Here is the back and the spine, again pictured with the hardcover version for comparison:
Well, let us delve inside, shall we?
And speaking of Lulu-compatible fonts, I don't have to worry about those anymore! Since I now know how to present Lulu.com with a print ready PDF (rather than having them convert a submitted Microsoft Word document file), I can use any bloody font I please. And thus, I can have the chapter titles in the same font I've always used for my offline versions of the "year one" story titles, rather then in the plain font I had to go with for the hardcover version of Book I:
And I shan't have to live with it this error forever, myself... Lulu.com sent me a very nice (single use, alas, or I'd have shared it) coupon for 25% off and free shipping. So when I finished making the hardcover copy of Book III, I ordered it and a corrected copy of the paperback Book I, and it was practically like getting the new copy of Book I for free. (Pity I hadn't finished the paperback Book II yet at that point. Still need to order myself a copy of that one, myself, but I am hoping for another sale or coupon first!)
If you saw me talking about this book when I first made it available for order, you may recall my talking about how I had to shrink the font more then I might have liked in order to fit everything in Lulu.com's maximum page count without abridging anything. Well, while the 8 point font is tiny, I am happy to say that in hand it is quite clear and readable. (At least to my eyes. Anyone without 20/20 vision and / or proper reading glasses may find that their results may vary.)
The paper is nice and smooth, and a very bright white. It is thin, and the text on the opposite side is vaguely visible, but not enough that it interferes with reading at all. The cover is a thicker card stock with a glossy finish on the outside. The binding is nice and tight, with all of the pages held in well. But of course, it is a brand new book, so I cannot comment on the longevity of the binding and how it will hold up over time. But freshly printed, it is very nice.
It is sure an impressive looking tome, size-wise, too. Even with the thin paper, at 662 pages it is not a book to sneeze at! The spine is quite chunky! This is a book that could be used as a bludgeon. (Although, of course, that is not a recommended use of this product, and we here at Boy Scouts ½ will not be held accountable for the consequences of any such misuse!)
So if you'd like a Boy Scouts ½ book, but you're more of a paperback fan, are on a budget, or both, I quite recommend picking this up! (And remember, we here at Boy Scouts ½ are not making any profit off of these, so that is a genuine endorsement and not an "I want your money!" endorsement.)
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the extra, slightly wrong copy of it I'll have after I receive my corrected copy... If I felt confident that anyone not named Jason Bertovich even still visited the Boy Scouts ½ website, maybe I'd hold a contest and give it away as the first prize! So how about this... if at least 10 people who have never actually written for Boy Scouts ½ reply to this post with a comment within the next week, I'll come up with a fun contest for you all! Sound like a plan? Okay? Good!
Update:
I said if 10 people commented to this within the next week (thus indicating sufficient interest to make a contest worth my while), I could maybe hold a contest to give out the error copy of the book. I fear I must rescind this offer. My mother happened to see that I had made that book, and said she wanted a copy. (The poor woman!) She asked me to order her a copy and she'd pay me back for it, and my reply to that was, "Well, do you mind a copy that is slightly off? If not, you can have this one for free."
Sorry, folks! My dear mother trumps you all!
That being said, if anyone is still interested in a contest, I'll still be happy too have one! The grand prize can be the same as contests I held in the distant past: a character named after you in an upcoming story.