Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I contact a specific department of Ooligan Press?

Please see our contact page to find out how to get in touch with the appropriate party for your inquiry.

I am interested in ordering your books for myself or my business. Whom should I contact?
What sort of discounts does Ooligan Press offer on its books?

Ooligan Press students, alumni, and faculty receive a 50% discount on our books.

For personal order, library orders (except for the Multnomah County Library system), retail orders (but only if you are not solely a bookstore), and educational orders, you can acquire books directly through us. Our discount schedules are as follows:

*Please contact us directly about the discount schedule for retail orders.

You can place an order directly with Ooligan Press by emailing sales@ooliganpress.pdx.edu or calling 503-725-9748. We can ship the books to you, or you can come to the office to pick them up. Please allow extra time for large orders.

For large orders(if you would prefer to deal with our distributor) or retail orders(if you are a bookstore), please contact Ingram Publisher Services (IPS) at 800-452-3032. (The phone number will send you to the representative of our distributor Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company (GACPC) with IPS. Their discount schedules vary depending on the order.

† If you are an educational institution and order 20 books or more for your class, you will receive a free desk copy.

I am interested in notifying Ooligan Press and its staff and students of an event in the community. How should I do so?

Generally, we do not advertise events to our email lists unless we know the person or organization soliciting us. Please do not send us unsolicited announcements. If you do know us, then simply send the following information about the event to the Operations staff, who will forward it to the Ooligan graduate email list:

• The name
• The location
• A brief description
• The date(s) and time(s) of day

I want to collaborate with motivated Ooligan students on a personal project. How can I get in touch with them?

If you are looking for a student to help you write, edit, design, or market your project, please note that we do not currently solicit unpaid work from our students. If you have an offer of employment, we will be glad to share it with them. Below is the information we ask from organizations seeking student workers. So that we have a clear picture of what you are looking for and can provide you with the materials you need to hire the best candidate, please follow these guidelines.

Submission Guidelines for Collaboration Requests

Please include:

• A description of your organization (or yourself)
• A description of the position
• The desired qualifications
• The duration of the collaboration
• The amount of compensation
• The materials to be sent to you (i.e., is there an application, or should they just send a resume and cover letter)
• Your contact information including phone number, email address, and/or mailing address

If you send this information to our Sales and Operations team at ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu, we will forward it to the Ooligan student mailing list.

My organization has an upcoming internship that I think would be appropriate for Ooligan students. How should I notify Ooligan?

Below is the information we ask from organizations seeking interns. To qualify as an internship, the work should provide a clear learning experience that involves more than just menial work. We would like to have a clear picture of what you are looking for so that we can provide you with the materials you need to hire the best candidate for the job and so that we can decide if the internship is worth our students’ time.

Submission Guidelines for Internship Requests

Please include:

• A description of your organization
• A description of the position
• The desired qualifications
• The duration of the internship
• The compensation, if relevant (i.e., a certificate of completion or a stipend)
• The materials to be sent to you (i.e., is there an application, or should they just send a resume and cover letter)
• Your contact information, including phone number, email address, and/or mailing address

Send the above information to our Sales and Operations team at ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu, and we will publicize it to the Ooligan student mailing list.

I would like to apply for a job with or offer my professional services to Ooligan Press. Whom should I contact?

The only positions available are teaching positions in the English Department’s Book Publishing program, and those are currently filled. All of the publishing work is done by students in the program, which allows students to accrue knowledge and practical training in publishing in addition to their course work. If you are interested in teaching with Ooligan in the future, feel free to submit your curriculum vitae to the Operations staff (operations@ooliganpress.pdx.edu), who will keep it on file until we have an opening. Otherwise, please do not solicit us with offers of your services, as our students are our workers.

From authors:

I haven’t yet received a response to my query letter, manuscript, or book proposal. Whom should I contact to be sure it was received?

It is likely that your query letter, manuscript, or book proposal was received; but due to the volume we get on an ongoing basis, it can take us some time to send out responses. On our submissions page, under “Our Acquisition Process”, you will find how long it normally takes us to respond. If we have not responded within that time frame, however, please contact the acquisitions staff to check that they received your materials.

