Check this post often for updates. The world is spinning quickly right now, so everything is ending up in the same place.
UPDATE 6/19: The first batch of edits is away. We survived! Everyone's exhausted in extremis -- this was truly one of the most demanding stretches we've yet encountered. More updates this weekend. For right now, my feet are about to be firmly planted on the coffee table...
UPDATE 6/18: Just realized that my desktop calendar is still on March 2009. That tells you something about this spring!
UPDATE #2 6/17: All copy edit notes are in. Now compiling while simultaneously sorting through new graphics. Planning to deliver all to publishers tomorrow. Speaking of which, expect the publisher to be publicly announced within days... possibly early next week! I'll start digging through emails tomorrow. Apologies to those who haven't heard from me yet!
UPDATE 6/17: I have an ISBN number! ...I think.
UPDATE 6/16: Waiting on a late-night review session. Feels wonderful to put my feet up for a little bit! The rain on the windows is beautiful today.
UPDATE 6/15: How long can you live on coffee, tuna, and the occasional piece of fruit? I'd like to assume I'm not doing any permanent physical damage! :)
UPDATE #2 6/14: Requesting one last David Salo favor. Hope he has time!
UPDATE 6/14: Switching to top-posting by request. My car was just rear-ended by some hapless teenager. I told him just to forget about it... I need to be at home proofing. No time for such material niceties! :) And hey, the story of finishing this book just gained a lovely dramatic embellishment, so that's always a plus.
UPDATE 6/13: Proofing is hitting the half-way-ish point. I expect the first pass to be completed by the middle of next week. Rarities masters are now being tracked down. Fireside footage is being edited. Legal papers are coming in, and being vetted by those who vet such things. This week's explosion of intense work is gaining focus. It's no less intense, but it's at least localizing. We may all survive after all! :)
I'll try my best to address comments and questions in the coming days. Thank you for your patience. I'm glad to have you all here with me...
UPDATE #2 6/12: Lawyers and contracts and books, oh my.
UPDATE 6/12: Proofing continues, and will do so through the weekend. Tomorrow (today, technically) will involve legal teams, another look at the Fireside Chats, some liner note/Appendix II tweaks... and, if the past few days have been any indication, approximately 47,929 phone calls. :)
It's funny, I've been saying for the better part of a year that I've felt like the last guy in left Middle-earth waiting to turn the lights out after the grand LOTR phenomenon. But now I realize I've actually been a caretaker, watching over Tolkien's beautiful world until everyone moves back in. I can hear them knocking now; Middle-earth is about to see a rapid population increase.
Thanks you all for the generous thoughts as I chug through this challenging spell. Everything is coming together beautiful. It's terrifyingly demanding work, but then it should be.
Oh, and I don't want to claim that I'm the only one toiling away. I have the best team on earth working for me right now, and I can't thank them enough... and the team I'm working with on the Radio City is phenomenal. That's all about to explode soon!
We'll work, you'll wait, and pretty soon we'll all know the same things. :)
UPDATE #3 6/11: This proofreading is killing me. In other news, the book contract has finally arrived! Look for the publisher to be announced in the coming days... If I ever finish proofreading...
UPDATE #2 6/11: Btw, it appears the RCMH hotel partnership deal is now in place and should be announced any day. Back to the grindstone...
UPDATE #1 6/11: Writing my own release blurb!
2nd UPDATE 6/10: Writing liner notes for The Rarities Archives...
UPDATE 6/10: Layout in, cover in, pricing coming together, different editions syncing up, confirming Rarities, writing up Rarities, assembling press releases, Salo call moved to tomorrow... also speaking to Elliot Goldenthal (on a completely different topic, of course)... this may be the busiest I've ever been! Hang in there, folks, this is the exciting part! Whew...
UPDATE: It's now 3 a.m. and I have a morning meeting with David Salo, so I'm heading for bed. Heftier updates coming, I promise!
