Thanks for this great post.

I have just found all this out with my novel, CUCKOO. I am sending off the first set of corrected typeset proofs today. What amazed me was that I had a pretty perfect Word file, that I had put all the corrections in down the way, tracking the changes with a new version each time there was an edit. Then the typesetters input the whole text manually from the paper proof from the line-edit. Of course, this is for version control, and it makes sense, but it is 'amusing' that there are a whole new load of typos in there.

As someone who hardly every prints anything out, I find it scary (and a bit thrilling) to deal with great reams of paper, which are the only copy of a particular set of edits. I'm also having to use <i>handwriting</i> to put in my final changes. I haven't done <i>handwriting</i> for years... hope it can still be read.

And don't get me started about putting those edits in the post. I am photocopying everything, which creates two new headaches: cost and storage. So that's what my advance was for.

The real problem is indeed wrenching myself away from my new novel, to go back down the well worn path of the first one. However, reading it typeset has been a real eye opener - every wrinkle stands out in a way it didn't when in double spaced Times in a Word doc.