Re: Writing a Novel with LyX? (now off topic)
On 22 Mar 2003, Ronald Florence wrote:
Todd Flaming [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
The trade publishers frequently
do a very nice job of editing and typesetting a book. But if you can hire
a good editor and do the typesetting youself, you probably will do just as
well self-publishing. Big publishing houses expect you to promote your own
book, except in rare circumstances. They'll do some work, but not enough.
I don't know what experience you've had with trade publishing houses,
but the comments above are misleading or downright wrong. Trade
publishers have resources, access to distribution channels, and PR
capabilities that dwarf self-publishing. For works that are not
appropriate to trade, technical, or university presses -- which alas,
is an increasingly large segment of books today -- self-publishing may
be effective alternative to not getting published. But despite the
do-it-yourself guides that tell you can match the resources and
distribution of a Random House, Knopf, or St. Martins -- it just ain't
so!
Your comments on using LyX for self-published manuscripts seem very
apt.
I didn't mean to offend or suggest that the large publishing houses are a
bad place to be. My works would have much more limited distribution than
yours apparently have. And I should have stated I have no direct
experience with large publishers, only what I've heard second-hand from other
authors. So take my comment with a glass of salt.
But now I'm curious -- you say the publishing houses have a lot of
resources for promoting and distributing a book. Do they use them? What
kind of numbers of copies (broad ranges) can you expect for non-fiction
material otherwise appropriate for a university press? I don't mean to get
off topic. If you are inclined to discuss, please e-mail me directly.
Back on topic - I realized a limitation of my solution to the *** section
break. I looked at a model book (yes, put out by a major publisher) and
noticed that section breaks with blank pages (or *** between them) are
followed by paragraphs that have a first line flush left. But with my
solution, the next paragraph is just an ordinary one, so it has an indent.
Here's a fix: create a new section* (not the numbered one) and use the
ERT for the text of that section. Only use this one instead, to make the
font smaller:
\makebox[\textwidth][c]{\small* * *}
That should work. Then you'll have a logical section break, divided as you
want it to be.
Todd Flaming
Re: Writing a Novel with LyX? (now off topic)
On 22 Mar 2003, Ronald Florence wrote:
Todd Flaming [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
The trade publishers frequently
do a very nice job of editing and typesetting a book. But if you can hire
a good editor and do the typesetting youself, you probably will do just as
well self-publishing. Big publishing houses expect you to promote your own
book, except in rare circumstances. They'll do some work, but not enough.
I don't know what experience you've had with trade publishing houses,
but the comments above are misleading or downright wrong. Trade
publishers have resources, access to distribution channels, and PR
capabilities that dwarf self-publishing. For works that are not
appropriate to trade, technical, or university presses -- which alas,
is an increasingly large segment of books today -- self-publishing may
be effective alternative to not getting published. But despite the
do-it-yourself guides that tell you can match the resources and
distribution of a Random House, Knopf, or St. Martins -- it just ain't
so!
Your comments on using LyX for self-published manuscripts seem very
apt.
I didn't mean to offend or suggest that the large publishing houses are a
bad place to be. My works would have much more limited distribution than
yours apparently have. And I should have stated I have no direct
experience with large publishers, only what I've heard second-hand from other
authors. So take my comment with a glass of salt.
But now I'm curious -- you say the publishing houses have a lot of
resources for promoting and distributing a book. Do they use them? What
kind of numbers of copies (broad ranges) can you expect for non-fiction
material otherwise appropriate for a university press? I don't mean to get
off topic. If you are inclined to discuss, please e-mail me directly.
Back on topic - I realized a limitation of my solution to the *** section
break. I looked at a model book (yes, put out by a major publisher) and
noticed that section breaks with blank pages (or *** between them) are
followed by paragraphs that have a first line flush left. But with my
solution, the next paragraph is just an ordinary one, so it has an indent.
Here's a fix: create a new section* (not the numbered one) and use the
ERT for the text of that section. Only use this one instead, to make the
font smaller:
\makebox[\textwidth][c]{\small* * *}
That should work. Then you'll have a logical section break, divided as you
want it to be.
Todd Flaming
Re: Writing a Novel with LyX? (now off topic)
On 22 Mar 2003, Ronald Florence wrote:
> Todd Flaming <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > The trade publishers frequently
> > do a very nice job of editing and typesetting a book. But if you can hire
> > a good editor and do the typesetting youself, you probably will do just as
> > well self-publishing. Big publishing houses expect you to promote your own
> > book, except in rare circumstances. They'll do some work, but not enough.
>
> I don't know what experience you've had with trade publishing houses,
> but the comments above are misleading or downright wrong. Trade
> publishers have resources, access to distribution channels, and PR
> capabilities that dwarf self-publishing. For works that are not
> appropriate to trade, technical, or university presses -- which alas,
> is an increasingly large segment of books today -- self-publishing may
> be effective alternative to not getting published. But despite the
> do-it-yourself guides that tell you can match the resources and
> distribution of a Random House, Knopf, or St. Martins -- it just ain't
> so!
>
> Your comments on using LyX for self-published manuscripts seem very
> apt.
I didn't mean to offend or suggest that the large publishing houses are a
bad place to be. My works would have much more limited distribution than
yours apparently have. And I should have stated I have no direct
experience with large publishers, only what I've heard second-hand from other
authors. So take my comment with a glass of salt.
But now I'm curious -- you say the publishing houses have a lot of
resources for promoting and distributing a book. Do they use them? What
kind of numbers of copies (broad ranges) can you expect for non-fiction
material otherwise appropriate for a university press? I don't mean to get
off topic. If you are inclined to discuss, please e-mail me directly.
Back on topic - I realized a limitation of my solution to the *** section
break. I looked at a model book (yes, put out by a major publisher) and
noticed that section breaks with blank pages (or *** between them) are
followed by paragraphs that have a first line flush left. But with my
solution, the next paragraph is just an ordinary one, so it has an indent.
Here's a fix: create a new section* (not the numbered one) and use the
ERT for the text of that section. Only use this one instead, to make the
font smaller:
\makebox[\textwidth][c]{\small* * *}
That should work. Then you'll have a logical section break, divided as you
want it to be.
Todd Flaming
