Book Design in Self Publishing - Breaking New Ground

Book Design in Self Publishing - Breaking New Ground Book Design in Self-Publishing: Breaking New Ground Self-publishing is often about pushing the boundaries, and this is what today’s interview is all about. The Perfect Capital by Karen Healey Wallace isn’t just any self-published book, it is one whose design is ingrained into its very being, both through the story it tells and through its sophisticated layout and typography.The Perfect Capital has truly broken new ground and was nominated for Best British Book Award Shortlist and Best Editorial Design Award Shortlist 2014. We   spoke to Karen about the inspiration behind the book, it’s design, and typographer Eric Gill’s role in the story. For those who love video, just hit play. If you prefer images with an edited text, feast your eyes on the text and words below.â€Å"Book production in the hands of writers should create books nobody’s done, nobody’s even dreamed of. Because they come unimpeded out of your imagination.† Karen Healey WallaceWelcome Karen it’s great to have you with us, to start with, can you please tell me a little more about you concept of book creation in the hands of authorsHi! Well it does seem illogical to me that books in the hands of authors aren’t the best books on the market. There was an age when ‘vanity publishing’, as they called it then, was the high-end of the market and the idea that an author can see their book through exactly the way they wanted it, should produce the most beautiful books. So it seems to me a strange anomaly that a lot of self-publishing now seems rubbish - lots of Print-On-Demand books, often with typographical errors etc - but it doesn’t need to be that way and it shouldn’t be! So I hope that The Perfect Capital is a pathfinder for more books like this.Please show us what the book looks like! It’s quite an object†¦Well to start with, here’s the spine - the spine title has replaced the collator’s marks which was probably one of the bravest thin gs I did because you can’t actually see the title at all. I made the executive decision that people don’t make book choices from 15 feet away, they usually walk right up to it and see whether they want it.A brief background around how this thing came into being: The Perfect Capital is a piece of literary fiction. It’s about one woman’s quest to find the perfect letter form of the typographer Eric Gill (1882-1940). So the story weaves in that character’s artistic discoveries, which looks at Eric Gill’s real-life inscriptions in London. This is woven into the other side of the story line where an old-fashioned character (Maud) falls in with the most imperfect man (Edward). The fiction and narrative is based in Gill himself: I took the perfect artist and put him in one character; and then I put the other part of Gill as a highly imperfect man into another character.That was originally where I was going to leave it†¦ What I didn’t re alise was going to happen was put perfectly by Beatrice Ward who said that â€Å"Either the whole man comes up, or else the tweezers slip†. It was everything or nothing. I absolutely experienced that in my relationship, so I found myself unable to pick and choose. I was writing the design brief for the book and the book when I knew I was going to be self-publishing it, the book literally appeared fully formed in my head. Whilst I did need to find a designer and a printer, I actually never needed to submit that brief because I knew exactly what I wanted, I just needed to find the people to make it happen.Talk us through the thought process of making the bookThe nice thing is that although I ended up making something special, I never decided to make something special: I didn’t sit down and say â€Å"this is going to be a really beautiful book†. My only decision was to make a book that was absolutely right for my story. The perfect book in my mind isn’t jus t an advertisement for the story that’s inside it, it actually tells the story from the moment you pick it up.Because I didn’t know what I was doing, I was in the lovely position to make the book that I chose to make, rather than make the book that convention or machinery would allow. It’s having the idea and saying â€Å"how can I make this work† rather than knowing how things work and limiting your ideas to that. I knew that I wanted a type-only book that fit with my story. The book is of course in paper and not in stone, but it has a feeling of stone. It’s very simple and feels like an art book and obviously the story is about an artist inside.service@reedsy.com to claim your discount!

