Graphic design is so much fun. There is so much you can do in this space, just within the context of book publishing alone. From print to digital, there’s no end to what you can create. Because it is such a vast and interesting area, a lot of people want to try it out, but they hesitate because they don’t have any formal art training. I get it—I’ve been there. There is a lot of overlap between art and graphic design, as they require a lot of the same skills and an understanding of concepts like space, color, lighting, etc. But, while having a working knowledge of these when you start is helpful, it’s not required.
Ooligan Blog
Indie Portland Bookstores During COVID-19
By Callie Brown
From posting funny quips to sharing ideas for family-friendly reading activities, these stores have been going above and beyond to reach their communities, all while fielding business in a challenging new way.
It Ain’t Just Grammar: Skills for Successful Copyediting
By Olivia Rollins
If you’re a writer or an English major who aced every spelling and grammar quiz in school, you might think to yourself, “Hey, I’m pretty good with words. I understand punctuation, possessives, and present participles. I would make a fantastic copyeditor!” And you could very well be right. But before you dive headfirst into this profession, it’s important to know that for a good copyeditor, grammatical know-how is just the tip of the iceberg; successful copyediting requires a number of additional skills that have nothing to do with whipping out that red pen to correct a dangling modifier. This post outlines some essential copyediting skills that are completely unrelated to grammar and spelling.
Marketing a Sensitive Book: Is It Ever Okay?
By McKenna Green
Our team here at Ooligan is working tirelessly to launch our upcoming fall title by debut author Erin Monyihan. In large part, this means working on our marketing strategy. We’ve come across quite a few obstacles regarding our intentions and how we wish to be understood while presenting LAUREL EVERYWHERE.
Book Curation in Stores and Beyond
By Xian Wang
The most interesting book curation happens in stores that do not primarily sell books or that only sell books with specific themes. What they have in common is smaller book collections compared to larger bookstores. For me, what these stores do is accommodate ideas.
What Happens In Between: Line Editing for Manuscripts
By Melinda Crouchley
A line edit typically occurs between developmental editing and copyediting, and it’s a sort of transition between making large structural changes and perfecting the mechanics of the language. Not every manuscript needs a line edit, but a line edit would likely enhance most manuscripts because its primary focus is not on perfecting the language but on elevating it.