Lines — Making a Book, Week 1-2 (Patreon)

Hey Patrons!

After announcing my coloring book Lines. I got lots of positive feedback already. Thanks for that! It helps to know that I'm not working on some useless project noone has any interest in 😅

Today, I'd like to start with my project diary kind of posts series, telling you what I did in the first two weeks of working on Lines.!

How do you even start a book project?

Good point - I don't have a clue! 😂 Well, let's still get into it! First comes a basic idea, and the conviction that it has enough potential with my audience, so its worth turning it into a project. I'm a fan of making a project out of everything, because it helps you to stay creative and creating. Even if it's just a small series of illustrations with a similar topic, like my recent bottle dioramas.

The bigger the project, the more it needs to be organized though. There's three factors of organization that incredibly help me setting up a project of a wider extent:

Clear definitions of the project's goals, and it's proposition: This will become incredibly helpful once you start building up a framework for the book's content. With every decision you make later on, you can check in on your initial concept: Does it pay in on the idea, or not? In branding and business language, this is called mission & vision.For Lines., my definition sounds like this: A physical and digital book that celebrates my art and focuses on the world of colors - from coloring pages to guides, readers should be able to equally enjoy and benefit from the content.

Scope & content framework: I ask myself what is needed to make the project a success. What can I achieve myself, and what do I need help with?A big advantage with Lines. is that I already have lots of content (most of the illustrations I want to have inside the book are already existing), so I can put my focus on layouting, writing, and a great production. I also set up a rough framework for the content (see below) I would like to see inside the book. No need to get all too specific at this point, there will be new ideas coming up during the process anyway!

Todo lists: Well, here we go for the classic stuff with some good old lists. I like to separate my todo lists into two layers: Crucial milestones, and smaller steps within these milestones. Crossing smaller tasks from the list keeps you motivated and it's easier to see the process. I'll give you a glance at my list further below.

I love calling things "Masterplan"

The content framework

I see the framework as a collection of pillars on which the book will stand. This is not yet a table of contents or similar, but more an overview of what the main part of the book should include. For Lines. it looks like this:

1. Coloring pages: Lines. will be an art & coloring book, and the pages should take the main part of the content, so this focus stays clear. I'm planning with roughly between 25-40 illustrations.

2. Color guides: Tutorials and insights into my personal approach to color, in a theoretical way that includes clear ideas for practice tasks (possibly directly with the coloring pages). I plan with 3 main guides: basics, setting up palettes, advanced tips & tricks.

3. A look into my process: With a focus on tools I use, how I structure my coloring work, how I make decisions. This part goes hand in hand with part 2 and adds more value to it.

The current todo-list

The whole process can be divided into a couple todos. (The ones I called milestones before) Here's what that list looks like right now:

Research (Similar publications, production/technical details, design ideas,...)

Book branding (Title, Cover, Description)

Layout & Typography

Curation and collection of the artworks

Writing (Tutorials, Foreword, etc.) + hiring Proofreader

Kickstarter (Technical setup, design assets, deciding on the rewards, writing,...)

Social Media strategy (preparing posts & content for Patreon, Newsletter, Instagram, Twitter etc.)

Production (Printing, Packaging, Logistics,...)

Legal & Finance (taxes, ISBN, calculation,...)

I will look into all of these steps in a detailed way during the next weeks, so you get to know how I approach the different tasks. Looking at this todo list now also shows one of the challenges, but also one of the most beautiful parts of being a creative freelancer: it's five different jobs in one! 😄💜

The plan for the coming weeks

Of course, I can't and don't work down this list step by step, but it's a mix of all of these most of the days. As I'll be on holidays for 2 weeks from August 30 on, I defined some more precise tasks I want to have done until then:

Most important design & layout decisions done, first example/template pages set up

Precise content planning & first tutorial draft done (and ready to post here)

Pre-curation (~90%) of artworks I'd like to put in the book, incl. making some decisions on the artworks/some polls here on Patreon

Start working on overall direction for the Kickstarter page, first couple design elements done

Next week, we'll take a look at what's important about Research, and at the current state of things regarding my first layout ideas!

Have a great weekend, cheers!Stefan