I wanted to tell everyone a bit about how production of the book is possible on a shoestring budget. There isn't much call for talking about the technical side of Production, so I thought I'd do that here.

The layout of the book itself is primarily driven by open source applications.

My main apps for layout production are Scribus and Ghostscript, ran in Linux . I'm implementing open source applications whenever possible for layout of the book. It just makes sense.

The other tools used include: Inkscape for vectors, vim and gedit for text editing, Gimp for graphics, Open Office to access everyone's Microsoft documents, and Kopete for messenger text. (amaroK for keeping the music blasting in my ears.) Traditionally licensed layout software would run Production thousands. That's not an option, we are here to produce books!

As far as printable fonts go, I'm sticking with Type 1 fonts donated to the open source community. Postscript font families are pricey, this is the way to go.

The system itself is fairly minimal, I'm running everything on an old PC setup that originally ran me under $400, a spare 100 gig harddrive, and a $300 postscript laser printer for printing quick proofs. They work! I've ran other print projects on the same setup in the past.

Actual layout costs so far have ran $83.75 for a laser toner cartridge, paper, and pens.

I won't go as far as saying this is an ideal solution for everyone, there is a learning curve involved in using these applications and Linux in general.

Much thanks to the great Scribus mailing list folks; my final layout questions were all answered within a few hours of asking.