🚀 go-pugleaf

>Available hardware includes a
>Mac 512e, SCSI port, and 20 meg hard disk.  Software includes Word 3.0 and
>SuperPaint.  I have access to RSG3.  Output will most likely be on a LW+,
>although use of a Linotronic typesetter might be possible.

>o	Is this configuration adequate?

It depends on what you want.  If you're shipping your publisher camera ready
pages, you'll need the linotronic.  If you're shipping them a manuscript,
the LW is more than enough.

If you're just shipping a manuscript, and the publisher is doing the
typesetting and layout, don't use RSG3.  That's overkill, and will probably
do more to confuse the typesetter and book designer than it will help. Stick
to word, use a nice clean font (I like Bookman) at 10 or 12 point, and don't
get fancy.

If you're doing your own design and layout, you'll need RSG. But use RSG
with a different document for each chapter. 

Superpaint, by the way is the best of the low-cost graphic programs and the
only one that I think works well for the laserwriter.  Avoid using the paint
layer if at all possible, bitmaps simply don't look that good on the LW.

If you want more power, look at Adobe's Illustrator or Cricket Draw.

>o	Any suggestions for design/formatting?  I plan to look through a whole

Again, are you doing the design or just turning in a manuscript.  Make sure
you and your publisher agree on this, because you can really mess up their
operations if you send something out that is formatted differently than they
are expecting.  If they've got a book designer working on the book, write up
a synopsis of your ideas seperately and talk to them about it.  But do it
the way the publisher wants it.

>o	Any other helpful hints?

If this is your first book, keep it simple, and don't get fancy.  You might
also check with your publisher and offer to let them see the first chapter
when it is done so they can approve the design and formatting.  Much easier
to fix things then than if you send them the entire manuscript in an
unusable form.

good luck!

chuq

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Chuq Von Rospach	chuq@sun.COM		[I don't read flames]

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