We’re headed for Bayfield, Wisconsin for a much-needed vacation in Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands. You won’t see any more posts here until we return. Then, refreshed, we’ll turn our attention to preparing for the book’s release and the Release Party from 2-5 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Feasting Fox, 4200 S. Grand in St. Louis.Continue reading “7/27/2012 Time off”
With the book finished, I’m turning my efforts towards promotion. Today I went with videographer David Ayres to G.&W. Bavarian Style Sausage Company in South St. Louis to shoot more of the promotional video for the book. G&W represents the “Brats” in the name of the book. I spoke in front of the camera inContinue reading “7/21/2012 Back to the video”
I did some cleanup tonight that really marks the end of writing Beer, Brats, and Baseball: St. Louis Germans. Matt Heidenry, my editor, sent me back a PDF of the book after he inserted the corrections I made in the proofs. I went over them to make sure everything was done right. There were onlyContinue reading “7/19/2012 Some final sweeping up”
Lorraine and I finished proofing the manuscript tonight. That could mean the book’s done, although Matt Heidenry’s given us the option of checking a new PDF for tiny mistakes during his vacation next week. There are only a handful left, if any. Now it’s on to the next phase, which is promotion. So tell me,Continue reading “7/17/2012 Finished. Done. Finito. Fertig. Race over.”
We’ve had my manuscript under a microscope for about six week. Five sets of eyes have looked at it, some repeatedly. Tomorrow night we’ll finish. The next day, Lorraine will take it to Matt Heidenry. He’ll send back a PDF so we can still check for very minor stuff the next week, while he’s on vacation.Continue reading “7/16/2012 Almost done”
Today I met UMSL History Professor Steven Rowan for the fourth time for coffee at Northwest Coffee in Clayton. Steve’s one of the foremost experts on Germans in St. Louis and has written, translated and edited numerous books on the subject. From the beginning, he’s been generous with his time and a wonderful source. SteveContinue reading “7/14/2012 9 p.m. Coffee with a professor”
Lorraine and I talked about watching a movie tonight. But then we picked up our copies of the book and proofed, proofed, proofed. Time after time, she found things wrong where I thought there was nothing wrong. With her help, maybe it’ll be absolutely clean by the time we end our proofing Tuesday night.
Had a treat tonight. I attended this month’s meeting of the German Special Interest Group of the St. Louis Genealogical Society. Gerald Perschbacher, a founder of the group, introduced me and said some very kind words about me and my book. He was a very big help. I also saw the final, final cover. ItContinue reading “7/11/2012 A stop at G-SIG”
In a week, I’ll turn in the final proofs. It’s been more than a year since I first started. The book looks good. In a little over six weeks, it’ll be out. I’ll have my release party from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, at the Feasting Fox Restaurant, 4200 S. Grand Blvd. in St. Louis.Continue reading “7/10/2011 Coming close”
Yesterday I dropped the last of the first round of proofs off to my editor, Matt Heidenry. We talked about a number of things we had to do before the final product is etched in stone around July 18. That includes one more readthrough and some possible minor changes on the cover. It also may includeContinue reading “7/4/2012 10:44 a.m. A patriotic note”
Jim Merkel the Writer 