Thursday, July 26, 2012

Why I've Been Quiet



See above. 

Yep. Those are the page proofs. I got a set of galleys in the mail today, too. It looks like a book, it feels like a book, but it's FULL OF EGREGIOUS ERRORS!! Yay. 

So I've been highlighting every proper noun and concept so I can construct an index. A friend generously offered to proof the proof (Apparently one verbs the noun. Who knew?), an offer I gratefully accepted. Instantly. 

After this I get to mail it off again. Each time I tell myself, "There'll be a sense of relief!" But no. Instead, I send off the draft, the revision, the copy edited version and (soon) the proofs with a powerful sense that: 
  • I'm an idiot
  • It's terrible
  • NO one will read it
  • Those who do read it will immediately appreciate how stupid I am and how bad it is
  • Mockery will follow. Probably on an international scale.
  • Except it's not good enough to provoke that much mockery.
Wah! Anyway. Plugging away...

4 comments:

Megan said...

Pshaw....I'm sure it's brilliant, and I can guarantee you'll have at least one person reading it! Hang in there!

Sara said...

It's hard to celebrate successes when you're this close to them. But we're cheering for you from Boston! HUGE congrats!

Unknown said...

I know at least 3 people who will buy it and read it, not including you. ;)

Lawrence said...

You're brilliant!

It's great!

MANY people will read it (and some will even buy it).

Those that do read it will like it!

There will be no mockery. There may be some inevitable carping and sniping, but you aren't going to see any journal reviews for a year and a half anyway. Besides, as the late Gore Vidal liked to say, "Who cares what other people think of you? All that matters is what YOU think of them." ;)

Good luck with all the proofing and indexing -- god knows I've been there. But, you are almost done! I can't wait to buy a copy!