Steven Savage

Here we are, T-4 days for "Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers"

OK, maybe it was not a good idea to go to Japantown of San Jose today.

Or maybe it was.

Here's the thing, I needed a break, so I figured why not go there for a few hours for their "Spirit of Japantown" festival.  I had fun and it was nice.

Though now I'm in the final phase of formatting the PDF and my legs hurt.

It's weird really, there are many ways I could have planned the publishing of this book in a far more anal-retentive manner.  At the same time, I really wouldn't have granted myself the freedom to . . . well, stay sane.

Planning on something like this is a peculiar art.  I'm not even sure if I'm as good a planner as I could be on creating books – though I suppose doing one in 3 months is a good sign.

So, now the Kindle and ePub formats are basically working, back to PDF.  I know it'll work, but I have to format it closer to a print book, so back at it . . .

– Steven Savage

Well last night I was busy formatting the ePub and Kindle versions for "Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers"

It worked.

Oh it wasn't easy.  The books are loaded with links, which required endless checking and editing, and the discovery that some don't always convert well.  Yes, I probably clicked on 150+ links to test them out.  Through 2 different iterations.

Then there's the fun of viewing devices.  People read Kindle books on different devices, and the amount of ePub devices  . . . is even wider.  So just to be safe I view my books on everything I can.

This is where I'm kind of bad.  See I got into the habit of knowing when to stop editing, but I get terrified of different formats and potential issues with the – made worse by the fact that, with many devices, I can never be sure my best job of formatting worked anyway.

My guess is all my experience with print formatting made me over-paranoid about e-Formatting.

But, still, in the end, it all looks pretty good.  So next up is a few tweaks and checks, then on to the PDF formatting . . .

– Steven Savage

Kindle Fire. Apotheker out.  Lots and lots of big stories lately.

Me, I'm going to engage in a pre-emptive rant, and note two things A) There have been a lot of big tech stories, B) I'm hoping this doesn't turn out to be like the O.J. Trial (remember that?  I do, I'm old).

See one of my worries about tech news that with so many big stories, it's going to switch into Single Big Story Mode, whether there IS a Single Big Story or not.

Speaking as a person in his 40's, I remember when news was about a lot of stories.  Then came the entire O.J. Debacle, and the "regular" news got into the business of finding the Single Big Story.  If there wasn't one, they'd find one.  It's one of the contributors to current regular news . . . well kind of sucking really badly.

I'm a bit concerned it could happen to tech news.  We've had moments of Single Big Story, and I'm worried it could become a norm.

I'd really like to avoid that.  I don't think it's likely to happen.  But I have my moments of concern.

– Steven Savage