Magnolia Studio | Portfolio Widow's Walk: A Journey Home
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Widow's Walk: A Journey Home
Widow's Walk: A Journey Home
Pueblo, Colorado
©2022, CCH Press
Buy on Amazon!
Written by Callie Cochran-Hager
Like many of my projects, this book began with a friend recommending my skills to a friend. My dear friend Jorene Ziebell brought her long-time pal, Callie Cochran-Hager, to my house for sushi and a production consultation. Her project would entail multiple stages — copyediting her raw manuscript, creating an original cover from stock photos, selection and scanning of her personal photos, typesetting and layout of the interior pages, proofreading throughout the entire process, and overall project coordination.
As I have extensive experience with self-published memoirs, the scope of this project and the combined effort it would take to publish it were not obstacles. We worked collaboratively on her manuscript with me doing the basic copyediting and her approving or suggesting changes, as we went along. Then we met by Zoom to fine-tune any additional changes and improvements. [ … Read More ]
This memoir was brought to life when we added family photos throughout the chapters with appropriate captions. We decided that using Callie's memorial Celtic Tree of Life tattoo as her company logo would be especially appropriate. She hired a student to recreate the lovely tattoo as line art which we used on her cover and inside her book, and also for her new business cards.
I chose many different stock photos for the cover, including architecture photos of widow's walks in New England and many dramatic Colorado landscapes. We were both attracted to the majesty of the panoramic Pike's Peak photo because it felt perfect for the wrap-around cover for the book. To provide her with marketing and social media needs, I created Instagram and Facebook postings using her cover titling and the stock photo of Pike's Peak.
Once the design process was complete, Callie obtained the ISBN barcode and copyright, and I assisted with self-publishing her 200-page, 5.5x8.5 inch, perfect-bound volume and Kindle E-book through Amazon's KDP online publishing service. It is available online: Buy on Amazon!
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Business Card Front
Business Card Back
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Client Testimonial
September 10, 2022
"When I lost my husband to cancer in 2019, I began journaling as a way to cope with the loss and chronicle the grief journey. After two and a half years, the manuscript presented itself as a memoir, and Phyllis was instrumental in moving it forward from raw manuscript to publishable book. Although we live states apart, we met via Zoom and worked as a team to create a book that not only honored my husband but shared the common emotions with anyone experiencing deep loss. Phyllis has a keen eye and suggested edits and additions that made sense. She was respectfully honest during the editing phase, and I trusted her with my story. Her experience with typesetting and formatting created a book that I am proud to share with others. It was a joy to work with her, and I look forward to collaborating and using her services in future writing and publishing endeavors."
Callie Cochran-Hager — Author and Publisher