Update on Gerard’s book
I’m getting closer and closer to the time when I’ll be able to announce that the book is for sale. Yeah, I know, you’ve heard it all before. But it’s really true. All the editing is done. I’ve gotten the blurbs from a few other writers. I have a book cover design.
Lately, though, it’s been taking more time than I thought it would to create a website for selling the book. It’s a different skill from creating a blog, something I’ve done several times before. I thought “piece of cake,” but instead it’s been a rather tough bit of beef jerky. But I’m getting close to finished even with that. The stumbling block at the moment is setting up Woo Commerce for the sales, which is far more complex than I ever imagined.
Then it will be time or me to order a sample copy printed, and if that works out well I’ll have them do a print run. And then – voila! – I’ll announce on this blog and Gerard’s that the book is ready for sale.
In addition, I plan to ask some other websites to mention that the book’s for sale. I also have a list of email addresses of people who donated to Gerard after the fire, and I plan to email them with the announcement and instructions for ordering the book.
I don’t know the exact amount of time all this will take, and I’ve been wrong when estimating the time frame before. But my hope and expectation is that the book will be out by May.
This book project is a lovely act of kindness on the part of one of my favorite blog people helping complete the project of another favorite blog person. I make my eyes a bit watery and my throat kind of lumpy.
Thank you Neo, I never knew you a Gerard were close special friends over all of these many years when I read your sites most every day. Once more, Thank You !
A labor of love. Brava!
What Kate said…and labors of love are costly on the deepest possible level and worth it.
Bless you!
This stuff always takes more time than you think, even when you adjust for it taking more time than you think.
(H/T Douglas Hofstadter, “Hofstadter’s Law”)
@ huxley > I looked up Hofstadter’s Law and discovered a reference to another rule that was already familiar to me: “Hofstadter’s law is also closely related to the “ninety-ninety rule” in computer programming that was first proposed by Tom Cargill of Bell Labs in the mid-1980s. The rule states that the first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% accounts for the remaining 90%.”
I also learned that “Douglas Hofstadter is a cognitive scientist and author. He introduced the eponymous law in 1979 in his book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. The book broke new ground in the then-latent fields of intelligence theory and symbolic systems, earning a 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Hofstadter.”
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Hofstadters-law
The author does suggest some procedures to mitigate Hofstadter’s effect, although conceding it is impossible to escape the Law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%2C_Escher%2C_Bach
“In response to confusion over the book’s theme, Hofstadter emphasized that Gödel, Escher, Bach is not about the relationships of mathematics, art, and music—but rather about how cognition emerges from hidden neurological mechanisms.”
Great book.
Didn’t understand more than one sentence in three.
Maybe I’ll try it again.
Or tackle this one.
“Despite the success of the book, Hofstadter felt that audiences did not adequately grasp what he felt was the main idea of the book: strange loops. In an attempt to remedy this, he published I Am a Strange Loop in 2007.”
“In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference.”
That sounds suspiciously like a description of our politicians and pundits, if not our entire population.
Tik-tok Influencers for sure.
BTW, to Neo: now that you’ve gone through the process for Gerard’s book, think how much easier it will be to produce and market your collection of “best columns” (hint,hint).
AesopFan:
Douglas Hofstadter isn’t a god, but since “Gödel, Escher, Bach”, he is one of my gods.
Hey! He dedicated a portion of his life to learning French as well as other languages.
I don’t believe learning a language (or languages) is essential, but it is damned interesting and yields its own insights.
Send several copies to readers to proof before you order the final run. That will minimize errors.
How wonderful! The process can’t have been easy, but you are fortunate to have a wealth of writing to deal with, plus the bonus of a ready-made audience. Several times a week I have an urge to go to Gerard’s page and then am crushed all over again. Thank you for tackling the job!