Rally - The Book

Nearly there! Last week the printer delivered a full ‘pdf’ of the book comprising its contents and layout. First of all my proof readers went through it and raised almost one hundred queries, then I went through it and found another hundred or so. All these changes had to be noted and passed on to David the graphic artist and compositor at the printer and another day and a half was spent on that this week.

It wasn’t all typos and mistakes that had to be altered but things like linebreaks and character spacing and every time you make a change it can alter the page layout and page breaks. Nit picking but time consuming.

As for the typos, even after all this time I’m still finding silly mistakes. However, the biggest problem has been sorting out all the Alastairs, Alistairs, Alisters and Alisdairs not to mention the Douglas’, Dougs, Dougies and Dugalds. At the last count there were four different Ken and Kenneth Crombies, three George Blacks and one George Blackie. And if you look through Entry Lists and Results sheets from the past, the spelling depended on who typed the names into the computer or which crew member filled out the Entry form. Some folk don’t appear to know their own bluidy name, never mind their driver/co-driver!

I reckon more time has been spent on checking and researching than writing but that’s it – finished. The whole job is now with the printer and he’s going to come back to me today with a final price. If it’s in-line with the original quote we’re ready to go, if not I’ll be looking for a paper round job 

The hardback covers will be printed off-site somewhere by another specialist while the pages are being printed in-house in Hamilton and then the two brought together for binding also in Hamilton. A fascinating process from what I’ve seen so far.

The 1980s were a transitional decade in many ways and not just in the sport of rallying. Black & White news photography was giving way to colour photography as the newspapers developed their own printing technology and the arrival of computers consigned typewriters and carbon ribbons to the museums. Then there were teleprinters and fax machines, photocopiers and the advent of mobile telephones. They all had an impact on news gathering and publication. Wondrous enough then, but the 1990s introduced even more technological marvels.

When this book covering the Scottish Rally Championship from 1980-1989 is finished, I’ll get on to the 1990-1999 volume. Which brings to mind the book sponsor’s question: “What’s the time scale?” I stupidly said: “Six months!”