If you know that your materials have been received and are simply eager to know our response, please be patient! While we understand your enthusiasm, repeatedly contacting us will not speed up the process or make it any more likely that we will publish your book.

Another press has picked up my book while I was waiting for a response from your Acquisitions staff. Whom should I notify of this?

Please contact our Acquisitions staff promptly at acquisitions@ooliganpress.pdx.edu. We appreciate your conscientiousness in notifying us.

I’ve seen your submission guidelines posted elsewhere (such as on Writer’s Marketplace), but they are different than those on your website. Which should I follow?

When in doubt, the submission guidelines on our website are always the most up-to-date. If you have found incorrect submission guidelines elsewhere, please send the source and the details of the listing to ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu. We are not always able to correct such postings, but we do our best to make sure we are accurately represented online. Thank you for double-checking.

From prospective students:

I am interested in receiving information about the program. Would you mail me your catalog?

We currently use electronic communication to convey program information in our effort to save paper. Much of the program information, including admission requirements, can be found on the English Department website, or the Ooligan Press website (hover over “The Publishing Program,” and select an item in the drop-down menu to read details about the program). To go directly to the application requirements, visit http://www.english.pdx.edu/GradWriting2.php. If you would like us to send our electronic packet in addition, simply email your request to the Operations staff at ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu. Most of the information, however, matches what we have on the website.

What exams are required for admission to the program? Do I have to take the GRE?

There are no exams required prior to admission (including the GRE). Please visit PSU’s English Department website for full details on admission.

What should I include in my writing samples in my application to the program?

As on the PSU’s English Department website, we would like 15 to 30 pages of written work demonstrating promise of success in the publishing industry. This can include any type of writing within any genre—including poetry, nonfiction, or fiction—or research and scholarly writing, as in term papers. If, like some of our students, you work in bookselling or a publishing-related field, you can use work samples; any of the above are acceptable, if they exhibit your awareness of strong form and clear content.

I am interested in talking to someone about the program. Whom should I contact?

The first point of contact should always be the Operations staff. You can contact them at ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu. They can put you in touch with current students or other appropriate parties who will answer your questions. Feel free to specify whom you would like to talk to, and we will do our best put you in touch with that person. If they are not readily available, we will find someone else who can answer your inquiries.

I’m interested in visiting the press. Whom should I contact?

The office staff would be happy to speak to you about the program and the press during Ooligan’s office hours, which vary from term to term. Please contact the staff at ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu to inquire about the current hours. To schedule a meeting with one of the staff outside of designated office hours, or to get in touch with a current student, please e-mail a range of times that would work for you to ooligan@ooliganpress.pdx.edu, and the office staff will arrange something for you. The staff can also give you general information about the program. If you are interested in a formal campus tour, visit http://www.pdx.edu/admissions/campus_tours.html to schedule a formal tour of the university. The Ooligan office is located in Neuberger Hall, room 369, on the Portland State University campus.

From current students:

I am interested in registering for an Ooligan course, but Banweb won’t let me do so online. How do I register?

In order to prevent courses from filling up with undergraduates and locking out our graduate students, we require all our students to use the goldenrod-colored Special Registration forms (otherwise known as Add/Drop forms). You can sometimes get one that already has a signed override from Dennis Stovall in the Ooligan office, Neuberger Hall, room 369. Otherwise, you can get an unsigned one outside of the Registrations Office on the first floor of Neuberger Hall and have it signed by Dennis or the instructor of the course before turning it in to Registration.

How do I schedule my graduate oral exam?

First, select two of the three members who will comprise the portfolio review committee and who will administer the exam. Dennis Stovall is the one person you must have on your committee; for the other two, you can choose any PSU faculty member who has earned a master’s degree or higher (either ask the faculty member, or ask Dennis if he or she falls into that category). Next, talk with your committee and agree on a time during which you are all available. Then, be sure to check the Ooligan Press Google calendar to be sure that time isn’t already scheduled for an exam. If your agreed-on time slot is open, send an email to the Operations staff, and to Dennis, to reserve the Ooligan office for the date and time of your oral exam. You do not need to schedule your oral exam during or around open office hours. You can choose any time, as long as it doesn’t overlap with another student’s oral exam.