How steep is the learning curve for InDesign?

5-1
I am a book author and previous works are out of print. I have scanned and digitized the books but need to revise and re-print several that are filled with color photos, using on-dermand technology. SOem of these books will also be pub;ished as e-books with embedded features like videos. Is it silly for me to try to learn how to lay out and prepare for printing a 200+ page book, or is the learning curve so steep that I am better off hiring an agency to do this work? I have never used Pagemaker so this is a whole new experience for me. Need advice PLEASE!  THANKS to all - Joel

Do you enjoy solving puzzles (page layout is often about fitting too much stuff into too little space, and making it look good), are you a little geeky (InDesign is a very complex piece of software, and you need to understand the technical stuff as much as the artisitic to be really successful) and do you have experience working with images (you mentioned a lot of photos)? Would you consider the challenge of learning the software fun or a pain?
Any reasonbly bright person (and I hve no reason to think you aren't at the very least reasonably bright) can learn to use InDesign, but if you are doing so only because you think you "have to" you'd probably be better off hiring a pro. On the other hand, if you like a challenge and want to put a few weeks or even months into learning what you need to know, then go for it. Aside from books, you'll find some free tutorials on the web, good, but not free, tutorials at lynda.com, possibly some good classes at your local community college or adult education, and plenty of free advice right here when you get to the point where you have more complex questions.
I used to teach InDesign at my local community college. We offered regular semester-long courses which were worthwhile and some six-hour classes that were a joke. I teach the production staff of the student newspaper what they need to know to produce that particular project in an afternoon, but they don't get fluent for a few weeks, and they'd mostly be lost, even after a semester, if asked to branch out to something new like a book.
You mention your books will get distibution in electronic format instead of or in addition to print, and that's an additional layer of complexity to learn (and you really need to understand the requirements and the limitations for producing electronic publications, in my opinion, before starting your project if you want everything to go smoothly). I think the question isn't so much how steep is the curve, but will you enjoy the climb, or do you just want to get to the top as quickly as possible. If you're not sure, download the trial (Ok, folks, I know one of you bookmarked where the CS5 trials are hidden for the next couple of weeks) and take it for a spin so you have a better idea waht you're in for before you shell out the big bucks.

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