It’s no secret that the media is image-obsessed and has a problem with whitewashing and gender stereotyping. From magazine covers doing Photoshop “touch-ups,” to fandoms having an issue with a character’s casting in a film, to debates about the term “chick flick” or just how overly pink “girl” toy shelves are. For the publishing world, book covers are a problem we have to fix.
Covers
Reinventing the Market for Classic Novels
By Hannah Boettcher
What makes an old book new—at least in the eyes of the consumer? Publishers of classic novels face the distinct challenge of marketing books that have already been extensively read, loved, discussed, and marketed. More often than not, publishers are not selling the content of the book—after all, the words are already tried and true—they are selling the experience.
To Be or Not to Be: An Interactive Approach to Classic Literature
By Ari Mathae @Ari_Mathae
Gamebooks are about being able to play around in a familiar world, make mistakes, and try again. Interactive books for adults do just that, but this time, the majority of choose-your-path books are focusing on classic and well-known stories, rather than the nostalgic stereotypes found in the kids’ series. Interactive books use the stories of classics––Austen, Shakespeare, historical romance––to give adult readers a chance to toy with the literary worlds they have known and loved.
The Ultimate Coffee Table Book
By Sadie Moses @holyrosesmoses
Should we then, as publishers, be paying more attention to coffee shops as a means of marketing? Would more upper-class shops be willing to display, or even review, some of our titles? Or is it inevitable that those owners will continue to sneak into Goodwill, bargain shopping for books that are worn, falling apart, and unwanted? Is it even worth putting our books in places that were intended to be ignored?
An Inventory of Ooligan History
By Grace Evans and Elizabeth Hughes
Imagining shelves of Ooligan books expanding into the future is one of the unsung joys of inventory; what might seem a menial task, unseen and unappreciated, is actually one of the threads that weaves Ooligan Press together, past, present, and future.
Interview: Hagen Verleger on Book Design and Project Suhrkamp
By Kento Ikeda
Be like a sponge, absorb everything.