This week I received the 'first pages' of my new book, Running with Pirates, a memoir about fatherhood set on the Greek island of Corfu that will be published in August.
The term 'first pages' refers to the first iteration of typeset pages that are printed out as proofs of a book and then marked up with any final changes that need to be made. The first pages can also be used for the advanced reading copies that are sent out to reviewers, booksellers, and other industry partners who need to read the book, albeit in its 'uncorrected' form, well ahead of the actual publication date. This is because reviews tend to come out at around the same time as the book's publication date.
For an author, I think there's a special quality about these pages, because they represent another first: the moment when the book takes a physical appearance that isn't of one's own making. In other words, the text takes a step beyond the laptop, the study, and the many earlier drafts, and begins to look like an actual book, which partly means something that doesn't belong entirely to me anymore.
This is a kind of first farewell to the work, as well as an initial meeting with how it could be shaping up for others.
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| Arillas beach, Corfu |
