that demystifies complexities in business contracts to a book of illustrations with a fun retelling of how the sport Pickleball came to be.
All in all, a reminder that Long Overdue isn't tied to one specific genre. Our team is a group of people who love stories and love to help people start and finish writing their "long overdue" books.
Well, since it is Halloween, let's kick things off with Hopper's Dell. This is T.C. Pendragon's second published novel with Long Overdue (the first was Martin Blackbriar and the Necronomicon)
About the Book - The year is 1802. The harvest moon hovers in the sky and awakens a primordial evil. A darkness that corrupts humanity, enthralls animals, and casts a blight on the land every October. If the Hoppers are going to survive, they must strike at the heart of the curse. Before they are all claimed by it.
What the Finish Line Looked Like - Heather Nelson designed the front and back covers. Our team designed the interior using the software Vellum. The author chose to go with Amazon as their printing and distribution platform. Amazon offers print-on-demand, so when someone orders a copy of Hopper's Dell, it'll be printed somewhere in the U.S. and then shipped via Amazon.
About the Book - Coming from Tuscany is a true story that takes place during WWII in Florence, Italy. It starts when Hitler came to Florence in 1938 and ends when the city was liberated from Nazi fascism. A young woman and a man meet and fall in love, while simultaneously other stories takes place and the world is collapsing around them.
What the Finish Line Looked Like - Heather Nelson brought this cover to life and worked on the interior as well. We also had help from Mary Baker and our Senior Creative Director Annie Leue. We used Vellum again on the interior. And then worked with our favorite printer, Diggypod, who was able to execute on a very fast turnaround time. Diggypod prints in the USA, in Tecumseh, Michigan.
The author, Anna, lives in Rome but comes back to Chicago for a few months from June to September. We hosted a book launch at BottlesUp! in Lakeview and then a book signing + reading at an Italian Language School and Cultural Center up in Andersonville called Sentieri Italiani.
I debated including these next two books in the finish line category. But I decided this month is the "almost there" and next month we'll just keep the celebration going.
About the Book - Before You Sign is a concise pocket guide designed to demystify contract provisions that individuals may encounter when signing agreements. Whether you're a business owner wanting to understand how specific clauses can impact your enterprise, a law student seeking additional resources on contracts, or a professional looking for an edge, this book has you covered.
Authored by Adam Hersh, a multi-state licensed attorney, this book signifies complex subjects and provides real-world examples to empower business owners, professionals, and students with a deeper understanding of contractual matters.
What the Finish Line Looked Like - Not sure if you've noticed a theme here, but did we mention Heather Nelson creates some amazing book covers? This is another one of her creations and I'm amazed at how she was able to do three totally different books and create three high-quality, professional, put-that-on-the-frontshelf-of-a-bookstore caliber covers. Very proud of these! And just wait 'til you see the cookbook she's working on!
The interior was more complicated than a standard novel or non-fiction book, so our team used the Adobe Creative Suite rather than Vellum. We're currently printing with Diggypod and will also get a copy up on IngramSpark and Amazon. Look for a Kindle version as well. What you see in the photos above is the physical book proof. This is a nice add-on option Diggypod offers if you'd like a more thorough review than a digital PDF.
We are so, so, so very close on this one. Like "adding some text to the copyright page and putting a barcode on the back cover" close.
About the Book - Pickleball: It's a Big Dill is a playful jaunt through the history of Pickleball and the evolution of the game into today's latest and greatest court sport! Just be careful when reading this at a tennis court...
If you've been following our newsletter for a while, you'll recognize the name Vicki Sheaffer. This is Vicki's 3rd (!) book with Long Overdue. The first two were children's board books Oh Mother How Funny and Oh Baby It's a Clear Lake. We now welcome Chanda Cook into the growing circle of illustrators who've worked on a Long Overdue book!
What the Finish Line Looked Like - Alright. IngramSpark. Not gonna go too into the weeds here. That could be a whole separate post. But in short, if you go into a local bookstore and ask if they have a book, 99 out of 100 times the catalog/database they're searching is called Ingram. This is the preferred system for bookstores. Doesn't mean you can't get a book you published on Amazon or Diggypod or another platform into a bookstore, but it's a lot easier with Ingram.
My concern with IngramSpark has always been about print quality. Specifically for a children's book or book of illustrations like this one. I worried the print-on-demand format wouldn't be in the same league as Diggypod's quality. But after a good amount of research, I found the Premium Color option brings a very nice quality. And was only a little over a dollar more per copy. Here's a comparison from their website.
If you've already pre-ordered your copy, we're really close to getting these shipped. Once we finalize the book (likely November 1st, but possibly even later today), we'll upload the files onto IngramSpark and then we'll be live. Books arriving between Nov. 10 and Nov. 15.
Miles Ducore: Sharing His Work in Progress
Moving from the finish line to the revision stage, we're excited that Miles Ducore of the Barrington Writer's Workshop has shared four chapters from his book-in-progress Moving Parts.
And to those at the beginning of an exciting journey...
Tomorrow, November 1st, kicks off the annual "National Novel Writing Month." The mission is to write a draft of your novel in 30 days. To those participating, we'd love to hear from you. Email library@longoverduestories.com You've got this!
Thank you, Hope College!
I want to extend a big thank you to the Hope College English Department as well as Megan Scheldt, Director of the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career at Hope College, for including me on the alumni panel along with Sarah McCabe and Meaghan Minkus. Quinn Kennedy did a great job moderating, great questions from the students, just an awesome way to spend a Wednesday evening.
Who knows, maybe we'll be publishing one of these students in the not-so-distant future!
"Don't get me wrong, book design is hard. And your authors worked really hard. But I think 'moral support' is an underrated role in the process. And let me tell ya, I'm exhausted from it. How much PTO do I have left?"
- Crash, Team Dog
Keeping up with Long Overdue
Best place to keep up with all things Long Overdue is a tie between our monthly newsletter and our Instagram page. If you enjoy this newsletter and know someone who might enjoy it as well, let us know, we'll make sure to add them to our subscriber list. We also got back on Facebook recently, you can follow us here.
And check out our website - Long Overdue Books. Long Overdue Books is a community for creating books. It's a place for authors (and soon-to-be-authors), readers, editors, artists, and designers to come together and move their stories from ideas to finished books.
Also, if you have any questions, ideas, stories to tell, you can reach Cal the Librarian at - library@longoverduestories.com
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