A Book to Stop Smoking

December 22, 2011 stop smoking
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A rather seasonal book to write about today, although not quite in the sense that you would imagine a christmas book, because it’s not so much about Christmas or presents, but more something people are likely to buy for themselves for the new year is The NSCI or National Smoking Cessation Institutes top smoking handbook.

They have studied how people usually attempt to quit smoking and why they often fail, then looked at how addiction works and how the addiction can be broken. They have a complete programme which includes the book, hypnotherapy or acupuncture and a tobacco neutrogen (which to be perfectly honest I don’t fully understand) however the neutrogen is a small bottle of liquid which you drop small amounts of the contents on your tongue, but unlike Nicorette and other nicotine replacements this works in the opposite way and breaks the addiction, by stopping the cravings.

stop smoking hypnotherapyThe book focusses on changing the way you view your addiction and they claim that it will chage the way you think about smoking. It goes through how tobacco, and more importantly the nicotine within the tobacco makes you addicted, it then moves on to how to stop (as you would expect) but also covers aspects such as why you may not have been able to succeed before.

The book is also supported by a UK wide network of acupuncturists and hypnotherapists, they support what you learn in the book (and are hopefully applying) to give you the extra help to make it a successful attempt at quitting for good.

For more information about the stop smoking book or to find a professional to help visit them and look for someone in your local area, they have people to help. The method of combining the book, stop smoking hypnotherapy and the liquid seems like a good approach.

Band Literature

May 20, 2011 bands
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Recently I’ve been looking into the complexities of writing literature for bands, in fact, I’ve been investigating the whole publicity aspect, so this includes everything from graphics, such as a bands logo, posters to advertise concerts and record releases, and of course the graphics for the CD covers and associated merchandising such as t-shirts. Then there is the whole written aspect too, so the wording for CD’s and posters, but also any publicity which needs to be submitted to various internet and print publishers to support tours and album releases.

Of course this is something which is all done by the band, or their manager (who is often a band member in newer non-established groups), but as they become slightly bigger this kind of work is often outsourced to an agency, what I’m looking at is does being a designer or a writer who has a genuine interest in the music industry qualify one to start an agency doing this kind of work?

I’m not going to come to any absolute conclusions in this first post, but hope to update again soon with either the reasons I am or am not going to take this to the next step and start with some market research to see if the project/business is a viable one. Who knows I could be working with Girls Aloud this time next year! (or does that sound a bit like Dell Trotters millionaire statement?)

So I need to consider who I would want to do this for, would I specialise by Genre? I could look at rock bands, hip-hop, pop or wedding bands and uk party bands who play lots of covers and classics. Of course I suppose regionally is no longer an issue as even though I live in Wiltshire there is nothing to stop me from working with bands in Somerset or a band in Wales for that matter. With the use of technology and the internet, location is no longer an issue. Although I must admit, I do like to meet the people I’m working with from time to time, so reasonably local would be handy.

I suppose it really depends what they need and how long they will need it for, after all it’s all well and good specialising in album design, but how many bands bring out even one album, let alone getting repeat work and I think signing up Dr Dre or the Rolling Stones is probably a little optimistic for a start-up business.

Anyway, I need to go and see a few more bands playing live, and probably try to get a bit more of a feel for the type of music the kids are listening to these days before I even try to make a decision on direction, so I shall be back to report on my findings and think about my next step.

Car Crash

April 20, 2011 solicitor
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Recently a good friend of mine had a minor car crash on the way to work, nothing too serious, a bit of a fender bender as they would say in America, although here we just call it a damned nuisance. All that happened was the car behind him which was filtering in to the traffic in his lane was a little over zealous and bumped the rear corner of his car, nothing major, a bit of a dent and scraped paintwork, nothing more serious and no injuries to either party (or so he thought) so they pulled over and exchanged documents and details and off the each went on their journey to work, not really in any worse condition than when they had left the house shortly before, with the obvious exception of a dent in their bumpers.

A few weeks later my friend had a letter through the post, apparently the other party wanted to sue for damages, saying that the impact had caused whiplash and he was now off work because of it, having heard the story a few times now, and knowing the speeds involved, neither of us can imagine how he could possibly have whiplash from a gentle bump with him being the car which ran into my friends.

Anyway to cut a long story very short, it did go to court, my friend took legal advice and didn’t even attend the hearing himself, just submitted a written statement and won the case.  It seemed rather obvious that he would, seeing as the other driver was clearly in the wrong as it was he who was filtering into the lane, not vice versa. So we got to discussing why he would he have tried this? What was he hoping to achieve? And, did he really believe he had an opportunity to win the case?

