Making a Book

Now that Life in Tangles is available for purchase I have had several people ask me how much work it takes to make a book like this. Let me tell you - it takes a lot! Many hours, many pens, ideas, people, Tylenol, Prilosec, jelly bellies, M&Ms, hahahaha! Patience. It takes a lot! And along the way I took a few photographs.

I began back in March. That is when COVID came to our little part of Maine. That is when Mark and I went into lockdown in our log home and took refuge from the rest of the world. And I brought out a new book I had worked a bit on from time to time, thinking that was the perfect time to finish it. But I just couldn't get into it and put that book aside. But I did like the patterns I had made for it, so I moved those into a new file (box) and started building a new idea. I talked with Sandra Strait and Christine Reyes and started to move ahead with a second book of tangles. I began with us three and started drawing each individual step of each pattern on little 2" square bits of paper. Every pattern has its own envelope which houses the single steps, each drawn on its own piece of paper. 

Hahnemühle donated Harmony Hot Pressed watercolor paper - I like working on its smooth surface - and I cut it down into 2" squares. After awhile I decided to involve my FB group Tangle All Around. I posted in the group that I was looking for tangles for a new book and my members started sending them to me a little at a time. And I started filling boxes with envelopes full of step outs. 

I accepted patterns until October. And all along I was busy drawing step out squares. By time I totally cut off admissions in November I had a total of 504 patterns. Figure an average of 5 steps per tangle (they had anywhere from 2 - 10 steps each) and I had roughly 2,520 little bits of paper that I had drawn on and needed to clean up for the book. 

You can just imagine what it took to keep track of all the patterns and make sure not a single one got left out. I had two separate files to track the 92 contributors and make sure I got their information correct. List of tangles? I had four different files going to cross-reference and make sure I kept those straight. (I hope I didn't leave any out. If I did - please forgive me.) Category lists - I had at least two, maybe three of those going. And it took several pens to do all the drawing and art. 

Early November I began scanning the little bits of paper and getting them onto my computer. 

This was probably the easiest step of the whole process. It took me 15 hours of scanning to get all the patterns transferred to my computer. 

15 hours and probably 5 or 6 Tylenol. Hahahaha! But I finally got them all scanned in and moved on to cleaning them up. 

Photoshop is my friend. Hahahaha! I learned enough about photoshop back when I was doing photography work to be dangerous. Every one of those little squares - all 2,520-ish - had to be edited and saved and put into its own folder by the pattern name. And I watched the entire 5 seasons of Stargate Atlantis while I did that. You can see one of my checklists to the right, so I could check off each pattern as it was edited. 

I think I spent a couple weeks doing that. And then I was ready to start building the book. I self-publish though Kindle and they want the book all ready and print-worthy when they receive it. Three years ago when I decided to start making my own books, Ina told me about Quark. It is the program she was using to build books so I knew it worked. And that is what I put on my computer to do my own books. And I build the book page by page. Christine helps me with questions. And I am proud to say I did not have to bother her for this book - other than the name. Christine is a genius with book names. We talked about COVID and people being locked down and depressed and stressed out and Christine gave me some name suggestions based on that idea. When I saw 'Life in Tangles', I knew it was the perfect fit. 

Every one of those little squares had to be added one at a time to the page. It took me a total of around 120 hours to add everything into the book. Mark was out of town for most of it, so the cat, the dog and I spent a lot of time in my office working. Well, me working, them sleeping. And the dog whining about food. Here you can see several of my checklists I used to keep everything straight. My worst nightmare being attributing someone's pattern to the wrong person. 

By this point I pretty much had the patterns and designers memorized. Except where each person lived. And I learned a lot about the United Kingdom and all the places that comprise it. And what doesn't. Eighteen countries and  twenty-five different U.S. states are represented.  Once everything I wanted to include was in - I proofread the entire book four times. And made a cover. Then sat down with the Kindle website, uploaded the whole book as a pdf and waited to see if they would accept it. That was two nights ago. 

By the next morning - yesterday - Life in Tangles had gone live on Amazon. By the end of yesterday the book was available worldwide on all of the Amazon sites except India and Australia. AND . . .  drum roll!!! Life in Tangles debuted as the #1 Hot New Release on the U.S. Amazon site and . . . 

. . . the #1 Best Seller on the Canadian site. Blessing upon blessing. This is more than likely my last book. I am running out of ideas. And I would like some time to make art for . . . me. And to finish up some classes I purchased along the way and never had the time to do. And I have a new gelli plate calling my name. You know how I can be with a gelli plate. Hahahahaha! And color! 

A big thank you to all 92 artists who shared their tangles with me. This book would have taken so much longer without you. And I am so proud to say every artist participant is a member of Tangle All Around, my FB group. Need a tangly place to hang out? Just click here and I will let you in. Want to purchase a copy (or two, or three, think Christmas gifts)? Just click here for the American site. If you search for the book, I am finding you have to include the book title AND my name or they can't seem to locate it. So, Life in Tangles Alice Hendon for a search. And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has already purchased the book. Thank you for supporting our art and my book series! You are the absolute best!

Harmony Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper from Hahnemühle can be purchased here