1. staff meetings : editor, publisher, binder, marketing department, only one doing anything is the tea-boy
2. money : pay the author first. handshake agreement or written contract, pay the author first
3. money (again) : until money budgeted for project is considered truly lost, not yet ready to begin publishing
4. style : form is function, are you making books or canned goods for the grocery store ?
5. making tea (aka attention to detail)
6. typos : intrinsic to process, & sometimes caught ; inevitable, & to be corrected in second edition ; not to worry
7. scheduling : exceed your familiar repertoire, you will learn how ; long nights are one of the joys
8. lifting books, lifting boxes of books, again, and again ; cardboard boxes not acceptable long-term home decor
9. remember your friends : even when you are doing it all by yourself you are never doing it all alone and unaided
10. publication day : make certain the champagne is cold & books are ready
11. you are a human being, not a corporation ; go to the post office when you can
12. your readers are human beings, too
extra credit :
13. shipping dept. keeps working after radiance of publication day has waned : joy of dispersal
Lessons one through nine were originally twittered (posted sequentially) in the marginal glosses from 23 June to 9 July 2009, with an addition on 21 July.