I just want to leave that line up there by itself so we can all take a moment to pause and reflect upon this lovely and sometimes overlooked element of the publishing world.
Before embarking on my first Print-On-Demand excursion, I had no idea what the hell a Fleuron was. Well, I kinda did, but I didn't know they had a name, nor did I pay them much attention. And I certainly never thought they would play a significant role in my life. Now I not only know what they are, I've lost sleep over the damn things.
Before embarking on my first Print-On-Demand excursion, I had no idea what the hell a Fleuron was. Well, I kinda did, but I didn't know they had a name, nor did I pay them much attention. And I certainly never thought they would play a significant role in my life. Now I not only know what they are, I've lost sleep over the damn things.
For those of you who are still in the dark as to what a Fleuron, or Glyph IS, it's the little typographic element that appears in printed novels to indicate a break within a chapter. As I come from a play and screenwriting background, I call these scene breaks. In the ebook of Delta Legend, Tom and I chose the very simplistic and perfectly effective three diamonds (basic symbols) for scene breaks within chapters. Done. Then came the physical book and the many decisions this endeavor entailed. Fleuron options? Huh. Who knew.
Just be warned, once you open the door to the Fleuron Candy Store and venture inside, you could be in there for days, putting all kinds of time and energy into something that readers pay very little attention to. You will likely never hear the words, "Forget about plot and characters, did you see those magnificent fleurons?!"
After WAY too much time agonizing and wondering if perhaps I should ask my doctor, "Which Fleuron Is Right For Me," I ultimately chose this one.
Not actual size!
This is just one small aspect of my adventures in Print-On-Demand Publishing (aka, The Long Slide Down The Big Learning Curve).
Before I go much further, this would be a good time to make an announcement. Cue pathetic trumpet intro. I am now a publisher. That's right, not just "published," I am the publisher of Delta Legend, and most likely all future Legends. While not a life goal, here I am nonetheless.
Resurrecting a production company name I came up with long ago, Delta Legend will be published by MidnightBBQ. This is appropriate as I came up with the name back in the 90's (anyone remember those?) when my brother and I still owned our family houseboat berthed at Korth's Pirate's Lair Marina in the Delta.
The name relates to our inability to get up to the boat on weekends and get dinner on the grill before late in the evening. Terry, Sandy, Michael and I could often be found up on the marina's lawn on Friday nights, drinking wine and barbecuing by flashlight while most other boaters were tucked into their cabins with lights out.
Someday, I'll have brilliant graphic artist, Dave Williams, make a cool company logo for MidnightBBQ. At the moment, however, he's working away on the full cover layout of the physical book. Let's just hope CreateSpace can deliver a cover that will do his amazing image justice. I know it won't be anywhere near the multiple layers you see in the poster version, but let's hope they can come close. Please, oh please ...
Okay, that's it for now. If the Indie Gods are smiling upon me, Delta Legend will be in print and out in a few Indie Bookstores by the 4th of July. Independence Day would be an appropriate book release day for this Indie Author, don't you think?
Me, back in the day (and daylight) on the lawn at Korth's Pirate's Lair Marina. I'm cooking up some jambalaya and crawdads for my mom's birthday, which just happens to be the 4th of July.
And here she is, proving that O'Connell women are used to feeding the troops on location. Thanks for the skills mom–and the knees, apparently.
