WWBFD - Part 7: I'M DONE!!!

Tuesday, December 2nd - I have to get WWFBD bound today, because tomorrow I have an appointment to get it trimmed. I really like collating things, to be honest, (from all those years doing proposals at work I guess). I set out the pages, sort them in piles of good, really good, and not good, match the darkness of the pages with the covers, and get them assembled and folded. I gave myself the gift of a long arm stapler a few years ago - and it's nice to put it to good use! It takes a while, but I really have to get it done - another 1 AM night on this project! Geez. 

Wednesday, December 3rd - I bike over to some letterpress printer friends' studio who have a fantastic old-school cutter - it's a huge and beautiful piece of early 20th century equipment. So, Keegan sets it up for me, and I trim them up - the books are looking really good!! Yea!! Thank you SO MUCH Katy and Keegan!!! 

Then I come home, finish the special stamp on the back page, do a quality control check to make sure all the pages are there in each, sign and number them (it's an edition of 50 with 3 artist proofs), and put them in bags... 

Is this it? Am I really, really, DONE? It's been 9 months I've been working on this project (off and on), and I really, really AM DONE!!! I can't quite believe it yet. It seemed almost impossible 2 weeks ago too! What a great experience - I have learned so much and really enjoyed it! 

I could NOT have done this without Carye Bye keeping me inspired, Dan Miller introducing me to Bigfoot, Dylan Williams encouraging me to do the project, and do it my way, and telling me that my drawing was good. Elizabeth Nelson being willing to camp at the base of Mount St. Helens and tell scary stories to "toughen me up"! Justin Hocking and the rest of the staff and volunteers at the IPRC, and Katy Meegan and Keegan Wenkman without whom it would have uneven edges! 

This book is dedicated to all who walk in the wild, known and unknown. And just for the record - I have a biologist coworker who encountered "something very unusual" in Idaho about 15 years ago near the Bitterroot Mountains while doing a strand inventory in the middle of the wilderness... so there you go, folks! 

I believe in the mystery, and hope we always have enough wilderness to harbor plenty of Bigfoots. 

P.S. There are 6 other entries about this project - scroll down to November entries to see them all. And go to my website - www.msstarryart.com - to see more and purchase your very own copy! 

WWBFD - Part 6: The Thing About Typos

Sunday, November 30th, afternoon. The book pages have been on the heat vent at home since I got home from the Thanksgiving Day printing feast at 1 AM Friday morning. I have been afraid to look at them, because, what if...

Yep, "what if" happened. I have a typo and a few other things I don't like on the text page - so after saying "SHIT" a few times -- which definitely helps solve any problem -- I head back to the IPRC. Luckily I left my form (the type set up to print) intact, so I don't have to spend hours resetting the type. That would not have happened! 

I fix the mistake (the word "account" which is not usually spelled "accuont" to my knowledge) and move the first sentence around - which I like a lot better in the last paragraph. I slap it back on the press and print about 100 more, as fast as I can. I have to also reprint the last page too, which is short and luckily was also intact. It goes pretty well (and I am not being to fussy about it being perfect anyway to be honest). Except for fixing the typo which would have really bugged me. I DID proofread it Thursday night, but it was about 10:45 pm I think, so what did I expect? 

As I am doing this, I swear to myself, NEXT TIME I WILL PRINT THE TEXT EARLIER AND NOT SET IT AND PRINT IT AT THE SAME TIME, LATE AT NIGHT. 

Still, all things considered - I learned from this, and I like the text better now, so hey. I redistribute the type back into the drawer where it's stored - which goes about 20 times faster than setting it originally. Maybe because now I have memorized where most of the letters go, which makes me feel good. Still more to do to finish the book, but now it really, really is all printed.