New Upton & Sons Book

Posted on 8 October 2010 by Jonna

This week we received printer’s proofs for a new book, First to Arrive on Custer’s Battlefield with the Montana Column. We edited this book as well as did the design and production. The work is based on the life of Frederick E. Server, great-grandfather of the author, Rickard A. Ross. Server was the first of his family to settle in Montana, which became his home after serving there with the Second U.S. Cavalry. Server started a generation of Montana pioneers, which brought this work to life. Ross dedicated the book to the “descendants of Montana Pioneers and those who continue to make the Big Sky Country their home.” While copy-editing the book, I recognized areas the author described in Montana, most of which I had been to on my seventh-grade Montana history trip. One such place was the Little Bighorn Battlefield, where I distinctly recall being extremely cold from the frigid gusts of wind we couldn’t shelter from. But when you’re in seventh grade, wearing a coat just isn’t cool, so I continued to shiver without thoughts of putting on a jacket.

En Dash versus Em Dash

I helped edit the beginning of this book last spring. For me, the main focus of this project was learning what an em dash versus an en dash is and when to use them. When you see a dash in text, you recognize it, know that it needs to be there for literary purposes, and you move on. Not in this case. Have you ever noticed that some dashes are longer than others? I hadn’t, but now I can certainly find a difference between them. When using the the en dash with numbers, the dash means ‘up to and including’ unless the number range doesn’t have a definite ending. Also, the en dash is preferred as a minus sign when typing mathematically and in scientific writing. However, writers are cautioned by the Chicago Manual of Style to use this form of dash sparingly for its lack of elegance. This is a normal dash or hyphen: – This is an en dash: – See the difference? The en dash is approximately the width of an N and slightly longer than a hyphen. It can be used in place of the word ‘to’ or in an open compound. Example: 2010–2011 or post–Civil War. In order to make an en dash, hold down the ALT or option key while pressing the hyphen key. This is an em dash: — An em dash is the width of an M. An em dash may replace a comma, semicolon, colon, or parenthesis. This type of dash is more common. The em dash adds emphasis or signals an interruption or change of thought. Example: Please read this blog—or don’t—but I’d love if you did. To make an em dash, hold shift, option, hyphen or hold ALT while typing 0151.

Consistency

Consistency was a huge lesson in this text as well. I learned that you can put just the last name of the person whom you are referring to after originally introducing them. You have probably noticed this style in newspaper articles. For example, after saying ‘Frederick E. Server’ once, you can simply write ‘Server’ in the following lines. Also, if there is a title to the name, like lieutenant, that only needs to be mentioned initially as well.

More Info

The book will be available this fall in trade and limited editions. If you wish to purchase a copy, check out Upton and Sons Publishers and Booksellers at: shop.uptonbooks.com. Next week I am hoping to conduct an interview with the Uptons and post the results!

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The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Collection

Posted on 4 October 2010 by ariane

Dead Sea. Man with book and sunshade floating to show bouyancy {i.e., buoyancy}. From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection, LC-DIG-matpc-2318.

When I was the editor of Overland Journal, I often needed high-quality images to illustrate articles, but I did not have a large budget for reproductions and use fees, which can add up quickly. Enter the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Collection: an incredible catalogue of digitized images, many of them at a high (printable) resolution that often have no restrictions on use. I’ve spent more hours than I should admit clicking through grids of photos, looking for just the right one to accompany an article or capture the essence of a book. Just today, looking for some inspiration, I happened across this image of a man floating in the Dead Sea. I love the color of the water; it’s very close to the dark aqua-peacock that I used on my new letterhead and business cards (to be delivered Friday!).

This image is available as two small .jpgs or as a 50.9MB (!) .tif. My friends, that size of image is a dream for designing a dust jacket or book cover: it can be run at over 17 by 12 inches, which gives a designer so much flexibility in a layout. Rather than just having it in a square on the bottom half of the cover under the title, the image can bleed off both edges of the cover, onto the front flap and over the spine and onto the back cover. The resolution and size are big enough that you can zoom in on the kooky man with the umbrella, or you can leave it as is with the mountains in the background (though I’d straighten out the line where the lake meets the mountains. Bob Clark has made me keen to notice those slanting horizons.).

In a later post, I’ll show a dust jacket from a couple of years ago that uses an image from the LOC’s photo collection. In the meantime, here’s a link to some photos of the glorious American West from the late nineteenth century: Framing the West.

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Introduction

Posted on 4 October 2010 by Jonna

I’m Jonna, and this is my second year at Capital A. Some of the topics that we will write about on this site: Projects past and present, editing topics, book design topics, history topics, people who we work with. Currently a sophomore at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, I left my home in Montana to further my education in what feels to me an expansive city at this university of my choice. The mountainous, rugged security I have known for so long is constantly on my mind, yet I continue to discover the love of learning, in school and beyond, and that keeps me occupied.

As a journalism major, I started my journey at Capital A Publications last fall during my first year in college. Sipping steamy, spiced tea in a cozy workplace deprived me of the homesick emotions many of my fellow freshmen experienced their first year away from home. Class requirements for graduation often hinder a student from delving into their declared major immediately. I however was able to discover more thoroughly what I had claimed to be my potential career as I received complete, one-on-one instruction pertaining to the business of ‘exceptional editing and beautiful book design’ as quoted from Capital A’s new letterhead and website. The expansion of my knowledge about the programs used in the editing and design world has thus far proved useful in all my journalism classes. Copy editing has provided me with distinct confidence in style as I write articles for the university’s weekly newspaper The Bulletin.

Banishing all thought of the predicted harsh winter, the sun has remained a friend in the basement window of our work area as I begin a new season at Capital A Publications. After a four-month summer break, nerves intervene with my confidence pertaining to information I have retained for the job, and what has flown from my mind. Although I know Ariane’s patience is a virtue I can count on as I delve into any projects she pushes my direction, my competitive, determined self is depending on memory to pull through.

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