Ten years have passed between the printing of my first book and the upcoming printing of Patchwork and Ornament, and a lot has changed! I’ve had to research independent publishing all over again to make sure I’m up with the technologies and possibilities. This week, I think I found my book printer, and they even have a cool program so you can upload your files and make sure they are compatible with their systems.
But the real excitement came today! In the book, Jenny (my late mother-in-law, for those joining these blogs late) quoted the poet Yehuda Amichai. I had two choices: delete the poetic reference, which wasn’t completely necessary, or get permissions. When I published my first book, I had to get a lot of permissions, and it wasn’t always a pleasant experience. I remember having some rather nasty back and forth with one publisher that wanted control over my entire text before I decided just to drop the reference.
Still, the Amichai lines, while not essential to the story she told, did add some lovely flavor to the essay. I flipped to the back of the book for the publisher’s website and went online. Lo and behold, you can do these things instantly now! I filled out a form, paid $14, and presto, my printer spit out a license for my records. Instead of waiting weeks or months for permissions, mine took about ten minutes.
What a cool time we live in.
Wow, Nadine. Thanks for sharing this. It may be useful.
What a nice surprise for you!! I am glad you got the keep the quote? Are you allowed to post it?
Great question. Yes, I get to keep the quote, but only under certain conditions–and my interpretation is that I would not be able to post it here. The poem in question is Gifts of Love by Yehuda Amichai, and we use the first stanza as a means of setting a mood (in case you’re able to find it elsewhere…).
We are now working on getting permissions for certain materials used in the cover design. I saw the draft today, and I’m really excited about it–but can’t show it yet. Ugh!
How nice! It is a visual poem.
Look forward to seeing your cover once you can post it – must be so exciting!