Capybara Facts (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

Capybara Facts (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest rodent in the world. Its common name comes from the Tupi phrase kaapià »ara, which means grass eater. The scientific name means water hog. Capybaras are related to guinea pigs, rock cavies, coypu, and chinchillas. Fast Facts: Capybara Scientific Name: Hydrochoerus hydrochaerisCommon Names: Capybara, chigà ¼ire, chigà ¼iro, carpincho, water hogBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 3.5-4.4 feetWeight: 77-146 poundsLifespan: 4 yearsDiet: HerbivoreHabitat: Wetlands of South AmericaPopulation: AbundantConservation Status: Least Concern Description The capybara has a barrel-shaped body and blunt muzzle, somewhat resembling a pig. The brittle fur is reddish-brownish in color and paler on the belly. The animals ears, eyes, and nose are high on its face so it can remain above water when the rodent is submerged. The capybara has a vestigial tail and partially webbed feet. On average, adult capybaras are 3.5 to 4.4 feet in length, stand about two feet tall, and weigh between 77 and 146 pounds. Females are slightly larger than males, with the largest recorded female weighing just over 200 pounds. Both males and females have anal scent glands and a special snout scent gland, called a morillo. The morillo is a distinctive feature of a capybaras face. Richard Evans / EyeEm, Getty Images Habitat and Distribution All South American countries except Chile are home to capybaras. The animals live in wetlands and near bodies of water. Escaped captive capybaras are found in Florida, but its unknown whether they have established a breeding population. Diet Capybaras are herbivores that graze upon grasses, fruit, tree bark, and aquatic plants. They eat their own feces and regurgitated food to help digest cellulose and retain gut flora. Their teeth grow continuously to compensate for the wear from grinding food. Behavior Although capybaras are excellent swimmers, they are able to run as fast as a horse on land. During the day, the rodents wallow in mud to stay cool. They graze before dawn, late in the afternoon, and into the evening. They often sleep in water with only their noses exposed to air. Capybaras use their scent glands and urine to mark territory. Females scent-mark areas more often during the mating season. Males mark females as well as objects. Reproduction and Offspring Capybaras live in herds of up to twenty individuals. Within the group, there is one dominant males, additional submissive males, females, and young. The dominant male has breeding rights to all of the females, but he cant oversee them all the time, so many of the submissive males also mate. Mating occurs once a year during the rainy season, which may be in April or May (Venezuela) or October or November (Brazil). A females scent changes when she is in estrus, plus she whistles through her nose to advertise fertility. Males pursue females and mate with them in the water. After 130 to 150 days of gestation, the female gives birth on land to a litter of one to eight young. The average litter size is four offspring. Baby capybaras are mobile, and they typically resemble their parents. The female and her young return to the water within a few hours of birth. The young may nurse from any female in the group. They start to eat grass after a week and are weaned around 16 weeks. Capybaras become sexually mature between one and two years of age. Young males often leave the herd when mature. Captive capybaras may live 8 to 10 years. Wild animals only live four years on average because they are popular prey for anacondas, jaguars, eagles, caimans, pumas, ocelots, and humans. Capybara young are miniature versions of their parents. Kevin Schafer, Getty Images Conservation Status Capybara conservation status is classified as least concern by the IUCN. The species is widely distributed and reproduces quickly. In some areas, hunting has diminished capybara numbers, but for the most part the population is stable and abundant. Capybaras and Humans Capybaras are hunted primarily for their meat and skin, although there is also a market for their fat, which is believed to have medicinal value. Ranchers sometimes kill the rodents because they compete with livestock for grazing. Capys are also farmed and kept in zoos. In some places, it is legal to keep a capybara as a pet. The animals are gentle and tolerate hand-feeding and petting. Sources Macdonald, D. W.; Krantz, K.; Aplin, R. T. Behavioral anatomical and chemical aspects of scent marking among Capybaras (Hydrochaeris hypdrochaeris) (Rodentia: Caviomorpha). Journal of Zoology. 202 (3): 341–360, 1984. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1984.tb05087.xMurphey, R.; Mariano, J.; Mouraduarte, F. Behavioral observations in a capybara colony (Hydrochaeris hypdrochaeris). Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 14: 89, 1985. doi:10.1016/0168-1591(85)90040-1Reid, F. Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2016: e.T10300A22190005. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T10300A22190005.enWoods, C.A. and C.W. Kilpatrick. Infraorder Hystricognathi. In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1556, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.