Survey Sunday Roundup: What Do You Want?

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No, it's not related to Babylon 5, but we asked what people want to get out of Survey Sunday.  The results gave us some direction:

  • 33.3% – Insights into careers.
  • 50.0% – Insights into trends.
  • 33.3% – Insights into current news.
  • 66.7% – Insights that really make me think.
  • 50.0% – Humorous, weird, and unusual stuff.
  • 66.7% – A better understanding into how progeeks think.
  • 16.7%  – Deep analysis.

This was helpful – it sounds like people want survey sunday to be thought provoking, help people see what others think, and maybe be a bit offbeat.  Trends were more important than current news, and it seems like few people are looking for career info from Survey Sunday.

Thanks folks!  Keep up the suggestions – and I'll be putting these to use!

– Steven Savage

T-4 Days: Levels of Planning

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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

T-5 Days: A Moment Of Sanity After The Crazy

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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