Request for proposals: Extreme e-book design
At Talk Science to Me, we often deal with projects that are deceptively complicated. That includes e-books. We’ve got an e-book project coming up that we think will challenge the skills of the most talented and experienced e-book designer. Think you’re up to the task? Please consider submitting a proposal.
The book is the second edition of Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History and Practice of a Timeless Tradition by Christopher D. Wallis. It’s a beautifully designed, masterfully researched 484-page volume based on original translations of thousand-year-old Sanskrit texts. It’s filled with images, endnotes, lists, tables, headers and subheads, cross-references, and diacritical marks—thousands of tiny details that we need to get just right.
Talk Science to Me wrote the index for Tantra Illuminated when the book was first published in 2012. When the original publisher, Anusara Press, folded the following year, we worked with Dr. Wallis to keep the book in print and publish a second edition. It’s been a labour of love for us: the author’s commitment to applying academic rigour and critical thinking to a subject that in the West has so often been treated with wide-eyed credulity makes this particular work something that meets our high standards, even while it’s outside our usual sciencey fare. (Plus, it’s good to go outside your comfort zone sometimes!) But this e-book is outside the technical capabilities of even our (extremely capable!) design team.
We’re looking for an experienced e-book designer who can provide samples and references from similarly complicated work. We also expect you to properly investigate the scope of this project in advance so as to be able to give us a firm, comprehensive quote. You will be working from the InDesign file from the print book. We’re happy to provide copies of the InDesign and PDF files upon request for the purpose of quoting the project. There is text in Sanskrit that may need to be rendered as images. We’re prepared to dispense with the marginal materials if these prove to be technically impossible or just too expensive, and will consider quotes with and without these elements. The e-book will be proofread for correct formatting, missing material, etc., so your quote should include the possibility for several rounds of revisions. The desired start date for the project is Monday, December 15.
Proposals should include:
- A cover letter outlining how your qualifications meet the project requirements.
- Your resume.
- Samples of two, preferably three, previous projects of similar complexity.
- Your timeline for completion of the project, including revisions.
- Your fee for the project.
Please send inquiries and proposals to Eve Rickert, eve@talksciencetome.com. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. PST on Friday, December 5.
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