Coming in 2025
Author
James W. McConkie II
Publisher
Greg Kofford Books
Genre
Religious nonfiction reference for families
Dimensions
6” x 8”
Pages
304 (vol. 1), 560 (vol. 2), 302 (vol. 3) = 1,166
Ink and Paper
Standard color on white paper
Overview
Looking at the Doctrine & Covenants Again for the Very First Time is a three-volume set of historical and doctrinal information for scholars of the Doctrine and Covenants and of Church history. It was written by James W. McConkie II, a Utah lawyer and professor. The books were originally published as a single volume in 2010.
Objectives
and Goals
and Goals
Jim wanted to update the design of the book set and then reprint them. He first hired another freelance typesetter, and she began the process, but she had a packed schedule and so decided to refer him to me to continue the project. Jim requested that the design be somewhat similar to the previous one-volume edition while also sporting more modern and aesthetic styles for titles, headings, footnotes, etc.
Process
• Implemented suggestions from the previous typesetter
• Typeset the text
• Formatted the page layouts, including graphics and photos
• Implemented the author’s edits and feedback
• Converted the manuscript and cover to PDF files
Tools
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Acrobat
• Canva
Deliverables
• Guts (interior content) PDF
• Guts PDF in spreads (to portray the layout of the printed book better)
Challenges
and Solutions
and Solutions
The hardest part of this project was formatting the footnotes. The author wanted the footnote numbers at the bottom of the page to be right-aligned while the footnote text was left-aligned. I did some research, but when I couldn’t find any instructions for doing this in a quick way, I devised a method for making the footnote numbers appear right-aligned by adding extra spaces before the numbers and then adjusting the kerning in those spaces. I had to do this with all the footnotes numbered “10” and up, which of course was a rather painstaking process. The results, however, are very nice looking, and Jim was pleased. I haven’t given up hope that there is a faster way to do it, but until I figure it out, I now have a method that will look good.
Reflection
Jim McConkie is the brother of Kathleen Collinwood, the co-author of A Promising Life, and he’s the one who introduced me to her and her husband, Dean. I started working on Jim’s books first, then Dean and Kathleen hired me as well, so I’ve been able to work with this family on two different but equally wonderful projects.
This was the largest nonfiction project I worked on as a typesetter. The scope of the project made it challenging, but the author was patient with my work, and I was patient with his edits and feedback. The communication was great, so the book looks great.
