Cover For Secret Witness is Done!

When you write a book there are couple of truly joyous moments tied to the process.  One is when you finish the book.  It’s the kind of moment you tend to enjoy all alone – but it is great.  There’s when you see the final edit (blue line) copy of the book for your last pass through it.  At that point months have passed and it’s like reading a new book all over again.  When you see your book for the first time in a bookstore is another fantastic moment.   Then there’s those moments that people contact you and say, “your book really touched me.”  These are some of the fun and private parts of being an author – that sense of accomplishment. 

Another one of the cool moments you get to experience as an author is when the art/production department shoots you over the cover for your book.   This week, the University of Michigan Press sent me the early cut of the cover for my upcoming book Secret Witness.  Here it is!

Personally, I love it.  I like the “true crime” font used – very 1960s’ which was pleasing since the book is about a crime in the 1960s’.  The address you see at the top and blending into the title is from the poison pills sent to the victim, Nola Puyear, which proved instrumental in catching her murderer, Enoch Chism.  I like how the words “Marshall Mich” blend into the text.  Seeing the scrawled address brings back memories of the evidence in the case, of a devious plot to kill an innocent women that took months to accomplish.  Nola’s death, on Michigan Avenue, by a bomb blast, tore at the heart of hometown Marshall’s innocence.   All of that came back to me.   

Seeing the cover it suddenly hit me; the book is going to be out in a few months.  The release date is now at the end of April, 2012.   Seeing the cover tells me that the edit copy of the book is going to be coming soon for my final read and approval too. 

Wow, what a journey. 

I am from the Battle Creek/Marshall area – my family is Marshall-based.  I was raised on Louie’s donuts and still have fond memories of the few times a year we ate at Win Schuler's.  I go back a few times a year, eat at Roma’s and the Hi-Lite, watch the Brooks fountain at night, and think back to the Marshall of my youth. 

Writing a book about one of Calhoun County’s most infamous crimes has been a real treat for me.  It is a chance to connect back to the Marshall of my childhood, back to 1967.  Oddly enough, not a lot has changed.  That is one of Marshall’s charms, it is a city that is almost suspended in time.  Like I say in the book, the clock stopped in the 1950’s in Marshall and never moved forward. 

Seeing the cover also tells me that I have to begin the task of setting up some book tour events.  With my daughter getting married in May, that means planning for things sometime in June.  I have a long list of contacts and places that I need to see if I can coordinate and arrange.  I enjoy the public appearances—it is a chance to go beyond the book and tell more of the story.  I also get to meet some interesting people along the way. 

Despite the sensitivities to the families involved with the events in 1967, I will be doing some events in Michigan and Virginia to promote the book.  Promotion of a books is a necessary and fundamental part of being a writer these days.  For those of you that live there, follow my blog and hopefully we can connect. If you are in a book club, I love doing virtual sessions where you can ask the author questions…so keep that in mind.

The inevitable question I get right about now is, “can I order the book now?”  Not quite yet – orders will start a few weeks before April.  I don’t sell personally sell copies of my books.  You need to get them from your local bookstore or online from the University of Michigan Press or whatever your preferred online source (i.e. Amazon.com).  Watch my blog – you’ll see updates as the book release gets closer and I firm up some book signing and speaking events.

The Writing Process – Incorporating Reader Comments and Changing the Title

I just finished a very minor rewrite of Secret Witness – my first true crime book.  The acquisitions editor sent it out to another author to gather comments about the book to improve it.  The reader (I don’t know who it was but they have my thanks) had one comment/suggestion.  The editor and I discussed it and I have gone through and made the change. 

I also had to go through and tell the editors where I wanted the photographs placed in the book.  The publisher of this book (The University of Michigan Press) does a great job of production and puts the photos throughout the book rather than in a section in the middle of the book.  Personally I’m a big fan of putting the photos where they relate to the text rather than being lumped together in the middle. 

This is all part of the writing process.  If you have an ego, this isn’t the business for you to consider.  Sometimes you have to be objective and in this case, I think the author that provided the comments may have been right.  The net result is a better book. 

The next step is that a copy-edit will be done on the book.  This is to clean up grammar and spelling.  The book then moves into production.  Somewhere along the line I will get a “blueline” copy of the book to review.  Back in the old days a blueline copy was a printout of how the book was laid out and is my final chance to make changes.  Nowdays this is a PDF file of the book as it appears in final form.  Generally you get a ridiculously short amount of time to review this copy – some publishers have hit me with 48 hours turnaround time.   

Then the book is gone.  Months will pass. As an author you move onto other projects.  Then suddenly the book is available.  I have sometimes seen my books in a bookstore before I get my author’s copies or before anyone informs me it’s out.  No problem – as long as the book is out and people are reading it. 

This book, re-re-renamed Secret Witness, went through several title changes.   When it pitched the idea to the acquisitions editor I used this title.  When we finished the book the suggestion came up to change the book title.  I’m game.  The running joke I use is, “you can call this book Free Beer if it will sell copies.” 

We bounced around two other titles – In the Shadow of Fear and Grip of Terror.  I used Facebook to float the titles out there and everyone favored In the Shadow of Fear.  I liked Grip of Terror because I think books that have short titles are better for readers to wrap their hands around.  Based on my informal market survey (Facebook comments) I went with In the Shadow of Fear, but I found out two days ago that the marketing people wanted to go back to Secret Witness.  It worked for me – that was the original title to begin with. 

The marketing folks also told me some general ideas they are bouncing around for the cover.  I can barely draw stick people so I’m excited to see what they eventually come up with. 

The reason I go over this is to explain a little bit about some of the background work as a writer that I go through.  Some of this has nothing to do with writing or research, but it has everything to do with the business of writing. 

So there you have it – another weekend as a writer.  Secret Witness, the story of the Nola Puyear bombing murder in Marshall Michigan in 1967, will be out next spring.  Until then, I’ve got two other proposals I’m working on, and another book I am writing. 

Life is good…