I read my hardcover proof the way a reader would.
It’s a joy
One unanticipated joy I have experienced as an author is having my book professionally printed.
I’ve seen the digital document on screen as Word docs, PDFs, a Kindle ebook, the manuscript in my writing app, and in the Adobe InDesign layout online as my publisher was prepping it for printing.
But for some reason I hadn’t anticipated what it would be like to have a printed book in hand.
I have printed the manuscript on copier paper, hole-punched it, and dropped it into a binder more than once for proofing, but that wasn’t the same.
The other weekend I read my hardcover proof the way a reader would.
And that was so much fun. It’s a joy to see my book printed. I’m currently letting it simply sit on my desk just because I like looking at it (as in the not-at-all-staged cover photo for this post).
Digital “spirit” made paper “flesh”
If digital versions of a book are incorporeal, the real book is a type of incarnation. The digital “spirit” has been made into paper “flesh” through printing.
I don’t have much appreciation for hardcover or paperback books anymore. First of all, they’re typically too heavy for my liking; much heavier than my Kindle.
The font is usually tiny, I need to turn on more light to read than I want, the dust cover is in the way, and when I touch a word in the text, the dictionary definition doesn’t magically pop-up! A hard-to-break habit like flipping a light switch when the power has gone out.
I’m amazed at my response to the hardcover edition of my own book, though.
It isn’t too heavy, the text is big enough to read easily, the dust cover works nicely as a bookmark, and the size is substantial without being bulky. Since I wrote it, I also don’t need to look up any of the words.
A 6 oz. ton of books
In 2011, my parents gave me a Kindle for Christmas, back before they were backlit. Nevertheless, I easily switched to it for all my reading.
The device was small, the font size was adjustable, it held a ton of books in six ounces, and it allowed me to look up any word with a few button clicks. The first thing I read on my new Kindle was The Hunger Games trilogy.
Except for a few collectibles and reference books, I’ve avoided hardcover and paperback books for over a decade.
Today, I read on a nice, backlit Kindle Voyage my friends gave me as a gift in 2016. Six years later, I still love it.
If you prefer digital books, obviously I get it. Uly looks great in the Apple Books app and is also available on the Nook, Kobo, and Kindle devices.
That said, I hope anyone who buys Uly Quits His Job in the hardcover format enjoys it as much as I have.
Travis
Travis Williams earns sales commissions from qualifying purchases made by following links on this webpage to Apple Books and Amazon.
