Today I received an e-mail message from Lightning Source advising me that my order for a proof copy of the Lumix LX5 book has been confirmed. I then went on their web site and checked the status of the book; it reported that the “book block” and the cover have both been “accepted.” That was good news! That means that there were no technical problems with either the interior text of the book (268 pages, including Table of Contents and Index), or with the cover. There are quite a few technical problems that can arise (and have in the past), such as incorrect document size, some fonts not embedded, wrong resolution of the images, colors that don’t conform to the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) standard, etc. Now the book’s status is shown as “print ready.” I just have to wait until Lightning Source puts the book in one of its printing queues and produces a proof copy. They will then ship it to me overnight for approval. If it looks OK, I will approve it online, and that releases it for distribution through Amazon.com and other sellers. Based on past experience, I think the proof may get to me by about Wednesday, November 3 or thereabouts. If it is in good shape, Amazon may start selling the book by the end of next week. Of course, everything is out of my control at this point except approving the proof copy. I will be very quick at that step, once I receive the proof copy.

By the way, here is what the cover of the book looks like: