In case you’re interested, here’s the latest on MSCD2:
- I wasn’t satisfied with the design of MSCD, so I was ready for a fight over the design of MSCD2. But I’ve just seen some sample pages, and they look great. I’m already looking forward to seeing the finished product.
- I’m currently working on the last item that I have yet to submit—the index. Compiling an index isn’t exactly fun, but I’m deriving a certain grim satisfaction from it. And I’ll derive even more satisfaction from completing it. On a related note, I recently came across a book review in which the author noted how the index in the book in question was woefully inadequate, but that inadequate indexes were “typical of the publisher.” For my part, I couldn’t imagine leaving to the publisher the task of doing the index.
- A copyeditor is currently reviewing the manuscript. According to the designer, who has worked with the copyeditor on innumerable titles over ten years, the copyeditor volunteered how she had “seldom, if ever” worked on a book as well-prepared as MSCD2. That’s in part due to the inherent anality of yours truly, but two other factors come into play. First, I wrote twice much of what’s new in MSCD2, once as a blog post, then again in the manuscript. That gave me an additional opportunity to weed out problems. And second, my squad of volunteer proofreaders spotted many mistakes that otherwise would have come the way of the copyeditor.
