I wrote a book entitled 'Differential Diagnosis and Management Options in Obstetrics and Gynecology' a few years ago. Its two editions were sold out. Then the publisher did something funny. He did not reprint it, nor did he ask me to revise it. After 2.5 years, I thought it was time to revise the book. So I asked him, and came to know all this. The publishing house was quite big, and every time I communicated with it, there would be a new manager who talked to me. There was no explanation why this had been done. They had also printed my last edition on such horrible paper, like one used by tabloids, that it turned yellow after some time, and orange after a few years. They had no explanation for that too. They had no remedy for the loss of goodwill of the book and financial loss to me. I was unhappy with the publisher and decided to change him.
He gave me the publishing rights quite amicably. I think he was just not interested in publishing books any more. I revised the book. It was different from conventional books. It was in landscape mode. Each chapter was covered in just two pages facing each other. There would be an algorithm (flow-chart) on the page on the right side, and explanation of the algorithm on the page on the left side. A reader had to hold the book open, and read the pages alternately to understand the contents. Unfortunately a few algorithms got so big, that they encroached on the lower margin.
"See if the printed pages will look OK" I told my new publisher. He asked his printer to check it. Then he got back to me.
"The printer has three novel solutions to the problem" he said.
"What are they?" I asked disbelievingly. I could not find a single solution to it, and this person had three!
"The first is to remove some parts of the bigger flow-charts" he said.
"No. We cannot remove any matter" I said. "The stuff would not make any sense if we removed any matter from it."
"The second solution is to make the font smaller for those pages" he said. "It will be a reduction. You understand reduction?" he asked me, thinking reduction was a very technical term used by printers.
"I understand 'reduction' I said. I have been reading and writing in English for ages. I have written 21 books so far, all in English. We cannot reduce the font. I have used 10, and any smaller will not be readable easily."
"OK. The third solution is really novel. The printer says the book should open up and down instead of side to side. The spine of the book will be transverse, not the usual longitudinal." He meant like a laptop, I thought. For those of you who cannot visualize this idea, here is an illustration I whipped up.
A is the one he had suggested, while B is the way my book was to be.
"We cannot do it" I said. "It will still put matter in the lower margin. The other reason is that God has made our hands one on each side of the body. So it is comfortable to hold the book open sideways. To hold it open in up and down position will strain the hands and cause fatigue. A laptop remains open by itself, while a book won't."
"So what can we do?" he asked.
"Either we print it as it is, or we just put it in electronic format. to be read on laptops, tablets and smart phones."
I cannot sell eBooks" he said unhappily.
"OK. Then I will give it free to whoever wants it" I said.
He gave me the publishing rights quite amicably. I think he was just not interested in publishing books any more. I revised the book. It was different from conventional books. It was in landscape mode. Each chapter was covered in just two pages facing each other. There would be an algorithm (flow-chart) on the page on the right side, and explanation of the algorithm on the page on the left side. A reader had to hold the book open, and read the pages alternately to understand the contents. Unfortunately a few algorithms got so big, that they encroached on the lower margin.
"See if the printed pages will look OK" I told my new publisher. He asked his printer to check it. Then he got back to me.
"The printer has three novel solutions to the problem" he said.
"What are they?" I asked disbelievingly. I could not find a single solution to it, and this person had three!
"The first is to remove some parts of the bigger flow-charts" he said.
"No. We cannot remove any matter" I said. "The stuff would not make any sense if we removed any matter from it."
"The second solution is to make the font smaller for those pages" he said. "It will be a reduction. You understand reduction?" he asked me, thinking reduction was a very technical term used by printers.
"I understand 'reduction' I said. I have been reading and writing in English for ages. I have written 21 books so far, all in English. We cannot reduce the font. I have used 10, and any smaller will not be readable easily."
"OK. The third solution is really novel. The printer says the book should open up and down instead of side to side. The spine of the book will be transverse, not the usual longitudinal." He meant like a laptop, I thought. For those of you who cannot visualize this idea, here is an illustration I whipped up.
"We cannot do it" I said. "It will still put matter in the lower margin. The other reason is that God has made our hands one on each side of the body. So it is comfortable to hold the book open sideways. To hold it open in up and down position will strain the hands and cause fatigue. A laptop remains open by itself, while a book won't."
"So what can we do?" he asked.
"Either we print it as it is, or we just put it in electronic format. to be read on laptops, tablets and smart phones."
I cannot sell eBooks" he said unhappily.
"OK. Then I will give it free to whoever wants it" I said.
