When I was a kid, the UPS man used to bring me packages filled with Christmas gifts. Now he drops off my book proofs instead, but opening the manila envelopes they come in feels a lot like unwrapping presents.

Yesterday the doorbell rang and I dashed for the door as fast as any of my cats do when chasing ghosts around the apartment. (Mice ghosts, I’m sure.) I never know when book proofs are coming, so I’m always slightly surprised when they appear. The last set of proofs was for copyediting, so they simply contained the text of the book, double-spaced and printed like a really long term paper. Once we whipped the text into its most perfect version, it was handed to a book designer. The designer took that text and laid it out all nice and pretty like it will appear in the final published product. [Read the full post here.]