Launching a KidLit Festival requires a lot of work, planning, and risk-taking—even for a UNESCO City of Literature like Seattle. But how can success be measured?
Ooligan at large
A Quick Guide to Planning a Writing Conference
By Tiffany Watson
Your sincerity is the most vital asset you have in planning this conference. It is your social capital—the only currency you have to offer people. Caring about the speakers and having their best interests at heart is an essential part of planning this event.
Behind the Scenes with Ooligan Press at the Portland Book Festival
By Kristen Ludwigsen @kludlitup
The Portland Book Festival, formerly known as Wordstock, is Oregon’s biggest literary event of the year, featuring panels, vendors, speakers, and lots and lots of books. Every November, the day-long event attracts authors and publishers from near and far, and last fall, Ooligan Press was proud to be included yet again. The festival drew its […]
Tips for Making a Successful Event
By Monica Hay @monicathewriter
There’s a lot that goes into making an event, whether you’re hosting a one-day event like a conference, a simple one hour event, or an entire week’s worth of activities. What makes a event successful? These are three simple tips that will help.
Ooligan in the World
By Grace Evans @gracemalizia & Elizabeth Hughes @elizabig
From intimate readings to established conferences and book festivals, we’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months arranging opportunities for the world—at least our Pacific Northwest corner of it—to meet our books and their authors. There have been plenty of volunteer schedules to fill, promotional marketing and social media posts to plan, and boxes of books to cart to and fro. In return for that work, we’ve watched our authors delight and charm audiences while their books are admired, applauded, and carried away to new homes. So where in the world have we found Ooligan authors this fall?
Perfect Pitch
By Jan Bebb
The most important element of a successful pitch is to succinctly explain the concept of the book. This is high-level thinking that shows the benefits and emotional payoff of reading the book for the agent, publisher, and reader. It is not about the beautiful sentence structure that took years to realize. So if you’re tempted to say “but if you just read it you’ll understand,” then work harder at articulating the overall concept. You have five minutes for the pitch. It’s the merit of your concept that indicates a strong book, and that should take a few seconds.