Well. it is done. The Indesign and PDF ‘ready to print’ files have all been sent to pour printers in Phnom Penh. We are missing an ISBN but hopefully that shows up this week and can be easily added.
It has been quite a learning exercise – from content creation, fact checking, editing, curation of images (new and archive), collaboration with Sarath, Simeth and others, editing (again).
Working with a printer in another country also adds a layer of complexity (and time zone management), but I have to say that I would do it again. Lukas’ advice to print ‘in country’ was sound.
Here are some spreads, although I do not think the quality in these jpgs does justice to the real thing.
The book will be hardback, with a dust cover – which was not the original intent, given capability in the country. It has 115 pages, and is landscape format – 26cm by 21 cm. We will see if the experiment pays off.
Vicky has done a splendid job on the design, and it very much is in tune with the subject matter.It is a clean, modern and we hope engaging design, built around the stories and the accompanying photographs, and highlighting the quotes.
Of course we might just be too close to it all, so tech real acid test will be to see how the final, physical product is received.
Although Falmouth seem to be focused on the exhibition, with scant interest in the book, the truth is that a) the book just would not have got done without the MA and b) the exhibition needs the research, chronology and detail of the book to make sense.
The book starts with a short history of Cambodia to set the stage with the stories, and ends with a brief account of Sarath and Simeth’s education work to the present day.
Also, I have uploaded a copy to Issuu, here: https://issuu.com/mickyates/docs/unfinished_stories___from_genocide_to_hope.
At the moment this is unlisted and I do not have an ad-free account. But it suffices to demonstrate the book and its contents.