More news on the activist translations of Little Brother into Burmese languages: the activists at Digital Democracy who used Kickstarter to fund translations into several indigenous Burmese languages have released a set of covers, and they are made of win.

In my latest Publishers Weekly column, I dig into the meat of the production on my forthcoming short story collection With a Little Help. In short it’s going well, but the book-tour put a major crimp in it, as did some bad assumptions on my part about the critical path:

It turns out that a few tasks were dependent on earlier stages. And Murphy’s Law being what it is, this meant delays. Specifically, as I wrote in March, typesetting delays meant that I couldn’t get into final cover designs and proofing, nor could I get into prototyping for the limited edition hardcovers. The sound editing couldn’t be done until the sound recording was done, and some of my readers had other priorities that took precedence (such as paying work!). In hindsight, I should have taken notice that the two tasks with the largest number of dependencies were also the tasks that required the most work from my collaborators.

Now, though, all the critical pieces are in place, and the book is definitely, finally, trembling on the verge of becoming a reality. And, I must say, when the typeset book arrived, it was absolutely glorious and well worth waiting for.

Closing In

Alex Schoenfeldt came to the EFF benefit I did last night in San Francisco and shot a great set of photos while there.

Photos from EFF benifit Geek Reading: Cory Doctorow’s ‘For the Win'”