Once classes started in September, we wasted no time getting the ball rolling on our newest title, WHERE WE CALL HOME: ESSAYS FROM THE LANDS, SEAS, AND SKIES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST by Josephine Woolington. We kicked off the term by finalizing the title and are rolling ahead with the cover design and copyedits.
Start to Finish
Building a Brand: Production Goals for COURT OF VENOM
By Wren Haines @haineswren
Our team has started laying out our social media strategy document (SMSD) as well as our branding brief. The latter will inform our team on what themes and palettes to use in our social media collateral. Since we already have not only our cover but also a fully designed booklet, we have a lot of our branding cut out for us.
SHORT, VIGOROUS ROOTS: A Brief Account of a Project Team’s Blurb Journey
By Stephanie Johnson Lawson
The process of requesting blurbs begins with a massive contact sheet—a focused list of people who may be interested in writing a blurb for the book. It involves reaching out to a lot of people: “the more names, the more likely you are to get a yes,” Tucker says, adding that we want to ask people who have a “strong connection with both [the] audience and the material…because the more focused the blurb list is on your audience, the better.” In our case, this all proved true.
The Beginning of Our New YA Title
By Luis Ramos @luissoto805
Everyone likes Filipino food, and we are shamelessly capitalizing on that love. After all, when else will we get to work on a book with the words “egg rolls” in the title?
An Update on Our First Fantasy Title, COURT OF VENOM
By Wren Haines
COURT OF VENOM is Ooligan’s first fantasy title, and the team, which is full of avid fantasy readers, has some incredibly creative marketing strategies in mind. We have been dutifully working on our sales kit, which has given us the opportunity to add some really amazing collateral to the project. While several things are being considered in terms of giveaways and collateral, nothing has been confirmed yet because the team is still working with the publisher on a budget and with the Marketing Manager on ideas.
Production Workflow at Ooligan Press: A Project Manager’s Early Perspective
By Stephanie Johnson Lawson
Oolies (that’s what we call the graduate students who help run Ooligan Press) are simultaneously publishing professionals—meeting deadlines and industry standards to produce successful books—and actively learning new skills, collaborating innovatively, and pursuing academic success. At Ooligan Press, the books we publish follow a production workflow, which is the backbone of the entire process.