A quiet evolution has been occurring in the world of book publishing during this last decade. A hybrid species is emerging—one that has taken until just last year to jump the Atlantic and become available to American literary consumers. There may not seem to be much room to improve upon our current forms of bookish technology, as the basic formats are pretty simple: hardcover, paperback, ebook. But even if you are firmly in either the print or electronic camp, you may be pleasantly surprised by a type of happy medium that is ideally giving readers the best of both worlds.
Ooligan Blog
Gendered Language in Book-Marketing Copy
By Emma Hovley
Book-marketing language, particularly copywriting, is a critical part of how publishers reach their readers, and the predicted gender of a target audience has long been a particularly important consideration when determining the most effective language to use. But with readers increasingly expressing frustration with overtly gendered language in book-marketing copy, it’s clear that such methods are outdated, and book marketers and copywriters should look to gender-neutral language to describe their titles.
Events and Outreach: What’s That?
By Denise Morales Soto @dmoralessoto
Events and outreach: if you’re a new or prospective student of book publishing, chances are you’ve come across this term once or twice when looking into the program or researching the publishing industry in general. The term itself can be a bit vague, since it can encompass a lot of things. I didn’t know exactly what it was either when I first started at Ooligan. At the time, I knew it had something to do with a conference, and since I’m an avid convention goer, that was enough to hook me in. But once I started working with the team, I got a better sense of what it was, how important it was, and what it meant to be a part of it.
Justified Design
By Faith Martinmaas @theSaltyFlower
There are a lot of things that can make a book unreadable: the content, the prose, the plot holes. The list could go on and on. For me, nothing makes a book more difficult to read than badly justified type.
Web vs. Digital: The Different Forms of Online Comics
By Sanjay Dharawat
While the first webcomics began popping up in the mid 1980s, the medium exploded in popularity starting in the mid-to-late 1990s. Numerous long-running series got their start around this time, many of which are still going strong over twenty years later.
Writing Review Requests
By Elise Hitchings
Reviews are an important part of marketing a book, but how do you get those reviews?