A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles by Suzanne Julin
Nearly a year ago, I signed a contract with the South Dakota State Historical Society Press, giving the Press the right to publish my manuscript on tourism development in the Black Hills before World War II. I was pleased with my decision, because I was familiar with the staff at the Press and I knew they would give the manuscript careful attention. In addition, I had been impressed with the publications of the Press during the past decade. My ultimate goal had always been a work of scholarship that would appeal to the public as well as to scholars in the fields of tourism history, western history, and South Dakota history, and I believed that this press would help me meet that goal.
My interest in Black Hills tourism began when I was eleven years old and my family took our first vacation, traveling from our home in southeastern South Dakota to the Black Hills. I had never been more than ninety miles away from my home town of Dante, and I was fascinated by the mountain setting of the Black Hills and by its tourism industry. As I grew up, I never stopped wondering about how that industry developed. When I finally had the luxury to do serious research on the topic, I discovered a unique set of circumstances that led to the development of regional tourism and a regional identity. The history of this development formed the basis of the book to be developed under my contract with the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.
With the contract came requests for specific revisions. Over the next few months, I worked on those revisions, usually with great pleasure. I am quite sure no writer has ever been satisfied with a manuscript he or she produced, and I was no exception. Revising the manuscript with the assistance of experienced editors and readers helped me make my words flow more smoothly and my conclusions carry more weight.
That was the easy part. A few months after submitting the revised manuscript I received the page proofs. I knew this was my last chance to make any substantive changes. I felt as I did when I was preparing to send my daughter off to kindergarten: I was not ready to let go, and if I could just keep delaying, perhaps the inevitable would never happen. After some diplomatic prodding from the Press, I finished the changes and they finally pried the manuscript out of my hands. Shortly, I received the final proofs and I was delighted. The design of the book—and particularly the nearly fifty historic photographs included—complemented the text well. The striking cover carried the title we had decided on after many false starts: A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941.
In mid-July, I telephoned Nancy Koupal, Director of Research and Publishing, to go over the final corrections to the manuscript. At the end of our call, I asked her about my next step in preparing for the publication. She replied, “You are done. The next time you hear from us will be when a box of your books arrives on your doorstep.”
I am eagerly awaiting that shipment.
