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How did she do it? Part 3 …The fun begins
With arms wide open and a massive grin this lovely widow exclaimed! “I can’t believe it! Do you really mean that the whole book is now in one place?” As I confirmed that yes it was now in digital form, suddenly she looked very sheepish. “Oh dear what I have I done?” She said forlornly. “You see there is much to be edited by
me and others to make this book really special.”
Immediately I consoled her by explaining that this is not a problem. By having transferred the whole book onto Google Docs. anyone she chose could help edit the same document. There is no need to concern oneself with attachments to be forwarded, which can so easily spiral out of control and create tensions and mistakes. THIS document will continue to evolve as the one and only document and yet all editing can be tracked. Most word processors don’t allow sharing of work BUT we are about to do just that.
Google Docs is more than letters and words. It brings your documents to life and it’s FREE and works on all computers, tablets and smartphones.
This is when all the fun began!
With all the chapters in a safe place. The invitation for us both to work on the book went out so we could both make changes if needed. Now all her effort had to go into reading it word for word to make certain it was all as she wanted because there was no going back after it was printed. Enthusiastically she informed me, it was so much more comfortable to read, and if necessary edit, everything on her iPad in the comfort of an armchair instead of being sat in her cold little study.
“Ah pictures – I have a great friend who is an artist. I must send it to her!!
Believe it or not, this nonagenarian read the whole manuscript in no time flat and immediately started to draw pictures bringing fantastic images to the words! Who says life begins at 40?
Amateur authors are easily tempted to type away at their computer without a thought to the final product they want. This happened to us! Many a headache was endured as to where exactly each picture should be included and on which side of a page etc. Finally the expertise of a couple of printing companies
Having browsed many a bookshelf we decided upon A5. Margins needed adjusting and that in itself changed the format! We started to get very excited! Then a little voice said there is more to do yet!