Thanks again for all of your incredible energy and efforts on this project. You were definately the perfect person for this partnership. - Julie Jacobs, author of Radical Faith and Effortless Grace
"Special thanks go to Bruce Conway, designer, and "Lightman", He is a true superhero who showed me the way." - Susan Carnes, author of Nautilus Award winner My Champion
"Working on the book with you has been a great adventure. I am deeply greatful for your gifts as a book designer. Many thanks for your help, patience and encouragement!" - Nancy Gibbs Richard, author of A Small Steadying Sail of Love.
....."I’ve had the good fortune to work with Bruce Conway as my book designer on several projects, and recommend him wholeheartedly. He is a high-tech combination of visual architect, graphic artist, and wordsmith. He is intuitive, has a masterful sense of white space, does wonderful things with text elements, and has a deep appreciation for and commitment to quality. He can steer you to the best printers, help you with marketing and distribution, and can provide you with a beautiful web site as well. From the moment you sit down with him to discuss your project, and choose the look and style of the interior design, and have your first glimpse of what the raw manuscript looks like when it is arranged in your unique template, you will realize you have stepped onto wonderful conveyor belt that is carrying your book into its true form."
....."When I first hired Bruce, I had already successfully self-published one book, and wanted my next book, a two-volume set, to look completely professional. In our first hour of consulting as well as the subsequent days of sitting by his side watching him work, I discovered that Bruce was also an amazing teacher. An articulate and adept artist, he juggles multiple tasks so gracefully that he was able to respond to my endless questions about how and why he made the myriad graphic and text manipulations, without slowing down the progress of the work. By the time the first volume was ready to send to the printer, I had learned so much that I was able to do 90% of the work on the second book myself, with Bruce doing the cover and overseeing the interior. This was entirely unexpected and as much of a surprise to Bruce as it was to me. I stayed within budget for the first book, and because of the skills I acquired, was well under budget for the second. I got at least twice what I bargained for: beautifully designed books and an education on how to make a book. And it is much to his credit that he was tickled and proud to see me become independent of him, rather than dependent."
....."So – if you want to have a most positive and successful book-publishing experience, talk to Bruce. He is a joy to work with. - Cat Bordhi - Passing Paws Press, Inc." - Cat Bordhi is the author of:
Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles (Passing Paws Press, 2001)
Treasure Forest (hardcover - Namaste Publishing, 2003, paperback - Ace Publishing, 2006), winner of the Nautilus Award for Young Adult Fiction
A Treasury of Magical Knitting (Passing Paws Press, 2004)
A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting (Passing Paws Press, 2005)
web site: www.catbordhi.com
"Bruce Conway helped me design and self-publish Red Sky in Mourning in 1995. The book turned out to be a great success and sales went ballistic! In 2000 the book publishing rights were sold to Hyperion/Disney. Since then I have appeared on MSNBC Today Show Book Club, and had a feature article in National Geographic Adventure Magazine. Now, ten years after the book was first published, sales are still brisk. Working with Bruce proved to be one of the best business decisions that I have ever made." - Tami Ashcraft Oldham - www.tamiashcraft.com
"Bruce and I have worked on a wide variety of business startups and related publishing projects for over twelve years. He has been consistently reliable, creative and innovative, especially when faced with challenging assignments. Together we have published five business management books, numerous web sites, eBooks and PowerPoint presentations. Bruce has always met his scheduling deadlines and cost estimates. He is also an excellent problem solver. I heartily recommend Bruce as a book designer and self-publishing guru."
Steven C. Brandt
Senior Lecturer in Management, Emeritus
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
www.scbrandt.com
"It was a delight to work with Bruce Conway, who designed and prepared my book for publication. Since this was a new experience for me, his creativity and expertise were essential to the completion of this project. Bruce and I have been friends for many years, and he has consistently supported the publication of my story. For this I am most grateful." - Jean Hendrickson, author of We All Have a Purpose For Being Here
"I want to thank Bruce Conway of Illumina Publishing, who took a massive amount of text and image negatives, and transformed them into Journey Into the Web of Life. Working with Bruce has been enlightening and fun." - Ron Keeshan
"Because I put my heart and soul into writing my story I wanted a book designer who would put his soul and heart into the cover and the interior layout. Bruce was the man. He's a generous listener who takes your dreams and visually manifests them. He made self-publishing very easy. If he designs your book, you're lucky." - Susea McGearhart / author of Unfurling the Heart