We basically couldn’t really answer any of these questions, but it did make us realise that if something like this happens it’s certainly worth taking some legal advice.

Now I am not a personal injury solicitor, if you need one it’s a good idea to try to find someone locally so if you are in Wiltshire look for a personal injury solicitor Swindon, a lawyer in Gloucester or Cheltenham personal injury solicitor. If however you are in the Oxford regionI would find a personal injury solicitor Oxford. A good Personal injury solicitor will be able to advise about all manner of incidents, not just road traffic accidents, but also accidents at work or clinical negligence, most of the time their services are free too, as they offer no win no fee type services to the public

Tools Used

February 18, 2011 services
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We use many of the same hardware and software products that are the subjects of the computer books we produce. Our team members maintain their skills on the best publishing products available, knowing their success in the marketplace depends on it. This gives us a rich selection of software tools and hardware platforms to offer our clients.
Hardware

We have always been a primarily PC-based publishing group, but we have Mac resources available as needed. We are also quite expert at moving files and even complete projects across platform using such software as MacOpener; media such as CD, Zip, and  SyQuest; and cross-platform publishing software such as FrameMaker, PageMaker, Illustrator, Freehand, and Photoshop.

For several years our core desktop publishing software has been Ventura Publisher, which excels in the fast and dependable production of long, structured documents. The newest release, Corel Ventura 8, updates the program and adds many new features, including the ability to publish both to print and electronic media. Many publishers want to produce their books on CD-ROMs or to publish on-line to intranets and the Internet. We also utilize Adobe Framemaker on some jobs, which combines the long-document features of Ventura with corporate features such as workgroup collaboration. We can also produce books using Adobe PageMaker 6.5 or Quark XPress. Many graphics and utilities programs are also essential to book production and we use all the major packages as needed:
Type

Quality type is essential to good production. We use Adobe Type 1 fonts and we custom design additional fonts when needed. By using standard fonts we avoid the many pitfalls that others may experience when final files go to film at the service bureau. Our Type 1 library is in excess of 700 fonts, and we add new fonts as required for our projects. Some publishers supply their custom fonts for their logos or other special needs.
Communication

For our freelance network to combine its low cost of operation with the speed and efficiency required for book production, each freelancer is connected to the project and the rest of the team in multiple ways. With most of us located in the San Francisco Bay Area, a quick car trip is not out of the question. But usually we move packages using couriers and overnight delivery. A job is always within 12 hours of its next stage, and by careful project management and scheduling, no one is without something to work on for more than a short time. Increasingly we move projects electronically from stage to stage in minutes rather than overnight. Many steps of a job now move entirely by email and fax, with editors often working entirely on-line. These are some of the ways we keep our projects moving along

Composition & Graphics

February 18, 2011 publishing
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No matter how limited a job we undertake, it nearly always includes composing the manuscript into camera-ready pages. Both type and graphics are placed on the printed page proof. While authors and technical editors may capture computer screen shots for the figures in a book, the compositor is often responsible for processing the final graphics, line art, and screen shots. Sometimes an illustrator is brought on for special line art or cover designs. We produce black-and-white, spot-colour, and four-colour process books, and even high-fidelity colour (using up to seven process colours) is possible.
Proofreading

Page layout requires proofreading. While clients can do their own proofreading, tight schedules usually require that the page compositor works closely with one of our proofreaders. While the client and author review the page proofs for accuracy of content, the proofreader is skilled in the quality details of the book: its spelling, grammar, and adherence to the design specifications. We take proofreading very seriously: Nothing can be more distracting to the reader and embarrassing to the client than a book riddled with typographical errors, missing or mislabelled figures, or cross references and index entries pointing to the wrong pages. The proofreader is the book’s last defence against serious, even costly errors.
Indexing

A good technical book deserves a good index. A professional indexer makes the book a true reference by ensuring the reader can find the information he or she seeks. The quality of a book’s index is often examined by book reviewers and can affect its overall ranking. It is also possible to have the author create the index, sometimes by keying index terms into the manuscript while writing. This index can be used as the final one or as an aid to a professional indexer’s thorough reading of the book.
Translation and Localization

Computer software, hardware, and documentation are increasingly global commodities. Both computer companies and book publishers want to penetrate the international market. Localization is the preferred term to translation, because it emphasizes bringing a product into the milieu of a foreign culture, not just providing a literal translation. This requires a quality linguistic and technical translation of the book, art labels and captions, menus, and help files. We offer localization as an adjunct to our book composition services, depending on the availability of translators for the language required. We specialize in English, Japanese, Spanish, and German localization.
Electronic Media

Book publishing is quickly expanding to include the production of electronic versions for publishing on CD-ROMs, corporate intra-nets, and the Internet. New software tools are expediting the process by enabling us to convert the print publication to an electronic format without having to recreate it from scratch. This reduces costs and permits nearly simultaneous production of both the print and electronic versions.
Every Project is Unique

While we’ve described our services as simply as possible, we realize that each client and project is unique, and we’re eager to tailor our services to the needs of the publisher.

