The Big Book

I received a proof copy of the hardcover edition of DONZALO’S DESTINY yesterday and it all looked pretty good. Not fond of the default typeface used on the inside ‘linen’ cover but otherwise nothing to complain about. And, after all, I designed everything else!

So I went ahead with a paperback version. The proof for that should be on the way shortly and then it can be distributed pretty much everywhere (the hardcover is only available direct from Arachis Press and can be purchased now). These are pretty big books, coming out to 716 pages, 205,000 words.

Perhaps I could have reduced the font size by a point but I found other ways to slightly reduce the length — otherwise it would not have fitted the printer’s 740 page maximum! Reduced the margins just a teensy, did not use separate title pages for each ‘book.’ Yes, book, for this volume included all four of the previously published Donzalo novels: THE SONG OF THE SWORD, THE SHADOW OF ASAK, THE SIGH OF THE ARROW, and THE HAND OF THE SORCERER.

I thought a year ago that I would not be able to do this. My attempts to combine all four into one great unwieldy file were inclined to bog down — to some degree I would blame that on my slow hard drive (which also makes it difficult to do much music recording on my ‘office’ computer). I found, though, that it worked better when I did that much-maligned upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. The newer OS has been better for me in almost every way. I also went with keeping the file on a separate (but not faster) drive. Anyway, I got it to work.

Note that DONZALO’S DESTINY really is one novel that was broken down into manageable chunks for publication. The original four books will continue to be available separately, both in print and as ebooks. I did note enough little typos and such (the great bulk of them in the first book, THE SONG OF THE SWORD) to warrant putting out new editions, when I can get around to it. Next year, most likely.

And eventually, a semi-sequel will appear. Lot of other writing projects before then, however. I’d best get busy on them!