On Geeking Out

I had two packages waiting for me at home when I got home from work last night.

One was from WhoNA. The other, a surprise, was from the UK.

I’d received my contributor’s copy of Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership.

And, because I’d ordered one from WhoNA earlier in the week, thinking that, Big Finish being a small press, I wouldn’t have my contributor’s copy for a while, I had another copy of the book.

The cover is gorgeous. Something’s lost when you see it on a computer monitor. The images aren’t quite as sharp. It’s not as tactile. In person, it’s a different beast entirely. Gorgeous.

And the book itself!

It’s a hardcover. I love the paper stock. It’s a heavy paper stock. It has such a wonderful aroma — the paper, the ink — and I drank it in, the way I would savor a fine scotch.

I flipped through the book. Not specifically to my story, though I got there eventually. It was a book! A book!

I’d seen the book before; the galleys were sent out as a PDF of the entire manuscript. I’d seen all of these pages, I’d printed out a lot of these pages six months ago and read them. But there was something completely different about seeing them in a book, bound, printed on both sides, where I could flip through at leisure.

And my own story! I’d seen it before. I’d seen the manuscript, as I’d written it. I’d seen the layout in the PDF. Inside the book, though, it was like discovering something I’d never seen before.

God, I’m a total nutter.

I don’t think there’s a feeling like it in the world, to get in your hands something you’ve written and see it published, in black and white, bound, and on paper. At work, even after a year, I still get a tingly, geeky feeling when I receive copies of the publications I’ve written and worked on. Yes, I’ve seen these words time and again, first in my word processir, then in layouts in various stages, but there’s nothing quite like seeing it, complete, on the printed page.

I’ve come down from my geeky high of yesterday.

At least until the next time I pick up The Quality of Leadership, run my fingers across the cover, crack open the spine, and dive into the book.

Because, there really isn’t anything like that feeling in the world. 😉

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

3 thoughts on “On Geeking Out

  1. No nutter, you. I know exactly how you feel. Every time I glance at my copy of The Sky’s the Limit, I feel the same way.

    Except perhaps for the drinking in bit. 😀 Star Trek trades aren’t really made for that, sadly enough. I love books that appeal to all the senses; there should be something for each of them to do when you read a book.

  2. True, Star Trek trades can’t really be drunk in. The paper’s too flimsy. It’s a low grade of paper. Cheap.

    Big Finish knows good paper. It’s heavy. It’s expensive. It’s tactile. Good paper. 🙂

    And whoever said I was referring to geeking out over the book when I wrote that “I’m a total nutter.” 😉

    Bwah-ha-ha!

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