Four years ago, Ooligan Press published a memoir called The Wax Bullet War by Sean Davis, a veteran who reenlisted immediately after 9/11. Since then, the book has been a bit lonely in our backlist as the only political/military memoir we’ve published. That’s about to change.
Ooligan’s newest acquired title will join The Wax Bullet War in the category of military and political memoir. Aside from these similarities, however, it differs significantly in plot. Author Rosa del Duca movingly brings readers through her journey as she attempts to gain conscientious objector status after enlisting in the National Guard following high school. While Rosa’s story may be unique, her experiences trying to decide where she fits in while dealing with misogyny, a dysfunctional home life, and feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt that are relatable to us all. As she discovers where and how to take a stand for her own beliefs, readers grow, change, and learn right along with her.
This title and its message is important to all of us in the press, and we can’t wait to get it in front of readers. Before that can happen, however, there’s so much work to be done. The most important of which is to figure out exactly how to represent that message with the title. We have a few options at the moment, but we are still trying to find the one that feels exactly right. In the meantime, the editing department has headed a developmental edit of the manuscript, and my team and I have started working on the marketing strategy, cover design brief, book description and synopsis, and contact lists for potential media outlets, reviewers, and blurbers.
While this book is in its initial phases, we have to ask ourselves many of the same questions Rosa asked herself: Where does it fit in? What message does it convey? Why this book, and why now? How do we want to portray it to the world? It took a while (no spoilers!), but Rosa eventually decided her place in the world and what she would sacrifice, stand for, and fight for to get there. Now, we just have to decide the same for her book.
We can’t wait to get this story out there. Until then, stay tuned with Ooligan’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates until the memoir’s release in Spring 2019.