Monday 28 September 2015

US Feedback for my Sketching Book



While I was away having my adventures in Denver, my Sketching People book went off to our US publisher, Barron's, for a pre-publication evaluation. It's standard procedure apparently. They have a list of questions they check against, to decide if they think the book needs any changes before they publish it in the States. 


The check-points cover quite fundamental quality issues. They include questions like:
Is the writing style, reading level, interest level, and level of detail appropriate for the intended audience?
What is the general quality of scholarship and accuracy of the text? 
Is the coverage of topics thorough and well balanced?

Under each question, the evaluator at Barron's writes a paragraph or two of feedback, before sending the report back to Quarto in the UK. Any problems then come back to me, via my editor, and changes need to be made to fit in with their requirements. 


I got the email this morning from my editor at Quarto. She was so delighted, she sent me a copy of the Barron's evaluation report. 


Turns out, they loved it. We passed with flying colours - no changes at all. The opinion was that everything was extremely clear, without being overly technical and that I had done 'an excellent job of offering many different approaches and techniques' with 'exactly the details that will help and inspire readers to draw people in urban settings', covering my subject 'well and completely'. 


They believe my audience will be find it a 'lively and colourful read'. Best of all was in the summing up at the end, where it says: 'I am ...very familiar with all of the books about onsite drawing that have been published in recent years. "Sketching People" is one of the best books on the subject of urban sketching that I have seen... I am sure (it) will be popular and will sell well.'


That's such a wonderful vote of confidence, especially from somebody as all-powerful and in-the-know as Barron's. Let's hope that you guys, my 'gentle readers' think the same.

The only bit of bad news is that, because Quarto got very behind with things, they have changed the publication date. Instead of being ready in time for Christmas, Sketching People is now not going to appear until around February. Oh well, something to brighten those long, winter evenings...

17 comments:

Capt Elaine Magliacane said...

Oh NO... I have to wait until 2016... so it'll be off the Christmas wish list and on the birthday list (my birthday is in March)... Congratulations on the great reviews... had to make your day :-)

Prithi said...

Eagerly looking forward to your book ! Hope it will be available in India too
Prithi Amarnath

Lynne the Pencil said...

Thanks Elaine. Yep, a grin on my face....
Prithi - Sorry but there is no India co-edition as yet. You can order either the UK or US version on Amazon as soo as it's out.

Anonymous said...

Contrats! I looking forward to reading it.

Making A Mark said...

Great news Lynne!

bosveldr said...

Fantastic! Looking forward to it.

Alison Ogle said...

That's fantastic feedback Lynne, I bet you are floating on clouds of joy after that - Proper validation from a respected source Woo Hoo!! I am delighted for you and really looking forward to the book now :)

Don McNulty said...

Looking forward to it. Gentle reader and boisterous fan, Don

Anonymous said...

Where will we be able to buy it?

Unknown said...

Great News Lynne can't wait to see it. Exciting!

Monica said...

A great success and I am sure it will be first class.

Melisa said...

Just in time for my February birthday, then. I've added it to my Amazon alerts so I'll know when they get it.

Lynne the Pencil said...

Thanks all - hope I can live up to the hype :-D
Just so you are aware, there are two versions - a UK and a US edition.

lewerentz said...

Good news. But, just to be sure : is it correct that your book isn't published in the UK yet, is it ? Because I really want to buy it !

Lynne the Pencil said...

Both editions are due towards the end of February. No actual date is available yet. That's Quarto's best guess. I'll keep everyone posted here. It will be available via all bookshops in the UK and US and using Amazon too of course.

Hopeful of other foreign language coeditions to follow on. Again, I will tell you all news as I know on this blog (and Facebook).
Thanks so much for your support and good wishes, gentle readers (and boisterous fans) :-D

Unknown said...

More of a boisterous fan. What a fantastic compliment. I'm looking forward to getting my copy next year. Lynne thanks so much for taking us through the process of all your interesting projects. It is fascinating to read how the publishing world works.

ANNE E said...

Wonderful book for teaching because its all sketches love the kids thanks for share it capstone research paper .