Author
Robert “Navy Bob” Roncska
Publisher
Ballast Books
Genre
Military and business memoir
Dimensions
6” x 8”
Pages
278
Ink and Paper
Standard color on white paper
Overview
Beyond the Sea: Leading with Love from the Nuclear Navy to the White House and Healthcare is a memoir written by Robert Roncska, a U.S. Navy Captain and businessman. He published the book through Ballast Books, who commissioned me for the formatting and typesetting work.
Objectives
and Goals
and Goals
The guidelines for this project were pretty straightforward: “I have a new book ready for interior design and would love to get a quote from you! I attached the MS and cover. The book is 6x9, around 69k words, and you will find a few images scattered throughout the book (which are placed where the author would like them). It will be printed in black and white.”
Process
• Determined the heading typeface based on the cover
• Typeset the text
• Formatted the page layouts, including graphics and photos
• Adjusted the photos’ colors for consistency
• Implemented the author’s and publisher’s edits and feedback
• Converted the manuscript to PDF files
Tools
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Acrobat
Deliverables
• Guts (interior content) PDF
• Guts PDF in spreads (to portray the layout of the book better)
Results
and Impact
and Impact
• 98% of the Amazon reviews are 5 stars.
• One reviewer mentioned, “The print it [sic] not too small and not too big either. It was a comfortable read.”
Reflection
Even though Beyond the Sea sometimes deals with heavy subject matter, the book also often portrays humor and heart. And of course “Beyond the Sea,” sung by Robbie Williams in the credits of Finding Nemo, kept playing in my head as I worked on this book. So, to offset military “rigidity,” I added some more playful elements, like asymmetrical part titles, and little quotes in corners on blank pages.
