DEEP DIVE: The Quest for Excellence

Overview

Peter Martens is a consultant in Belgium and contacted Adams Press to help him publish a book for general sale as well as to compliment his services and training sessions. Adams Press helped him take his book from an outline to a printed book and beyond.

How Adams Press Helped

Developmental Editing

Over the course of nearly a year, Ann worked with Peter via web conference to take Peter’s book from manuscript to typeset pages. Ann and Peter worked for nearly a year by videoconference as well as through a consultant familiar with Peter and his business theories and concepts. Ann helped Peter retool and rearrange the book, and also to standardize its voice and adjust some of the language to align with American English.

When the manuscript was almost finished, Ann performed one more comprehensive edit and final changes were made. Peter was asked to approve the final manuscript and provide any final (small) edits.

Promotion and Distribution Consulting

While Peter and Ann were working on the developmental edit, Jim and Peter were discussing ways that Peter could promote his book. Advance copies of the manuscript were sent to contacts identified by Peter to be colleagues, important names in Peter’s industry, and other movers and shakers in the field of employee, shareholder, and customer delight. Jim helped Peter acquire and organize short review blurbs received from these readers to go on the cover of the book and Peter’s eventual website. Jim and Peter also developed a cover blurb for the book, as well as other promotional materials and collateral. Finally, Jim helped Peter understand the vagaries of book distribution and offered suggestions and information about ways to sell or distribute his book.

Design and Typesetting

After the primary edit was completed, Tom read the book (a vital step for a book designer!) and then took the manuscript document and created several comps (design suggestions for client review) for both the interior pages of the book and the cover. Time and care was taken to research similar books and create a design that both properly reflects the genre and stands out from books that will likely be shelved nearby in a large bookstore.

While an interior design was being chosen and revised, Tom recreated many of the interior figures and graphs to be consistent with the typography of the page design. He then typeset the book using the chosen interior design. Each section and chapter was then proofread for typesetting errors and other typos.

Tom also created several front cover design comps from which Peter could choose. After several rounds of minor adjustments, Peter approved a final front cover design and Tom built the full cover (back, spine, and front) to be sent to the printer.

Manufacturing and Shipping

When the interior and cover of the book were finalized, Tom transmitted the necessary digital files to the printer. Physical proofs (actual printed versions of the book interior and cover created by the printer and reflective of how the final book will look) were sent, and Tom, Ann, Jim, and Peter’s U.S. colleague all reviewed every page and piece of the book one more time. When the proofs were approved, the printer proceeded with the printing, binding, and finishing of the book. About a month later, Peter’s books were ready and shipped to both him and his U.S. associate.

Book Release, Website, and Promotion

Tom created a website for Peter’s company, PM Executive Solutions, to promote the book and Peter’s services. They worked together by both email and web conferencing to organize and design the site using the concepts from the book and Peter’s consultancy. The model of a complicated passenger jet cockpit was used to inform the site structure and visual elements of the site.

It became apparent to Peter and Jim that the target demographic for the book was very likely to watch a promotional and explanatory video about the book. Adams Press connected Peter with a videographer here in the Chicago area, and a book release party and video interview was scheduled. Peter and his entire family traveled from Belgium to Chicago for an internationally-broadcast video interview and book release event. Jim interviewed Peter on a live video feed to international viewers, and that video was also posted to YouTube on Peter’s behalf by the videographer. It was a day of celebration for everyone. Click below to watch the interview.

To Be Continued!

Adams Press became very close with the Martens family, and Ann and Jim even traveled to Belgium about a year after the book was released for a week-long visit. We are still in touch with the Martens family today, years after the end of the project—a project that was successful and rewarding in more ways than we could have imagined.