I’m at terror level orange right now. If I’m not commenting on your blog, it’s not personal, I’m just trying to get KEPT (and the website I’m building to go with it) out before Thanksgiving. And the only reason I’m freaking is because everything takes like 30 times longer than you think it’s going to take.

Like yesterday. Before I could get to work on layout for the ebook, I needed front and back matter finished. And in the back matter (this sounds like something in your ear or nose, but I don’t know of a better word for it.) I have info on where to go next if you want more info. Website, newsletter, blah blah.

Well, I have a yahoo group. And that’s great, but a LOT of people don’t have yahoo, don’t like yahoo, and will never, in their lifetimes, stoop to participating in any way with yahoo. So that cuts out a sizable chunk of people who otherwise might want info.

So I spent from 9 am til almost 2 pm trying to figure out another alternative newsletter. If I want to pay there are tons of options, but I can’t have fifty companies nickel and dime-ing me to death before the expense is really warranted.

So finally I do this whole gmail idea, and then figured, why not just use google groups? (cause gmail will flip out on you like a crazy ninja of communication if you try to send over a certain number of emails at once.)

With google groups and yahoo groups the plus is, about 95% (I’m pulling this number completely out of my ass), of all internet savvy web users are in some way plugged in to either google or yahoo. And the google sign up process is very easy. So it’s a small number of people who don’t have yahoo or google and refuse to be assimilated.

But those people are welcome to contact me by email or etching on clay tablet. :D Because it’s not practical to have 30 different newsletters. Plus when you give people too many options, they flip out anyway with indecision and end up doing nothing. I know I can be that way. So the way I see it, two imperfect options that reach a lot of people, is better than 10 options that ends up reaching everybody theoretically but people go ): O.o cause they can’t pick from that many options.

Then of course I’m also in the lovely interior layout process. I know this won’t be perfect and there is a steep learning curve for any interior layout. But there is no way in hell I’m paying for book blocks on a free ebook. Mainly because the kind of work I would get for what I can afford for something I can’t turn a profit on, is quality even I could probably aspire to. My goal is just not to annoy readers with anything too zany or goofy looking.

But since I have to do it anyway for free ebooks, I may as well start the steep learning curve to learn how to do it anyway. Because I’m not getting too creative with it. Once I find my “one size fits all” layout, or something damn near close, I’m going with it. Though I might get more creative with the chapter heading font.

But … the typography learning curve has started to expose me to some really … well crazy is a strong word, but not really … people. Like I stumbled upon this big hardcore argument where someone got called a pompous Luddite for their font choices.

You can’t make this shit up. Sometimes I love the interwebz. Because it reminds me that I can’t please everybody, no matter what I do. I could have been an interior layout professional for 30 years, and SOMEONE would take issue with the layout. You just gotta do your best, hope you don’t annoy the majority of people you’re trying to reach, and move on.