Hello from the LAUREL EVERYWHERE team. As you might have noticed, the world looks a little different right now. Like countless other companies and families, the students running Ooligan Press are trying to balance living in quarantine with the laundry list of life’s demands. For me, this means homeschooling a fourth- and sixth-grader while finishing up my graduation requirements, sending out blurb requests, creating a social media plan, and training the next project manager for the team.
Social Media
Authors at Home
By Amanda Fink
In light of the stay-at-home orders that most of the world is currently following, authors have brought literary salons––places to explore ideas, share stories, and gain insight into the writing process––to Instagram. By allowing us into their writing spaces, these authors are giving us a rare, uncensored look into their lives. Sharing these spaces allows us to refill our creative wells through conversation and a shared love of books and writing.
In Defense of Instapoetry
By Michael Shymanski
Often referred to as “fidget-spinner poetry” due to its brevity and its targeting of younger audiences, Instapoetry is frequently dismissed and even insulted by critics. But does Instapoetry have anything to offer—especially for us quick-scrolling younger generations?
A Book’s Cover: One of Its Strongest Marketing Tools
By Kendra Ferguson
The adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” has been proven to be bad advice not only for readers but also for publishers’ marketing teams. As it turns out, books’ covers are often exactly what they’re judged by.
Best Practices: A Social Media Guide for Authors
By Faith Muñoz @FaithAMunoz
For authors, social media is a wonderful place to share with friends, family, the writing community, and the world at large how fun and stressful the publishing journey can be. But if you’ve never used social media to promote yourself or your book, it can be hard to know how to get started.
Book Aesthetics: An Unconventional Approach to Sustainability
By Alix Martinez
Spend a few minutes on the internet and you’ll probably see the kind of highly curated images that saturate social media, whether they’re posts by influencers or ads from retail powerhouses. Every detail in these images is planned, from the succulents in the background to the coffee mugs placed strategically on the counter and yes, even the books lining the shelves with precise color coordination. Just based on a quick scan of these picturesque galleries, it’s easy to make the assumption that these books aren’t going to be opened in the near future, if at all. This use of books for their “aesthetic” induces eye rolls in some and can even be downright offensive to literary enthusiasts.