Beneath the Sheets

When the Numbers Found Their Pages

LOVE Boutique was originally designed at 8½ × 14 inches, until it became apparent that very few manufacturers produced a book in that format. Moving to 9 × 12 meant the original PDF had to be reformatted, shifting how the pages fell.

With Smyth-sewn binding, pages are gathered into folded sections called signatures and sewn together, so the final page count also had to work within the binding requirements. Then came a contents page, added independently by the designer, and even a necessary blank page—plenty of moving parts that couldn't be controlled.

When everything finally settled, 888 was on page 8—and 613 was introduced on page 13.

It couldn't have been planned better.

 

What Didn't Make the Book

Some of the deepest research never made the final cut. Words were painstakingly counted in chapters of Codex Sinaiticus, along with explorations into other fascinating areas, including equidistant-letter sequences.

Some ideas didn't survive scrutiny. Others were simply too large for this book.

 

The Covers

The cover of LOVE Boutique may appear whimsical, but its selection was anything but. It withstood trial and error, replacement scandals and mutiny.

Covers that might appeal more readily to a Christian audience tried their best post-up moves to win the starting position.

Each time, I found that the new cover changed the overall feel—sometimes even turning an invitation into an argument.

That became the clearest reason for keeping LOVE Boutique. Its ambiguity and playful misdirection were not simply part of the presentation. By refusing to announce where the book was going, the cover allowed the reader to enter without being told what to expect.

But another consideration eventually emerged. Some readers were already searching for a deeper understanding of Scripture and salvation. For them, the mystery of LOVE Boutique might conceal the very reason they would want to open the book.

The Kindle edition offers a more direct and accessible entrance to the same journey. It preserves the discoveries of LOVE Boutique while making them available in a format that is easier to obtain, easier to carry, and far less expensive.

Finding the Rhythm

While looking at the leper study, my son Thomas compared it to someone who loves music walking into an advanced music-theory class. The instructor understands the language so well that he may not realize everyone else doesn't.

My immediate thought was, “Did I just become that guy?”

I had. Without realizing it, I had begun assuming that readers knew things simply because I had spent years studying them. I took Thomas's observation to heart, and changes were made to help the lay reader follow along without losing the substance of the studies.

But his music analogy didn't stop there.

LOVE Boutique would be experienced two pages at a time. Which pages appeared together mattered. One spread needed to flow naturally into the next. Some moments called for information; others needed transition. And sometimes the most important thing on the page was almost nothing at all.

Some of the most powerful feelings in music are found in the rests.

That realization began influencing the rhythm of the entire book—the spreads, the pacing, the white space, even how the final pages would bring everything to a close.

Somewhere along the way, it wasn't just a book being put together.

It was becoming a symphony.