I hope you had a good summer. In June, I was cottaging for a week at Sauble Beach with siblings Jack, Deb and John. In July, my kids, Aidan and Olivia, and I camped at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park.

Notable this summer . . . I became a publisher. The journey begins.

In late July, I registered Cavalarico Books Ltd., an imprint I now operate with the sole aim to publish my books.

I made a decision and jumped in. I purchased a new URL for this website, which I will implement later, and I ordered four International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs).

I’m in the process of publishing two books, a novel and a book of poetry. Both will be available in ebook and softcover print. Each version requires its own ISBN, hence I ordered four.

Early in the summer, I used Scrivener to re-organize and refine an outline for a second novel, ARDIS Dancing with Spirits.

Since then, I have focused on publishing.

I sent ARDIS A Life on Water to a proofreader in Saskatoon. No, it wasn’t Yann Martel, but wouldn’t that be sweet if he were my beta reader—one who comments on drafts.

Closer to home, I’m talking with an artist about creating an illustration for the cover of A Life on Water. I wrote a cover blurb with Aidan, my ad hoc editor and son. We nailed down a great blurb, which is the first description most buyers read and is crucial to making sales.

In August, I wrote the blurb and the forward for The Tale of Indigo, A 1,000-word creation poem about climate change. I learned how to create an ePub file using the Draft2Digital interface. I input that ePub file into the Amazon-Kindle interface. Then I re-designed the cover page again.

Since then, I’ve redesigned the ebook layout and cover using different tools, a topic for another time perhaps.

I then designed the text layout for the print version of The Tale of Indigo and the cover, which involved designing front and back covers together in one file. My design features paintings by my sister, Barbara. The ebook version includes fifteen paintings she created. If we ever do a harcover of Indigo, it will include the fifteen paintings.

In terms of sizing, I hope to mimic chapbooks that became popular in the UK during the 19th century. I have a 1974 replica of John Ruskin’s 1889 chapbook, The King of the Golden River with Illustrations by Richard Doyle. It’s a tiny, little book—4.5x 6.25-inches and 3/16” thick. At 5x8-inches, The Tale of Indigo will be slightly larger and present a contemporary feel thanks to Barb’s paintings.

That was my first few months as publisher. There was a lot of learning of processes, finding and learning software, and completing designs. There remains plenty to do for the release of the four versions in the new year, with the focus transitioning to Marketing and Promotions. Already, September is more than half over.

Tim