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Warnken, LLC Attorneys at Law, Attorneys & Lawyers, Pikesville, MD

An Update on the Book

On Thursday or perhaps Friday, the last of my treatise, Maryland Criminal Procedure, will go to the publisher.  The publisher is 27Legal, LLC, owned by my son, Byron B. Warnken, Esq.  Having Byron publish the book gives me significantly more flexibility to do some of the things I want to do with the book.

I had no idea what went into the publishing of a book.  Initially, I thought I could self-publish relatively easily.  I would finish the book, now 36 different word documents.  I’d press print 36 times.  I’d put them in the right order.  I’d sent it to a printer, have a bunch of copies made, buy a credit card reader, and open my trunk.

I’m kidding, of course.  Mostly.

I did not realize how complex the process would be.  My son and I sat down to brainstorm.  Some of the questions we asked ourselves:

  • Would there be an index?  YES
  • Would there be a table of cases?  Statutes?  YES and YES
  • Was the book in final-final-final form?  Needed a proofer
  • What size should we make the book?  10×7
  • How was I going to update the book?  Yearly, paperback supplement
  • How many volumes was reasonable?  3
  • How many pages?  just under 2000 mnuscript pages
  • What was the exact title?   “Maryland Criminal Procedure”
  • What was the cover going to look like?   TBD
  • How would we distribute the book?  Amazon.com and direct sales.

This was just to start.  There were numerous questions, most of which have been answered.  The process from my computer to my trunk has become:

  • My final final version is completed
  • Goes for proofing
  • Final proofs go back through me for completion
  • Final pages go to typesetter
  • The typesetter puts pages in final printable form
  • I give the final pages one last look to make sure we’re good
  • Simultaneously, the book is being indexed and a table of statutes and a table of cases are being assembled

There are additional steps and tasks relating to marketing and distribution, but that’s basically the process.  Right now, as I write this, 32 of 34 chapters have gone for proofing and 4 chapters have gone back through after being proofed.

The final manuscript will be complete on Thursday.  The content of the book will be finalized by the first week in August.  The indexes are all complete by the end of August.  The book goes to the printer the second week in September.  The book is available for sale the second week in October.