I am an all-surface wallpaper man that retired to become a printer.
You might not be able to operate your own Learjet and have an unlimited expense account, but if you have a reasonable expectation for a print-based product, whether it's a newspaper or a magazine, you can certainly exist.
As far as ideas about book design: I have plenty. But I also try and let people do their jobs.
I've been a printmaker and designed objects. I've done 500 posters.
I have been an art director, a book designer, a book-jacket designer and an interior designer.
The next time you see a 16-color, blind-embossed, gold-stamped, die-cut, elaborately folded and bound job, printed on handmade paper, see if it isn't a mediocre idea trying to pass for something else.
I work closely with the printer to get the final print the way I want it.
The most painstaking phase comes when the manuscript is set in 'type' for the first time and the first proofs of the book are printed. These initial copies are called first-pass proofs or galleys.
I don't want to find myself designing for the press.
I enjoy writing. Publishing... not so much. I've been lucky to work with some very talented people in the publishing world, and the print industry has allowed me to write full time.
Books can now be on the stands within days from delivery of a formatted manuscript, and often are.