Services

February 18, 2011 services
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Services

We can produce one phase of a publishing project or carry it from developmental edit through final film. Here are the range of services we currently provide:
Project Management

The project manager is the client’s contact person for the job and supervises the freelance team. On small jobs project management may be performed by one of the production team, but on a large job with many facets the project manager is a dedicated team leader who oversees the quality of each team member’s work, ensures the production schedule is met, develops the project budget, coordinates communications among the client and the production team, and maintains a smooth workflow.
Developmental, Technical, and Copy Editing

We offer three tiers of editing service. Often our clients perform their own developmental editing by working with the author until the manuscript is ready for our production team. More frequently we are involved in technical editing, in which an editor with relevant computer expertise works through the entire manuscript, checking that the text is clear and accurate. Procedures within the book are checked step by step against the actual software or hardware being written about, in order to ensure the book’s accuracy. Figures for the book are checked and labels are added for clarity. Technical issues of graphics formats, colour, and scaling are addressed. The technical editor works closely with the author to resolve ambiguities in the text, utilizing email and fax to keep the project moving.

After the technical edit, the grammatical and stylistic consistency of the book is handled by the copyeditor. Some of our clients have their own in-house style guides which they supply to us, or our editors use their experience with computer terminology and style to ensure a consistent and professional manuscript.
Accuracy Checking and Technical Review

Depending on the project and the client, technical review and accuracy checking may supplement or replace a technical edit. Accuracy checking is a more limited form of a technical edit. The book is read and every procedure and topic of the book is worked out on a computer running the software program being covered. Any discrepancies between the actual product and the book’s discussion are noted and referred back to the author for correction. Checking computer software is particularly important, because the features of a program may change right up to the release date, which is also when the documentation or supporting trade books are often expected to be ready.

A technical review can vary from being a full-blown technical edit to a broad read-through of the manuscript designed to give the author or publisher feedback on whether the book adequately serves its intended audience, both in tone and content.
Book Design

The book design often arrives from the publisher with the project, especially if the book is part of an existing series. In these cases we implement the design in the layout phase of the project. On other projects we employ a graphic designer to work with the client to develop the visual style of a book or book series. Technical designs must be functional as well as attractive, and they should be efficient to implement in a fast-paced production environment.

publishing

February 18, 2011 publishing
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a consortium of experienced freelance publishing professionals who offer their skills to computer companies and computer book publishers to produce trade books, textbooks, and computer documentation. Our experience covers all facets of computer book production: editing, design, layout, proofreading, indexing, and language localization. We may be hired to perform all facets of a publishing project, or just the services the client needs.

Our clients are nationally recognized book publishers and computer companies who hire us when their in-house staff are too busy on other projects, when our production experience is needed, or when we can produce the job more quickly or inexpensively.

While it is a sole proprietorship registered in California, we describe ourselves as a consortium because we comprise an experienced team of freelance professionals who work from our own offices in close coordination to produce quality publications. Our core group of professionals have each worked for more than a decade in the computer publishing field and produced scores of books; collectively we’ve produced hundreds of books amounting to tens of thousands of pages.

We work for a national clientele with our core staff located in the San Francisco Bay Area where we take full advantage of San Francisco’s publishing professionals and the Silicon Valley’s technical experts. Additional staff is drawn from around the country, and abroad, as needed.

Our freelancers are skilled in the best software and hardware tools of the trade, and unlike businesses facing the costs and burdens of upgrading thousands of computer stations, our freelancers can quickly adopt the latest stable release of a desktop publishing or graphics program and run it on a state-of-the art machine.

We do away with office overhead, fixed salaries, commuting downtime, and narrow nine-to-five workdays by distributing the job to freelancers working longer hours more efficiently from their own offices. However, the client always has a single contact person for the job, the project manager. The project manager coordinates the work of team members, overseeing its quality and  making sure the project schedule is maintained. Any part of a job is within a day’s delivery to the client or another team member via overnight messenger, and increasingly the virtual job moves from stage to stage by email and fax within just minutes.

Our goal is to produce a quality job at a reasonable cost while achieving the tight deadlines typical in the computer publishing field. We are pleasant to work with, we are professional, and we take pride in our work.